Mil Pássaros (A Thousand Birds) is an installation based on a shared process. The “countless hands” of children and adults gave rise to birds, which were later brought together in a visual and sound “murmuration”, tuning in to the desire for a better world. These paper birds, or orizuros, were made using the art of origami, and in Japanese culture they are a symbol of peace and happiness. It is also said that after making a thousand orizuros, wishes come true.
Mil Pássaros is the culmination of work that started in 2019, involving schools and kindergartens, museums, libraries and families as part of Lisbon European Green Capital 2020. The work draws attention to the fragility of the world we live in and the need to care for the environment. It allows imagination to take flight. It reveals the strength and beauty of a collective will based on the power of small gestures. It fosters listening, contemplation and the desire to build a better world.
After having been a “night light” in a year marked by the pandemic, the installation now reappears. It has been transformed through a site-specific dialogue with the magnificent organisms at Estufa Quente, the giant hot house that is part of the Estufa Fria gardens in Lisbon. This new bio-poetic ecosystem is also a testament to the “enormous desire for hope in these uncertain times”.
Artistic creation is the heartbeat of Companhia de Música Teatral (CMT). Starting with music and seeking interaction between various languages and possibilities for artistic communication, CMT has built a pathway to the discovery of what it calls “the development of artistic-educational constellations”. The philosophical matrix of CMT is defined by the creation of relationships between art and education, and by the articulation of academic research, artistic production, training, technological creation, community involvement and the promotion of the general importance of musical experience and the arts for social and human development. CMT has made a decisive contribution to a diverse and comprehensive cultural offer: CMT’s repertoire is a kaleidoscope of shows, installations, workshops, medium- and long-term projects, training activities, publications in various formats, and participation in national and international research projects and conferences.
