CMT’s artistic work has become increasingly aligned with an educational approach that seeks the essence of what makes us human, and with an ecological stance that seeks to raise awareness of the need for environmental preservation. Much has been said about the so-called “climate emergency”. Perhaps we should also trigger an “empathic emergency”. And perhaps these two “emergencies” correspond to the same need to care: caring for the planet where we live; caring for the human beings who inhabit it. It is increasingly important to draw attention to the need to preserve the world we live in and there are many ways to do so. Teaching how to look and listen in a poetic way is certainly something that is needed and should be promoted from early childhood.
The Mil Pássaros constellation articulates artistic creation, training and community involvement through a set of artistic-educational experiences of different nature in which listening to the “voice” of birds is encouraged. In this way, we seek to help people become aware of the fragility of the planet we live on and raise awareness of the need to take care of it. Mil Pássaros launches the appeal to “listen to the birds”, as a metaphor for joining the community in caring for the environment and hoping to listen to each other better. Mil Pássaros promotes musical and artistic experiences bringing families and daycare centers / kindergartens / schools into dialogue, raising awareness of listening to the soundscape and listening to interiority. A project that promotes the construction of educational foundations for long-term results, raising issues that need to be addressed from early childhood.
Mil Pássaros em Coimbra is an anchor project of strategic scope for the Municipality of Coimbra, aimed at the entire pre-school community in the municipality, in an intersectoral articulation between the Education Division, the Culture Division and the Division of the São Francisco Convent of the City Council.
The project will be developed throughout the 1st semester of 2024 and is aimed at the entire public pre-school education community in the municipality of Coimbra, inviting the respective educators and operational assistants, families of participating children and other caregivers. Along with an intense training aspect, activities will be developed in the kindergartens and there will be a large presence at Convento São Francisco, where activities of a complementary nature will be developed to bring together diverse audiences in a large community.
On January 10th, at Convento São Francisco, the II Encontro Arte-Ambiente: Mil Pássaros em Coimbra marks the beginning of the project. The training sessions t.Lab Mil Pássaros (January 24th and 31st) and Canto dos Pássaros / Musicalidade Comunicativa na Educação de Infância (between February 21st and May 22nd) are aimed at the community of pre-school professionals, at the same time that the Gabinete do Pássaro guarantees the necessary support for the implementation of educational proposals on the ground, alongside activities aimed at children. Between March and May, each kindergarten class will have a Oficina dos Pássaros with suggestions for educational activities in the respective context and will receive a visit from PaPI-Opus 8 (a music theatre performance specifically designed to be presented in spaces such as kindergartens).
In several ways, the project seeks to promote dialogue between professionals and families, aiming to involve the community in the care and education of all children. The final installation, Mil Pássaros, to take place at Convento São Francisco between June and September, will celebrate this collective desire, inviting listening and contemplation.
