Multichannel sound and video installation
by Luís Costa
A co-production of Binaural/Nodar, Municipality of Santa Maria da Feira and Santa Maria da Feira Youth Orchestra and Symphonic Band
In the municipality of Santa Maria da Feira (Aveiro district, Portugal) there is a both unlikely and magnificent industrial history: the cork industry: in little more than 50 years a poor rural area has become the epicenter of the global production of cork stoppers and other cork derivatives, creating an ecosystem of hundreds of companies that endures today with increasing vigor. We can look at this story from a purely business perspective, but what stands out is also the story of generations of men and women, mostly simple people, who, with a unique resilience, learned to convey the legacy of an artisanal craft towards new ways to produce, innovate and commercialize. In short, Santa Maria da Feira is a rare case in several connections: the deep and daily connection between memory and future, the connection between entrepreneurship and working class and the connection between a sustainable use of natural resources and industry.
Sound Memory of Cork is a multichannel sound and video installation by Luis Costa (coordinator of Binaural/Nodar) that was based on a multidisciplinary fieldwork: analysis of historical documents, sound recordings made in cork factories along with over 50 students from the local school community and interviews with relevant industry actors (current and former workers, entrepreneurs, industry leaders and local museum directors). A tribute that was never made before to cork’s history.
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Casa da Cultura de Lourosa (Santa Maria da Feira, Portugal)
14 November – 14 December