Virtual Exhibition “The Spirit of the Beehive”
By Manuela Barile
Opening on December 22 at 3 pm
at www.memoriavarzeadecalde.org
The virtual exhibition O ESPÍRITO DA COLMEIA (“The sprit of the beehive”) is a digital, photographic and sound journey through the contents of the mixed-media exhibition that was installed at the Linen Museum of Várzea de Calde from September 2018 to June 2019.
The exhibition was developed from an ethnographic investigation about beekeeping in the village of Várzea de Calde, fully available at https://www.memoriavarzeadecalde.org/o-espirito-da-colmeia/. Since honey has been used as food since the dawn of civilization, it was interesting to see how a community located in an environment of great diversity in terms of native flora has specialized over the years in the production of products derived from the rational creation of bees (several subspecies of Apis mellifera) such as bee pollen, propolis, wax and honey itself.
The contents of the virtual exhibition are by Manuela Barile, who had the collaboration of beekeepers from the village of Várzea de Calde. During the ethnographic investigation carried out in July and August 2018, numerous collections were made: interviews with beekeepers, soundscapes, recordings of the honey extraction process, which are all part of the Memory Archive of Várzea de Calde.
The exhibition consists of different photographic, sound and video elements, closely linked with each other, to recreate the magical and sacred world of bees and beekeepers and make it known to the visiting public.
Special thanks to the beekeepers who collaborated with the artist: Herculano Duarte Gonçalves, Hernâni Maurício, Isabel do Souto, José Joaquim Gaspar da Costa, Leonel da Cruz Lopes and Leonel de Oliveira.
The virtual exhibition O ESPÍRITO DA COLMEIA is part of the Viseu Rural 2.0 project, co-financed by the Viseu Cultura Program of the Municipality of Viseu. Binaural Nodar is an entity supported by annual funding from the Government of Portugal / Directorate-General for the Arts, located in the intervention area of the Regional Culture Directorate of Center.