“Spoken stones: Geological Memories of Bodiosa, Viseu”
Virtual exhibition
Opening: June, 18, 2020
The history of humanity can be understood as a continuous process of deepening the relationship between communities and their natural context, be it the landscape morphology (hills, plains, valleys, rivers, streams, etc.), their native fauna and flora (plants for food, medicine and shelter, domestic, working and wild animals) and also the geological specificities of the territory.
The geographical area of the civil parish of Bodiosa (municipality of Viseu) is a very paradigmatic case of an ancient relationship with the mineral world. Based on the geological composition of the landscape, we can see how each civilization used these resources according to its particular worldview: from the dolmens of Vale da Cabra or Grutinha or the mamoas of Fontão or Pereiras, to the various Roman inscriptions carved in scattered stones, to utilitarian constructions such as mills or stone walls, to the incomparable richness of the work of local masons whose fame has been known in the region for more than five hundred years and, finally, to the mining exploration that was developed throughout the twentieth century in the local mines of Cume, Cabrão and Aval, an exploration that, during the period of the Second World War, was carried out so much by Germans, by allies and by some local inhabitants who surreptitiously sold wolfram to intermediaries.
The virtual exhibition “Spoken stones: Geological memories of Bodiosa, Viseu” is a tribute to the people who were connected to the geological context of the Bodiosa: former mine workers, former bricklayers, former workers of the separating companies of Bodiosa Industrial Limitada and Sociedade Mineira do Paiva, or owners of the still existing companies of artistic molding of tin and granite quarries, true heirs of a magnificent mineral epic story.
The exhibition “Spoken stones: Geological memories of Bodiosa, Viseu” is produced by Binaural Nodar, was conceived by Luís Costa, Liliana Silva and Rui Costa and is part of the Viseu Rural 2.0 project, co-financed by the Viseu Cultura Program of the Municipality of Viseu.
A sincere thanks goes to the President of the Bodiosa Parish Council, Rui Ferreira and the people who were interviewed for the project: Manuel Silveira, Maria Morais, Leonel Madeira, Amadeu Carvalho, José Dionísio, António Lemos Bento and José Santos.