Portão Vivo / A Living Gate, 2022

Living Gate / Portão Vivo installation and performance symbolises the intention to co-create an Eternal Forest Sanctuary with the community of Peniche and Materia Ciclica project - an entrance to the future forest. The poem is written for the two amargoseiras, Melia azedarach trees, as a living portal, an invitation for the local community to protect them.
 
 
Sob as raízes
Dentro do solo
Luz respira
Portão vivo
Alenta rios
Tece nuvens
Assenta ventos
Acarinha bichos
Abriga alados
Salvaguarda paz
Agarra caminho
Na floresta eterna
 
Under the roots
Deep in the soil
Light breathes
A living gate
Lifts rivers
Anchors winds
Weaves clouds
Mothers bugs
Nurtures winged
Guards peace
Holds passage
Into eternal forest
 
I read the poem in English while Ines Ferreira-Norman reads it in Portuguese. The poem is calligraphed live as a performance during the Compostival festival on the 19th of March 2022.