Portal de Palma was a participative portal-shaped installation focused on the collective memory of Palma’s neighbourhood. This temporary installation was built in Rossio de Palma, Lisbon, made of 144 stools setting up an arch of 4.8m high and 2.6m in width. Each stool holds a fragment of memory shared by the inhabitants through a woodprint system on top of each seat.

This project was developed in partnership with the Municipal Department of Culture from Lisbon City Council, and in particular with the historian Sofia Tempero, from Lisbon City Council Department of Cultural Heritage, that collected the photographs and stories of the residents with the aim of gathering and transmitting the collective memory of Palma.

Over the course of three weeks, the 144 memory-stoolswere built through a participatory in-situ workshop that involved residents, local shopkeepers and occasional passers-by. One of the main goals of this artistic installation was the inhabitants involvement and the activation / appropriation of the public space. A call for remembrance that fosters a tight relationship between the people and the installation achieved through emotional times.

After three weeks the arch was dismantled and the stools were redistributed among the residents, local retailers and other volunteers. That way, it perpetuated and spread their collective memory.

Inserted in a typical popular celebration, the moment of disassembly and distribution of the memory-stools was highly participatory and much cherished by its residents, now transformed into “guardians of memory”.

Team: Colectivo Warehouse
Client: Câmara Municipal de Lisboa
Partners: Culture 21 – Agenda 21 da cultura, Departamento Municipal da Cultura – CML, Camilla Watson, Sofia Tempero.
With: Rúben Teodoro, Sebastião de Botton, Ricardo Morais, Monica Di Eugenio
Collaborators: Barbara Arita, Catarina Dente, Carolina Preto, Guida Ramos