sAs revealed today by the Aveiro district autarchy, this “Maio do Azulejo” project is based on the stamping process and began to be prepared a few months ago with local schools, which, having challenged several classes to conceive designs adjusted to patterns, then selected the best ones to apply in replicas of “little houses”.
The mayor of Ovar, Salvador Malheiro, says that stamping was the process chosen for this collective work because it is the decorative technique that is most identified on the real façades of the municipality. “It is a semi-industrial technique, in which the color is applied on a base of raw glaze, and for each tile as many stamps are needed as the number of colors to be used”, he explains.
Once painted in the schools, and baked at a temperature of 1,030 degrees by professionals at the School of Arts and Crafts, the tiles were then mounted on 48 structures arranged along a “Rua das Flores” which, starting at 3 pm next Saturday, will be on display at Praça da República.
“Our objective was to reinforce the school community’s contact with the municipality’s tile heritage and raise awareness of the need to value and preserve it. The teachers embraced the project with the same enthusiasm we dreamed of, because, being the module- pattern (tile) part of the 2nd Cycle curriculum plan, it is very important to diversify students’ experiences to stimulate learning”, defends Salvador Malheiro.
The sixth edition of “Maio do Azulejo” involves, however, other activities, including, also this Saturday, “guided tours, creative workshops, sessions with storytellers, dance and theater performances, and, finally, a concert with Teresinha Landeiro at Largo do Tribunal de Ovar” — a space that the mayor points out as “a reference of Portuguese modernist tiles”.
Largo do Neptuno will also host the “Azzelij” craft show, which, organized by the municipality in collaboration with craft associations in the municipality, will bring together artisans and creators with “new proposals for products or services inspired by the theme ‘azulejo'”.
During the month there will be new workshops, such as the one that addresses creative ceramics techniques, and more shows, such as the concert by Tiago Bettencourt with two philharmonic bands from Ovar.
The mayor also highlights the exhibition with images captured during the photographic tour that, annually, explores the tiled landscape of the city center: “After previous editions in the parishes of Válega, São Vicente de Pereira, Cortegaça and Esmoriz, the challenge of this year was to look at the streets of Ovar — Living Tile City-Museum — and explore all its built, architectural and artistic heritage”.
For Salvador Malheiro, all these initiatives are aimed at “valuing the county’s brand image”, resulting in a program that, structured for various audiences, is “diverse, exploratory and inclusive”.
Also Read: Museu Nacional do Azulejo opens Sala dos Arcos and shows ‘Triumph of David’
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