WOOL ON RESIDENCE

"After the 1st edition held in 2011 and the following and numerous actions produced all over the country and also abroad, the WOOL – Covilhã Urban Art Festival, in this much-desired return to its origins, presented itself in a format of ARTISTIC RESIDENCY., integrating a larger and diverse range of activities, like murals, an exhibition, a participatory action of Urban Art, lectures, talks, guided tours and film screenings. Between the 12th and 26th of October at WOOL ON RESIDENCE, we featured five of the most recognized Portuguese urban artists."

"MR.DHEO 

name | 'Portugal pelas costuras'

local | Largo Senhora do Rosário

Mr. Dheo piece was inspired in the current economic situation of Portugal. Translating the title to english, something like 'Portugal over seams', the artist chosed a classic french painting and changed the simple tissue to a flag of our country, being needlework by the youg girl."

"ADD FUEL 

name | Oddments, fragments and scraps

local | Rua 1º de Dezembro

Alongside with a classically shaped interpretation of a portuguese ceramic tile pattern, he combined several (almost forgotten) fabric patterns typical from the city and redesigned them to create this extensive mural in the center of the city. A remembrance of the old in the city, for the city."

"TAMARA ALVES 

name | Wild Orphan

local | Miradouro das Portas do Sol

Her mural is named by an Allen Ginsberg. After discovering the city of Covilhã, her piece transformed itself into an ode and at the same time an awareness to the slow death of this heritage, the bobbin lace work (called in portuguese of 'renda de bilros') as one of them. “Don't let it become a myth.” Her piece is both its death and its reborn at the same time :“...to create out of his own imagination the beauty of his wild forebears--a mythology he cannot inherit”."

"BORDALO II 

name | Owl Eyes

local | Rua Alexandre Herculano

BORDALO II know by his 3D sculptures didn't run again from them and in a abandoned and dark wall in the historical center of Covilhã, built a huge owl, as a message that culture and education are being neglected in this place."

"While BORDALO II was working in his huge piece in the center of the city, he produced some more pieces. One of them, is T.E.R.R.O.R.I.S.T., from his series of tracks, a call for attention around the public transports and the deactivation of them in such needed areas."

"±MAISMENOS± 

name | ±Oi?±

local | Data Center PT

±MAISMENOS± was our surprise artist for WOOL ON RESIDENCE. During one week he was inspired by the local history and present days and, as usual, the left us some surgical interventions, always with a social and/or political message. 

This piece was made precisely on the day that PT (the portuguese company of telecommunications), previously sold to OI (the brazilian company of telecommunications), experienced a historic drop in the portuguese stock market. The building you have behind the piece is the PT Data Center, located in Covilhã. The expression 'oi' means 'hello' in brazilian."

"±MAISMENOS± 

name | ±GASTOS±

local | Largo Doutor Valério de Morais

When walking in the streets of the historical center of Covilhã, the artist saw this inscription on the wall, from a past dance event. Once again, with few surgical intervention, he changed all the meaning of the phrase, from 'The dancers are the poets of gestures' to 'The politicians are the poets of spending'.

link to video: http://vimeo.com/109704058"

"±MAISMENOS±

name | ±PAPA SCUTS±

Covilhã is located in the profound interior of the country. Some years ago, the portuguese government build a system of roads in these areas to improve the accessibility to these regions of the interior. In 2012, the SCUTS ('sem custos para os utilizadores', meaning in english, 'no costs to users') started to be payed, dramatically changing access and growth in these regions. ±MAISMENOS±, to come to the city of Covilhã, from Oporto, payed 15 euros, a length of 1 meter receipts.

link to video : http://vimeo.com/110151558"

"±MAISMENOS± 

name | ±COVILhã±

local | stairs between Rua Comendador Campos Melo and Rua Comendador Mendes Veiga

±MAISMENOS± used the name of the city and a small wall with some grids on it, to create a political and economical message, translating the name of the mural to english: 'lair of the white gloves'."

"During the artistic residency WOOL ON RESIDENCE, we present our project LATA 65 - URBAN ART WORKSHOP FOR SENIORS. 

To help us with this lecture we invited one of the ladies that first made the workshop in 2012, in Lisbon, and that have never stoped painting in the streets, to come to Covilhã. 

These are just some of the stencil works that Luísa Cortesão aka L IS NOT AN ARTIST left in the city."

"Also during the artistic residency WOOL ON RESIDENCE, we went to a social housing near the city, Bairro das Nogueiras (Teixoso) to paint a wall in the neighborhood. 

Involved in this painting, we saw some of the residents and all the artists invited to the artistic residency."