Braga Without Living Soul
The pandemic caused by the Covid-19 changed the entire dynamics of cities around the world. In Braga, it wasn´t different. It´s possible to see a closed city without a living soul.
By Virtual Museum of Lusophony
Photographs by Sofia Gomes
Braga Sem VivalmaVirtual Museum of Lusophony
Elaine Vianna is a postdoctorate fellow in Sciences of Communication at the University of Minho.
The video has text, images, voice and editing by Elaine Vianna.
Liberdade Avenue - Braga - Portugal (21th Century) by Sofia GomesVirtual Museum of Lusophony
Liberdade Avenue
The end of 2019 was marked by the emergence of a pandemic caused by the new Coronavirus (SarsCov-2).
For over a year, the exhibition's author participated in an immersion project in the daily life of the city of Braga. During this period, she took field notes, participated in informal conversations about memories of this city.
Originating in the Chinese city of Wuhan, COVID-19, a disease caused by the virus, quickly spread throughout the world. In Portugal, the first cases were registered in March 2020, in the North of the country (Freitas, 2020).
Central Avenue - Braga - Portugal (21th Century) by Sofia GomesVirtual Museum of Lusophony
According to the author, taking a walk in the the city's deserted streets, for most of 2020, proved to be a stagnant and imprisoning experience .
Central Avenue
The lack of scientific knowledge about COVID-19 has accentuated the population's unpreparedness to deal with the disease, coexisting opposites: on the one hand, the most fearful and, on the other, the most disbelieving in the disease and, consequently, more disinterested.
São Marcos Street - Braga - Portugal (21th Century) by Sofia GomesVirtual Museum of Lusophony
São Marcos Street
From the first registered patient to the implementation of the state of emergency, it took just a few days. And in these few days, the daily lives of the Portuguese changed completely.
Street of Souto - Braga - Portugal (21th Century) by Sofia GomesVirtual Museum of Lusophony
Souto´s Street
Going out into the street was, therefore, almost an act of rebellion. It was on one of her “hygienic tours” that she walked through the streets of the historic center of Braga and came across a lonely and gloomy environment. It was Braga without a soul. A city emptied of its nearly 200,000 inhabitants.
“I went out into the street. I know that the impression given by the streets of my neighborhood cannot be trusted" (Saurraute, 1956, p. 27). According to the author, such words invite us to think about the importance and the meaning that the act of going out into the street had during the state of emergency.
A Little Street - Braga - Portugal (21th Century) by Sofia GomesVirtual Museum of Lusophony
Small Street
Sofia Gomes recalls the German saying from the end of the Middle Ages that “the air of city frees”. But it wasn't freedom she felt walking through the city. Even if the tour configures a brief escape from confinement, the air of the city does not free.
Closed (21th Century) by Sofia GomesVirtual Museum of Lusophony
Closed
The terraces, once full, now seemed to have been abandoned, as if the townspeople had fled in a hurry, leaving everything behind. "Closed", that's how the world was for much of 2020.
In the winter - Braga - Portugal (21th Century) by Sofia GomesVirtual Museum of Lusophony
Winter in Braga
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the city of Braga has become a cold scene of Winter. The photograph seeks to illustrate the moment of uncertainty and the feeling of loneliness experienced by those who, fleeing the confinement for some minutes, dared to walk in the city.
Rossio da Sé de Braga - Portugal (21th Century) by Sofia GomesVirtual Museum of Lusophony
Rossio of Sé
Braga is recognized as a Religious Tourism destination. But the year 2020 was, also in this field, an atypical year. The spaces around the Cathedral remained empty during the state of emergency period.
Faith (21th Century) by Sofia GomesVirtual Museum of Lusophony
Faith
The gates of the Cathedral were closed for some time, but hope in the improvement of the pandemic situation persisted.
Security (21th Century) by Sofia GomesVirtual Museum of Lusophony
Security
Like the sign in the photograph, the city's emptiness requires a reflection of the search for safety. Confinement as synonymous of safety: "stay in home” because “we'll all be fine”.
The future is opened (21th Century) by Sofia GomesVirtual Museum of Lusophony
Opened Future
The Porta Nova Arch is one of the symbols that characterize the city of Braga. A door open for a future free of COVID-19.
Referências bibliográficas:
Brandão, C. A. L. (2006). As cidades da cidade. Editora UFMG.
Pires, H., Marques, F. & Gomes, S. (2020). Cenas e vistas d’A Brasileira. Braga: CECS/CMB.
Saurraute, N. (1956). Portrait d’un inconnu. Paris: Gallimard.
Freitas, G. (2020). Caso de COVID-19 identificado em doente que esteve no Norte de Portugal. Direção-Geral da Saúde. https://covid19.min-saude.pt/wpcontent/uploads/2020/03/Atualiza%C3%A7%C3%A3o-de-01032020-1521.pdf
Gomes, S. (março, 2020). A Saúde, o Jornalismo e a Covid-19. Communitas, think tank. Retirado de http://www.communitas.pt/ideia/a-saude-o-jornalismo-e-a-covid-19/
Schiller, M. (2020, 12 de junho). Não deixe a cidade morrer. Projetos procuram reinventar os espaços urbanos no cenário pós-pandemia. Folha de S. Paulo. https://quatrocincoum.folha.uol.com.br/br/artigos/a/nao-deixe-a-cidademorrer?fbclid=IwAR0bBaAGd0TDtm6RwANFKcIP80NheXOEbQnrar1XbwwfT95V UkbBlRLR-mg#.Xu44GOhtKXg.facebook
