‘Between the past and the future, memory‘ is a community art project created in 2021 as part of Orquestra Sem Fronteiras’ Terra a Terra programme, with the patronage of the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation and the support of the Municipality of Boticas. It is currently sponsored by the Portuguese Republic / Directorate-General for the Arts.
The project is a response to the depopulation of the municipality of Boticas, a territory that has lost population over the last few decades, leaving villages deserted and houses in ruins. Isolation and lack of access to culture are challenges that the project seeks to combat, promoting community participation through music.
Since 2021, it has been collecting memories and feelings from the population, turning them into songs and creating moments of sharing. Initially, it involved around a hundred participants in three phases: interviews, conversations about depopulation and music creation sessions. The five resulting songs were created by ethnographic groups and local bands. In 2023, the project expanded to include nursing homes and the Alto Tâmega Disability Support Centre, doubling the number of participants and increasing the team to eight.
The 2024 show consolidated the project's relevance to the cultural dynamism of the region.
The artistic team is made up of four facilitators with experience in music in a community context: Beatriz Mendes and Daniel Almeida, founders of Furor Iminente, who have developed various projects in the region, João Pereira and Sílvia Madalena Gonçalves, who work in areas of low artistic density. It also includes graphic designer Tiago Rodrigues, videographer Vasco Mendes, both of whom have roots in Boticas, and Luís Rodrigues, a sound technician and musician involved in community projects.
The show performed in November 2024 was well received, consolidating the relevance of the project and reinforcing its role in the cultural dynamisation of the region. Now, ‘Between the past and the future, memory’ is moving on to a new stage, with the show in summer 2025* delving into themes such as identity, return and rebuilding community links. More than an artistic project, it is a living movement that unites past, present and future, giving voice to a land that resists and reinvents itself through culture.
*On 24 July 2025, at 21h30, in Praça do Município, Boticas.
This article was updated on 3 July 2025 to include the date of the show.
