projects
Aldeias do Xisto partner with other national and international projects
- provere rede aldeias do xisto 2020 - 1ª etapa
- provere rede aldeias do xisto 2020 - 2ª etapa
- schist heritage network
The Schist Heritage Network was an international project between the Aldeias do Xisto Network and Røros Museum, a town classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Norway. The project, applied for and approved under the financial mechanism EEA Grants, was based on the transfer of knowledge between Norwegian and Portuguese craftsmen, rooted in the restoration of buildings (a total of 80) in the Aldeias do Xisto, in accordance with the philosophy of heritage preservation implemented in Røros. The project design was derived from several practical workshops held in the Aldeias do Xisto, which included works on selected buildings carried out by Norwegian and Portuguese craftsmen. There were also technical workshops.
- eco-arq
The Aldeias do Xisto Network was one of the partners in the international project “Eco-Arq - Eco-rehabilitation in traditional architecture of the European Southwest", under the aegis of the SUDOE Programme - INTERREG IV B. The project brought together Spanish and French partners and focused on the sustainable rehabilitation of small-scale, man-made heritage sites as a vector for added value in economic terms to tourist routes. In this context, ECO-ARQ has contributed to safeguarding man-made heritage and local traditional customs, highlighting good practices in the field of eco-rehabilitation and making them available to all Southwest European= territories, as well as to identifying and marketing the heritage around the tourist routes in which the transnational partners are involved.
- dark sky
Dark Sky Aldeias do Xisto is a project led by ADXTUR in partnership with the Dark Sky Alqueva Association and is co-promoted by the CIM Coimbra Region. Completing the network of initial partners are the Institute of Telecommunications at the University of Aveiro and the University of Porto’s Faculty of Sciences. The excellent visibility, transparency, and darkness of the sky conditions have been certified as a "Starlight Tourist Destination" by the Starlight Foundation, which also attests to the commitment of public, private, and scientific bodies, and the readiness and quality of tourist services, augmented by the genuine interest of the resident community.
- craft+design+identity
The Craft+Design+Identity trilogy, consisting of the projects Água Musa (2013), L4Craft (2014) and Lusitanian Agriculture (2015-18), called on various and different actors to immerse themselves in the reality of the villages. By stimulating a connection between handicrafts and know-how, these initiatives have provided an innovative direction and make this area a living laboratory, open to new thinking and people capable of establishing connections to transform the social fabric and give rise to new ways of doing, living and being. The rural and genuine spirit of communal memory and solidarity is called upon to dare to do things differently, experimenting with local resources and opening the door to new thinking and people.
- at the aldeias do xisto’s dinner table
Since its inception the Aldeias do Xisto Network project identified food and drink as one of the area’s main assets, due to the authenticity and diversity of flavours, the quality of the produce and traditions that are still alive and linked to subsistence farming and the cycle of communal life. The Aldeias do Xisto’s Dinner Table project focuses on cuisine as an element for local development, seeking to preserve tradition and, at the same time, stimulate new ideas, products and services.
- project@x - the university in the villages
The Villages have promoted the relationship between traditional know-how and scientific, technical and artistic knowledge. The collaboration between Aldeias do Xisto and the DeCA-UA - Department of Communication and Art of the University of Aveiro emerged from this concept. In 2019, the artists’ residency, Project@AX - Por Este Rio Acima, took place, which summoned the experience and wisdom of the inhabitants of Janeiro de Cima Village, in the county of Fundão, especially in the field of carpentry, recreating the region’s traditional boat. In 2021, the focus was on the Dark Sky Aldeias do Xisto project and a residency that took place in the Village of Fajão, in the county of Pampilhosa da Serra. Previously, the students had been tasked with developing the "Xisto" (schist) electric bicycle, an Aldeias do Xisto exclusive.
- xjazz - jazz encounters in the aldeias do xisto
XJazz - Jazz Encounters in the Aldeias do Xisto invites nationally and internationally renowned musicians to immerse themselves in the authenticity of the villages through artistic residencies and concerts, crossing cultural identity and landscapes with music, drama and scenography. Through several agents and stakeholders in the region, Jazz Encounters is but one example of local thinking and action, integrated in a larger development project centred on the region's values: nature and assets, historical and cultural cuisine, leisure, tourism infrastructure and services.
- fireflies
Erik Samakh (Saint-Georges-de-Didonne, 1959) is a visual and sound artist working with natural elements and technology. His pieces for the PES- Between Serras Project are made up of small LED lights, powered by solar energy during the day, which imitate the pulsing glow of a firefly at night, creating poetic places and providing a kind of symbiosis between local inhabitants, visitors and their surroundings. Erik Samakh's Fireflies glisten on granite and schist rocks amidst thousands of signs that recall human presence from the most distant past, etching themselves into the re-telling of stories and drawing us in. You can find four fireflies on the banks of the Santa Luzia Dam.
- “seeing is believing, re-seeing is creating” | photography workshop
Guided by Rodrigo Braga, a Brazilian photographer, in partnership with visual artist Carlos Casteleira, the photography workshop "Seeing is believing, re-seeing is creating", which took place in July 2019, brought together eight participants from various geographical and professional backgrounds. The River Zêzere and its ecological, biological (animal, plant and mineral), historical and prehistoric, social, and even technological, context was the central element of this experience, which put the students in tune with the area that surrounded them. The course, developed as part of the Aldeias do Xisto Laboratory, and included in the PES - Between Serras Project, reinforces the role of the Aldeias do Xisto as a living laboratory that promotes innovation and immersion for the creation of experiences and joint learning.
- landscape laboratory | rodrigo braga and laetitia morais
In July 2019, Rodrigo Braga, a Brazilian artist, set his gaze on the Zêzere River between Barroca and Cabeço do Pião (county of Fundão), while Laetitia Morais, an artist from Porto, was invited to produce a video installation about the mine’s remains and the people who live there. These residencies resulted in an exhibition at the Denison Art Space in Newark, Ohio, USA from 26 September to 18 October 2019.
- aldeias do xisto rock art network
The Central Region offers many traces of prehistoric human occupation. A number of these take the form of engravings carved into the rock, or into groups of rocks, which constitute an invaluable historical and archaeological heritage in the territory, with obvious potential for tourism attraction. This project laid the foundations for the creation of a Rock Art Route in the Aldeias do Xisto Schist Village region, starting from two locations: Poço do Caldeirão, in Barroca, in the municipality of Fundão, and Chãs d'Égua, in Piódão, in Arganil County. Where you can find priceless rock carvings, duly identified and much-studied by national experts and authorities in the matter.
- partnerships
- Starlight Foundation
- Dark Sky Association
- Dark Sky Vale do Tua
- Telecommunications Institute of the University of Aveiro
- University of Porto Faculty of Sciences
- Coimbra Intermunicipal Community
- Beira Baixa Intermunicipal Community
- Leiria Intermunicipal Community
- Beiras e Serra Estrela Intermunicipal Community
- Médio Tejo Intermunicipal Community
- University of Aveiro
- ESAD - Caldas da Rainha School of Arts and Design
- UBI - University of Beira Interior
- IADE-U - Institute of Art, Design and Enterprise
- University of Évora
- IPCB - Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco
- IPG - Polytechnic Institute of Guarda
- ARCA EUAC - University School of Arts, Coimbra
- MUDE- Museum of Design and Fashion
- Museu de Arte Popular (Popular Art Museum)
- CCDRC - Regional Development Committee for the Centre
- World Craft Council
- Portuguese Cycling Federation
- Jazz ao Centro Club
- Roros Museum
- Norwegian Embassy
- Rota Vicentina
- Aldeias Históricas (Historical Villages)
- Aldeias de Montanha (Mountain Villages)
- iNature
- Geopark Naturtejo of Meseta Meridional
- Máscara Ibérica (Iberian Mask)
- Directorate-General for the Arts
- Mountaineering and Caravanning Association
- Turismo de Portugal (Portugal Tourism)
- Turismo Centro de Portugal (Central Portugal Tourism)
- AICEP - the Portuguese Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade
