From the end of the 19th century to the present, millions of Portuguese have emigrated, looking for alternatives to poverty, to subsistence economy and/or the lack of work opportunities. As such, emigration is simultaneously part of the memory and present of Portuguese rural regions, such as Viseu Dão Lafões. In each village, multiple thematic layers coexist that relate to the different waves of emigration, those farther away, to Brazil, Venezuela, the United States of America, etc. or those closer, to European countries such as France, Germany, Switzerland or Luxembourg.
The migratory flight thought of in historical-social terms identified origins, destinations, contexts, motivations and quantified the flows of those who emigrated and those who returned or not. However, there is a literally infinite range of topics that can be further explored when in direct contact with former and current emigrants and their descendants.
Binaural Nodar will host, as part of its 16th annual programme of artist residencies in sound and media arts, artistic projects that can reflect and express subjects related to migratory processes from rural villages of the Viseu Dão Lafões region, such as architecture, economy, language, sense of belonging and cultural insertion of those who emigrated and their descendants, perceptions on the evolution of places of destination and origin, the types of connection with rural contexts, narratives and family document records, affective symbology and semiotics, gastronomy and many others.
The artist residencies will take place in two alternative periods, in the spring and fall of 2022, and each one will last for three weeks. The organisers will pay for accommodation, food and travel expenses in the region, as well as pay each selected artist a gross fee of 500 euros.
