FAZUNCHAR 2019

Fazunchar will be a ‘to make’ for Figueiró dos Vinhos and its people. A party built by different types of Art, in constant dialogue between them, with this community and territory.

It was with this statement that FAZUNCHAR introduced itself to the world and started its work one year after the first contact, which listed a simple (apparently) request: “we need to bring a new dinamic to this municipality and be talked about by something other than fires, tragedies or mistrust”.

From the request, passing through a first visit, to the desire to achieve this transformation took seconds. We quickly perceive the immense and rich identity of Figueiró dos Vinhos, its unique local value, which is multiplied by countless cultural assets, whether historical, archaeological, architectural, linguistic, documentary, artistic, ethnographic, etc; that can (and ask to) be embodied, mirrored and / or exalted by artists, in new values of memory, authenticity, originality, rarity or exemplarity, which is what encourages (re) discovery by local residents and visitation and permanence of visitors

In this immediate and special way, its history (already quite forgotten) in the national arts panorama was also perceived and it was thus assumed, as a desire and objective, with this FAZUNCHAR, to renew the projection of Figueiró dos Vinhos on a national scale, as a producer and stage of artistic and cultural activity, (now) in contemporary times.

The very name of the event, FAZUNCHAR, is a word taken from a ‘local good’ _ laínte (exclusive dialect of textile traders) which means ‘to make’. Because in practice, it was and is what we aspire to with this event, a 'to make' for this territory and its people, because here, as in any other more inland and forgotten places in Portugal, it is urgent to transmit and preserve the corpus of a collective entity.

This first FAZUNCHAR, was built by various types of Art, in constant dialogue between them, with the community and territory. It contemplated mural painting (revisiting places that have already inspired José Malhoa and his contemporaries), installation, concerts, films, community actions and workshops. A total of more than 30 activities that, in different formats and levels of participation, fully open to the public, aspired to respond and involve a heterogeneous public, both with regard to interests, as well as ages or gender.

Through the welcoming programme, the artists were invited to get to know up close and allow recognition from afar, of the innumerable natural, historical, architectural and gastronomic heritage of this region, reinforcing the dialogue (extended and multilateral) that we wanted to produce in this first edition of the FAZUNCHAR, aiming at the creation of a strong and credible brand, capable of generating visibility for itself and above all, for this entire territory.

After the end of the 1st edition of FAZUNCHAR, we believe that it is possible to affirm that the work developed, of direct involvement of the population in the different programmed activities, of understandings, learning and meetings between all, transformed (we want to believe that forever) this territory, at a local and national level.

Over the 9 days of programming, it was possible to recognize a new look from the country to this territory, but also to observe a renewed sense of belonging, of rediscovery, of joy and immense pride in being a Figueiroense. The reflection of this is the total number of participants in the guided tours _ 81 people _ or the more than 2 hundred visitors who visited the exhibition “Memória Fotográfica”, a look at the estate of D. Margarida Herdade Lucas, in the curious building F. R. Ferreira Lanifícios.