WOOL | Covilhã Urban Art 2014

Being the direct result of two great passions shared between Lara Seixo Rodrigues, Pedro Seixo Rodrigues and Elisabet Carceller, one for Graffiti / Street Art and other for Covilhã and its history closely related with the textile industry, WOOL | Covilhã Urban Art (*), appeared in 2011 as the first event with these characteristics in Portugal.

Since its foundation, WOOL** set out to use several walls in the city historic center as a support for interventions of urban artists, with the aim of:

  • pay tribute to the history of this city as a way of rediscovering its identity;
  • awake the interest of the community for Culture and Contemporary Art;
  • rehabilitate neglected urban areas through Art, making it accessible to all, in a clear act of democratization of Art and informal learning;
  • involve the community in all interventions and actions, so that they take them as their own, as their heritage.

These goals promoted the design of a specific and unique format and modus operandi, that made possible (and still does) to introduce these new expressions of Contemporary Art as tools capable of great social, cultural, economic and urban transformations in a community.

For this 2nd EDITION, we invited Portuguese artists Add Fuel, Bordalo II, Mr.Dheo, Tamara Alves and ±MaisMenos± to create an intervention at the historic center of Covilhã.
In this edition, the group of parallel activities expanded, with guided tours, the presentation of movies and talks, not only by the artists but also about themes related to Urban Art. We also conduct a participatory action at a social housing neighborhood.

With an extended duration, that in fact we called WOOL ON RESIDENCE, we ask to the group of artists to make small pieces to present in an exhibition that took place in the second week of residency at the city and after, traveled a bit across the country, specifically up to Lisboa, Lagos and Porto.

* the name is a pun between the word WOOL and its near-homophone WALL.
** co-organized with Formas Efémeras

Public Art Event

-

Location

Covilhã (historic center), Portugal


Artists

Add Fuel (Portugal), Bordalo II (Portugal), Mr.Dheo (Portugal), Tamara Alves (Portugal), ±MaisMenos± (Portugal) and L is not an artist (Portugal)

Talks

‘Urban Art after 65’ with Luísa Cortesão and ‘Disclosure and internationalization of portuguese Urban Art’ by Target

Movies

‘BCN: rise & fall’ by Gustavo López & Aleix Gordo Hostau (Spain), ‘Cidade Cinza’ by Marcelo Mesquita & Guilherme Valiengo (Brazil) and ‘Magic Pantónio’ by Jérôme Thomas (France)

Exhibition

‘Wool on Residence’ at Covilhã, Lisboa, Lagos and Porto

Guided Tours

oriented by organization element


Artwork created

16

Artist: Bordalo II (Owl Eyes)

Artist: Tamara Alves (Wild Orphan)

Artist: Add Fuel (Oddments)

Artist: Mr. Dheo (Portugal pelas Costuras)

Artist: ±MaisMenos± (±PAPA $CUTS±)

Artist: ±MaisMenos± (±COVILhã±)

Artist: ±MaisMenos± (±Oi?±)

Artist: ±MaisMenos± (±GASTOS±)

Artist: Luísa Cortesão aka L is not an artist