WOOL | Covilhã Urban Art 2020

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.

Despite a postponement caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, we did not give up on the 7th Edition*** of WOOL and once again we brought a group of 4 artists to Covilhã, 2 Portuguese and 2 foreign. Jofre Oliveras (Spain), Alberto Montes (Spain), Catarina Glam (Portugal) and Tiago Galo (Portugal) were invited to develop interventions in the historic centre, once again inspired by the local identity, which we consider to be everything that makes this region a unique place: traditions, music, gastronomy, personalities, history, fauna, flora, etc.

In addition to the interventions and despite the limitations imposed by sanitary restrictions, it was possible to carry out the following set of parallel activities: a stamping with stamps workshop, a travel and nature photography masterclass guided by Rui Gaiola, who also presented, in public space, the exhibition 'Serra ao Alto' and held a conversation to launch his book. All these actions, as well as the guided tours, the movie ‘Martha: a picture story‘ and the talks aim to promote contact between WOOL, the artists and the community.

* the name is a pun between the word WOOL and its near-homophone WALL.
** co-organized with Formas Efémeras
*** WOOL was once again distinguished with the EFFE label: facilitated by the European Festivals Association, which consists of festivals that stand for artistic quality and have a significant impact on the local, national and international level. "Your festival received the following feedback from the International Jury and Hub Experts: It is considered by experts a thoughtful approach to the region's industrial heritage: celebrates it on giving it a new meaning and a new value in a post-industrial context. Although still working on a small scale, this festival has already shown artistic and community-involvement potential. However, experts suggest further development for European and international engagement."