Category: Portugal

Postcard from Guimaraes, Portugal: Bridging cultural divides through art

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A vintage postage stamp from the 1934 Colonial Exhibition in Portugal, depicting a portrait of a woman with a headscarf and traditional attire.

Above: Beaded Bamileke warrior, Cameroon, Central Africa, on exhibit in Jose de Guimaraes International Arts Center.

Linked by invisible threads, the objects seem to talk to each other independently of our presence. An African fetish points to a pre-Columbian vase; a skull imagined by Jose de Guimaraes contrast with a bronze object from ancient China; statuettes speak with paintings without time separating them. As the objects gaze at each other…, it becomes evident that the associated narratives are infinite. The objects ask: ‘How should we live together?'”

Curator notes, Jose de Guimaraes International Arts Center

A carefully curated combination of works by and collected from around the world by artist Jose de Guimaraes (1939-) – 1,128 objects by his count – occupy the sprawling galleries of the first floor of the Jose de Guimaraes International Arts Center.

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Whoopee, biannual roundup: Favorite postcards from this blog

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Above: Remnants of the South Austin Museum of Popular Culture are found at its former home on South Lamar Boulevard.

Yes, I know. This blog is suffering a bit of an identity crisis. First, 2020 abruptly cut short my boulevardier ways, and then in early 2021 we pulled up stakes and moved up the road to Austin.

This blogger entertained herself throughout much of the pandemic by posting her entire novel – An Ostrich-Plumed Hat, and, Yes She Shot Him Dead – online, slowly unfolding it chapter by chapter. A few of my readers actually followed Hedda Burgemeister all the way through her 19teens trial for murder; although, I had been hoping for a little more feedback and filming rights have yet to be sold. Others have embraced posts about our new neighborhood as we started boulevardier-ing north and south off Lamar Bouldevard.

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Postcard from Portugal: Pilgrimage to the birthland of San Antonio’s patron saint

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Ah, almost let Saint Anthony’s Day slip past. Must have missed San Antonio’s major festivities celebrating our patron saint.

postcardsfromsanantonio's avatarPostcards from Barton Springs

Part of the excuse for extending our stay in Portugal until mid-June was to ensure we were there for the Feast Day of Saint Anthony of Padua, June 13, the anniversary of his death at age 36 in the year 1231. Actually, the celebration is more than a day. In Lisbon, the party in honor of Saint Anthony lasts throughout June.

While we call him “of Padua,” he wasn’t from there. He only ended up in Italy because his ship was blown off course during a storm. He was born in Lisbon and studied in Coimbra, and the Portuguese have not forgotten him. His images, and a few personal relics, are everywhere.

They love him. And why not? Few saints are more versatile than Saint Anthony in the types of prayers answered.

So, following my pilgrimage to the homeland of the my city’s patron saint, I wanted to share, in layman’s…

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