The streets, places and activities of Aljezur will “come to paper” this weekend, June 27th and 28th, using pencil, Chinese ink, or watercolor from urban sketchers from various parts of the country, who will meet at a national meeting.
The initiative is part of the DiVaM program – Dynamization and Valorization of Monuments and is organized by Tertúlia- Associação Sócio Cultural de Aljezur, in partnership with the Regional Directorate of Culture of the Algarve.
Susana de Medeiros, from Associação Tertúlia, in an interview with the program Impressões da RUA FM/Sul Informação, explained who are these designers who are going to “invade” the Aljezurense village. You urban sketchers «they are a collective that has people from various areas such as architecture, design and they have a manifesto that has certain rules, for example, they always draw on the spot and always record what they observe. Their drawings are like stories of those places, where they live, or are traveling. It is an observational drawing and each one uses their own technique, there is a collage, Chinese ink, watercolor or marker. You urban sketchers they make meetings to draw in groups and publish the drawings online».
The program starts on Saturday, at 10:00 am, next to the Castle and the first objective is to design the old part of the village. “It's a kind of tribute to older people, because many are going home and dying and that area is getting a little deserted. Then we will design the vegetable and fish market. On Saturday, there is another market, held all year round, by local farmers, in the newest part of Aljezur. We will also draw there. In the afternoon, we will draw the gardens. In Aljezur there is still a lot of cultivation of beans, corn, or sweet potatoes», explained Susana de Medeiros.
At the end of the first day, at the former primary school in Barranco da Vaca, there will be space for a dinner (19:00 pm) and a round table (21:30 pm) on the “Graphic Diary and Drawing in Quotidiano”, activities that are open to participation of the public. «The conversation will be attended by national guests, eight people who provide training in graphic journals and other areas and belong to the urban sketchers. They have already edited several publications, and they will show their work and have an informal conversation».
On Sunday, at 10:30 am, the program for the second day begins, again at the Castle and the first “model” «it will be the landscape you see from the Castle, then we will take a pedestrian route that passes by Ribat da Arrifana, which is also a very important place and a memory of the Arab experience in that area. It will be a walking route, not very long because it takes time to draw, and to do that, you have to stop for 10 minutes or 20 minutes».
For those who think to be a urban sketcher you have to be an artist, Susana de Medeiros, refutes this idea. “We want to encourage people to participate! You don't have to be a professional designer to belong to the urban sketchers. Drawing is a process and the more you draw, the more comfortable you have to choose the right materials for what you are looking at. There is urban sketchers that just make collage. They appropriate images from newspapers, cut, paste, and make montages. To be urban sketcher is open to anyone! You don't need to have an architecture course and understand from a linear perspective to draw there, in no way», explains the director of Tertúlia.
Susana de Medeiros considers the urban sketching a “report in the form of a drawing. It shows traditions, architectural particularities and ways of living in each location” and reinforces the invitation to participate in the meeting: “Don't be afraid to draw, you learn a lot by seeing others do”.
The reasons for holding this national meeting, in Aljezur, promoted by Tertúlia are explained by the association's leader: «First, because Tertúlia organizes a monthly activity called experimental drawing workshop, supervised by me and which also has guests. Therefore, the association has a connection with drawing, in an experimental aspect, which is open to everyone and you don't have to know how to draw. Therefore, because there is this connection with drawing and because I already know the activity of urban sketchers, we decided to make an invitation to Eduardo Salaviza, who was the person we contacted at national level, and to Hélio Boto, responsible for the dynamization of the urban sketchers in the Algarve".
The works made in Aljezur, «will be published in the national blog and regional blog of urban sketchers», concludes Susana de Medeiros.
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