If you pass by the picnic park at Barragem do Pereiro and see an Iberian lynx in stone, protruding from a wall, it is because you have come across the artistic intervention co-created by the Algarve artist Tó Quintas and the local population, to highlight the return of the Iberian lynx to this parish of the Municipality of Alcoutim.
This work of art was born «stone by stone» from the «various hands of the people of Pereiro», according to an idea by the artist Tó Quintas, reveals the Algarve company Proactivetur, which is developing this project for the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests, within the scope of the LIFE Lynxconnect Project.
«From now on, this lynx designed in artistic creation can be seen along the road that crosses the village of Pereiro. Made from a molded iron structure, it was completely covered with schist stones collected on site», describes the company.
The work, by the artist Tó Quintas, «was born from a collective process developed several months ago with the population of the village, with the collaboration of the Union of Parishes of Alcoutim and Pereiro. When the piece was placed on site, the village was invited to participate in the completion of the work, using traditional knowledge linked to the construction of walls and other stone work».
The same participatory methodology is being used in Giões (Alcoutim) and Furnazinhas (Castro Marim), which make up the three “lynx villages” intervened under this project.
In addition to the artistic installations, Proactivetur is developing a set of awareness-raising activities, which includes a puppet performance performed at local festivals (in collaboration with Associação Picada Cultural) and an itinerary guide about these lynx villages that will host artistic installations.
The project will be completed in October, when a final event will be held to present and celebrate the results.
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