Community : forest – Communicating voices for the future of a territory was born out of attentive and continuous listening to the Serra da Estrela territory and its communities and is based on three artistic projects by the collective , carried out in the south and north of the territory – Catálogo Poético (2020-21), CasaFloresta (2022-23) and Folha Volante (2024). The book works on the archives of these projects, but opens up its spectrum of reflection and resonance to new contributions from the collective, as well as the participation of collaborators from very different areas, civic movements or members of local collectivities. Through a diverse, polyphonic and multidimensional language – which crosses transcripts of informal conversations with literary, scientific or academic, poetic and pseudo-poetic languages – the book reflects on the past, present and future of the (de)forest and the communities that live with it. The different contents are placed side by side in both harmonious and sometimes dissonant resonance, in a way that is neither static nor musealized. With links to videos, sound pieces and publications from previous projects, the reflection also extends beyond the physical format of the book.

The authors will be present at this discussion.

collective listening (biographical note)

Working (mainly) in the territories of the Serra da Estrela Natural Park and in/with its communities, the collective — composed of Corinna Lawrenz, Joana Sá, Luís J Martins, Lucas Tavares and Ana Viana — proposes an inter- and transdisciplinary reflection on the future of these territories. Closely linked to a notion of “listening” as a resonant relationship with the “other”, their artistic projects propose relationships and listening between artists, local communities, collaborators from different scientific fields, civic movements, local associations, etc.