The Women who Kept the Waters

Women's circles where sisterhood is called curious. Dressers, Midwives, Mothers, Godmothers, Neighbors, Friends, Sisters, Curious who keep the stories that we cannot forget.
I thank each person who shared these and so many other stories.
I celebrate the meeting with Coletivo Seu, which also facilitated this listening and made this residency an unforgettable moment, 
where affection exists and poetry happens. I thank Maria Clara who is a reference storyteller for me - around her kitchen table where unforgettable delicacies emerge. 
And the rest of the family: Nino, children, grandchildren, animals and nature. I would like to thank Susana Guardado, her intuition, 
for the courage to believe in community and in the encounter between people. And given the impossibility of remembering everything: 
Coletivo Seu, Família Guardado and I planted a guava tree and the wishes for this project on 2/6/2024 at Casa do Terreiro - may its waters be well guarded!

The Man Who Guarded the Waters is an artistic residency project that involved the research and sound and visual creation of Susana Guardado, 
in collaboration with several artists: Carla Cabanas, Felipe Neiva, Joana DÁgua, João Grama, Raquel André and Coletivo Seu, composed of Amora Pêra, Pedro Lago and 
Pedro Rocha. The research focused on the Vale do Rio Pranto and the surrounding parishes of Alqueidão, Samuel and Vinha da Rainha, highlighting their vast and rich natural, 
cultural, historical, intangible and social heritage.