Waiting for the Mermaid

On the longest night of the year, the heat rises from the earth as we walk along the weir that breaks the river's journey. The rumour of the water emerges from the silence, a small yellow light shines on the bush and then another and another - the fireflies dance and illuminate our steps. Up ahead, crickets and cicadas sing wildly. Together, insects, water and night announce the summer.Text by Cristina Brito/ Sound by Jaime Silva/ Cover by Jaime Silva

Born swimming, she now lives in a human bathtub surrounded by strange voices. The pearls dangling from the strands braided with green algae and the shells hanging from her arms tinkle. Her nails peel away layers of skin, the tattoos and the history they contain are torn away, the fish tail falls off and the pungent smell of the deep sea spreads through the house. The mermaid walks, a woman rises.Text by Cristina Brito. Curation Cristina Brito & Catarina Garcia. Sound by Jaime Silva. Cover by Jaime Silva

Am I the Mermaid? She calls out to her(self) and receives a cry, a plea, a reflection in the return of the projected sound wave. The mermaid sees herself in the mirror and her reflected voice appears distorted, difficult to understand. All sounds and words outside our own reality are difficult to interpret, but we continue to insist, to call out to those who are far away. I call the Mermaid.Text by Cristina Brito & Isabel Gomes de Almeida. Sound by Jaime Silva. Cover by Jaime Silva

Esperar a SereiaQuantas ondas são precisasPara esquecer o que se passouQuantos mares atravessarPara largar o que se sonhouDiz-me lá velha do marO que diz o vento norteQuantos anos vão passarPara conhecer a minha sorteDevo contar grãos de areiaAcender velas num altarEsperar avistar uma sereiaE a minha angústia guardarMas a velha sentada na praiaDiz que o vento se calouSeja vontade de Deus ou do MarAquilo que sou, já mudou.Poem by Joana Baço. Curation Cristina Brito. Sound editing by Jaime Silva. Cover by Jaime Silva.

Breaking through the endless motion of human activity - the laughter, the walking, the talking, typing - every once in a while you can hear it. Waves crash into boats, becoming one with the sound of a child’s laugh, the conversations of work interrupted by the sudden screech of a seagull. In places where humans have long claimed supremacy, the sounds of nature are the ones who provide the rhythm and flow of life.  An elegant, vibrant, sometimes violent dance, the harshness of a coffee machine and the constant flow of words being written, seeking to bring the tides into the room, the drive to let your mind drift to where the watery worlds become one with the human landscape, a desire to reconnect to what the relentless engine of civilization appears to drown out. But through it all, we can reach it, we can grasp it. They are so close, yet not a world of ours. A world we belong to, not one we own. Let’s dance with it. Let’s sing with it - E o meu canto vai-te encontrar, que o teu canto fica comigo e aqui espero para te encontrar.  Sound by Jaime Silva. Text by Diogo Falcato & Cristina. Cover by Jaime Silva.

The owl hoots at the right time, every day, every evening, at that moment when light and night meet. It's like a fine-tuned clock, but of its own nature, in counter-current with the rest of the world. After the hooting, the silence of human footsteps rests by the tree. Sound by Jaime Silva. Text by Cristina Brito. Cover by Jaime Silva

After a slow walk, we need to pick up the pace. Waking up for the HS2, the high-speed train about to arrive! At the future station, few trees and flowers and wandering bees remain, waiting for the next day. Silent daily life has been broken by the noise of the machines tearing up the earth to lay the iron road. The humans, who feel like the trees, insects and flowers, struggle to maintain the sound of the forest and the silence of the tracks. Sound by Jaime Silva. Text by Catarina Garcia & Nina Vieira. Cover by Catarina Garcia

The tide brings the fish to the shore, men and boats follow the fish, seagulls are attracted. The net is the hungry open mouth of a non living entity engulfing life forms, smells and sounds. In the back, sea roars and critters scream, but a human-made motor overpowers all sounds. The tide is at its highest, full of life and death. Sound by Jaime Silva. Text by Cristina Brito. Cover by Catarina Garcia & Jaime Silva. 

Water flowing down the river meets a group of rocks...Gulfs of wind push the water towards the muddy shore...Water splashes humans on land, who joyfully play with it, embracing its freshness, its rhythms, its vigor...As water follows its many paths and has multiple encounters, the sounds of a Blue Planet come to life. Sound by Jaime Silva. Text by Jaime Silva & Isabel Gomes de Almeida. Cover by Jaime Silva

Through the market grounds and the garden green walls, we walk hand on hand, step after step, crunching the earth and swelling memories. Other people, other animals, other trees, other paths, are just leafs floating around bringing the landscape well into our human existence. Sound by Jaime Silva. Text by Cristina Brito. Cover by Jaime Silva