Dear artists and friends.
We've made this video as a
sort of a linked narrative with all the previous ones already made at posts in this blogue and at YouTube, with the help of some songs that I was listening to and with movies that I was rewatching and it was a work that took me and Duarte Aguiar one month and a
half producing them for this exhibition with artworks of cats by international well known
artists that were published in books in several languages all over the
world and that are exhibited now at Boémia Caffé in Porto during christmas time, since almost everybody loves cats.
I hope that you'll love this video, since in it there's lots of work and I was a bit tired and with mixed feelings while shooting it, so please forgive me for some mistakes that I could have made.
We'll try to make a "making of" of how we made this exhibition real soon with words and a finished video with all footage parts linked into one, since the very beginning of this exhibition when I was imagining it in my mind while reciting a lost love letter to my kitty Ilvie in Porto in a bench garden near a statue that has a powerful image of a lion (England symbol) crushing an eagle (Napoleon symbol) as a metaphor due to Porto inhabitants with the help of English soldiers defeating Napoleon troops, being this the reason why Porto's named "invicta", meaning "never defeated or invaded".
I've decided to narrate this last video in Portuguese, since It's my native language and I sure love my roots and my city, but as usual we've put English subtitles in the video.
The
main purpose of this exhibition is to show the importance of cats as pets in
our lives and throughout world history, particularly being them inspiration to all kinds of artists that depicted cat's forms, their independence, how they
sleep, how they walk, how they climb to roofs, why they have seven lives and
also why they feed our imagination and dreams.
People can take everything from
us but not the love that we have for these feline fellows and our memories with them.
This exhibition is for everybody who passes or walks by boémia caffe.
The public for it will be the common people who are boémia caffe customers like myself.
I sure love curating exhibitions to all kinds of people, because in my mind, art should be to everybody.
Special
thanks to all the excellent artists involved in this project (you're simply the best), to Argentine artist Mister ED that was awesome with his work in the poster and his design for the text, narrative and message that this exhibition has, to my friends, to Daniel Castro
for providing a space for this exhibition, to Duarte Aguiar that filmed and
edited all these videos with myself, to my kitties from the past Jacky, Nuala,
Pimpolha and Maya that were my muses for 11 years, since I was 22 years old and that I've lost them when I was 33 years old, due to people and life itself.
Last
but not least to my Kitty Ilvie that was recently stolen from my sight and gave
me the idea in my mind and spirit for this exhibition.
Being my muse and source of inspiration,
she guided me in my thoughts through all my moods and stages while making this exhibition come
true.
Hope
that everybody will have an excellent Christmas and a happy new year, I'll surely
miss my kitty Ilvie during this period without her presence.
I'll try to
imagine her eating a bit of my codfish from my plate when I'll be having it at Christmas evening in Porto or continuing to be in my dreams at my anniversary imediately after christmas and before new year's eve.
Many thanks once again to everybody who helped me, hoping to have your trust in other ideas that I might have in the near future and that common people like myself can profit viewing your amazing art works with your honest and humble help, since in my heart and soul, artists are some of the finest and honest souls that I've met in my entire life.
Manuel Espirito Santo
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