Art: My Own and Others'

In 1755 the great Lisbon earthquake (o Terremoto) was followed by fires and floods. It ravaged the city and made way for the redesign that made Lisbon what it is today. Even if my blog hasn’t exactly been shaken by an earthquake, it’s about to be redesigned—a few of the same lines, but also all sorts of new features: comics, sketches, stories...

This blog is about art. So, though I’ve done a lot of wandering through art museums and wondering about what I’ve seen, I’m writing something more like a guide to the city through a glimpse into some art museums and some of my own art.

Gulbenkian: Since my favorite pastime is drawing (I sketch everywhere: on the metro, in the bus, at home, at cafés, while waiting for cello lessons, while standing in line for the bathroom, etc.) I’ll introduce you to my wandering through the Gulbenkian a little differently. The story that follows is fictional (any likeness to actual people, intended); but all the pieces are favorites from my trip to the museum (except for the rugs; I thought it was necessary to include them).





Museu da Marioneta: The puppet museum, which you might not expect to find in an old convent and which you can get to only by climbing an endless narrow winding street. As you walk through a labyrinth of rooms, you first find puppets from Asia, such as weird dragon creatures, porcelain princesses, water puppets (puppets that run around in water), and intimidating shadow puppets. You wind your way through clans of puppets from Europe, Africa, Brazil, then modern Portugal. I saw grotesque figures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, clay TV puppets for cartoons, and puppets with creepy button eyessssssssss... I returned to the Museu da Marioneta last Sunday for a finger puppet work shop, during which I created a stage, sets, my mom, my dad, my sister Katarina, my brother Isaac, my guinea pig Blue, and a princess, as princesses always come in handy in puppet shows.


Museu Bordalo Pinheiro: This museum is about a guy named, surprise surprise, Bordalo Pinheiro. He did lots of caricatures featuring a character he created called ZÊ POVINHO (JOE PEOPLE). Zé is this guy who doesn’t like to do a lot of work, but will if he’s pushed (kind of like me). He’s often pictured with a saddle—since he represents the people, he’s ridden and stepped on a lot (kind of like me in the metro at rush hour). Though his caricatures were most interesting to me, Bordalo Pinheiro also made beautiful porcelain pieces covered in figures, animals, mermaids and fish. He did make some early bobble heads out of clay. He gave me some ideas about how to get away with being critical in a comic sort of way. He was quite the caricature—I mean character.


Museu do Azulejos: Azulejos are a HUGE Portugese thing, like Fado. Azulejos are glazed tiles. There are Azulejos with blue sketches, Azulejos with geometrical designs, Azulejos that stick out like reliefs, Azulejos that are inlaid, and Azulejos that are painted like canvases. This museum shows all the different processes for making them (corda seca, etc.) and displays centuries of tiles. I recognized the birds and rabbits that I’d seen on the Azulejos at the Fábrica dos Pasteis de Belem. There is one impressive scene picturing a doctor sticking a gigantic syringe into a boy’s bottom. I think the boy must have died of blood loss, if he didn’t die of fright at the sight of that needle. Some of my favorites: modern big-eyed owls you can see in the metro and an ancient azulejo with a lion in relief.