THE TIME OF THINGS
Visual and Audio Exhibition
April 18 – August 30, 2026
Opening: Saturday, April 18 at 3:00 p.m.
Everyone lives surrounded by objects that carry more than just their physical form—they bring with them stories, memories, and emotions that span generations and, often, cross borders.
The community project “The Time of Things” turns its gaze toward this complex richness, paying special attention both to objects that have been preserved since the ancestors who lived in a context of self-sufficient rural life – from farm tools to traditional crafts and objects of family life – but also to those that bear witness to the social changes rural communities have experienced in recent decades, particularly the experience of emigration, as well as that of studying away from their home villages.
On the one hand, many of the objects kept with care and affection reveal a silent conversation with the distant past of family ancestors. The deep connection to the land, the natural rhythms, and the traditions that shaped rural life tangibly bear witness to an essential way of life that, though now distant from the objects of modernity, continues to pulse in the memories of many families and in the collective identity of the inhabitants of the villages in the parish of Calde.
On the other hand, other objects were brought from the lands where some lived, many in search of new opportunities; these objects are living symbols of those trajectories of change and adaptation. They bear the marks of labor, coexistence, and concrete experiences lived in multiple places, and are, at the same time, bridges between here and there, between what was left behind and what was built far away. Some of the objects kept by families thus reflect how life has been reshaped in a social setting very different from that of these people’s origins.
The visual and audio exhibition “The Time of Things” invites us to see the forms and hear the voices of objects with sentimental value. By sharing the stories that accompany each of them, family and collective memories are honored, and, hopefully, the sense of belonging and self-esteem of the residents involved in the project is strengthened. To love and care for these objects is, after all, to love life itself—the life that has been lived, the life that is being lived, and the life one hopes to live.
In this edition of “The Time of Things,” organized in collaboration with the Municipality of Viseu, through the Várzea de Calde Linen Museum and the Calde Civil Parish Council, a community-based series of memory-sharing gatherings was proposed, held between October 2025 and February 2025, culminating in this exhibition, which offers everyone the opportunity to discover and experience the diversity of emotional memories through the materials, forms, and textures that accompany life.
The curators of this project thank the residents of the various villages in the parish of Calde who agreed to select one of their cherished objects and who shared its personal significance.
Credits:
A production by Binaural Nodar, in partnership with the Municipality of Viseu, through the Várzea de Calde Linen Museum, with the Calde Civil Parish Council, and part of the European project Tramontana Network, co-funded by the Creative Europe Program.
Original Concept: Luís Costa
Methodological and Technical Design: Luís Costa, Ana Margarida Ferreira, and Nely Ferreira
Interviews and Photographic Documentation: Ana Margarida Ferreira and Nely Ferreira
Visual Panel Design: Ana Margarida Ferreira
Audio Piece: Nely Ferreira and Luís Costa
Graphic Design: Liliana Silva
Text Transcription: Nely Ferreira and Andreia Mota