History
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Make Hay
The Hay Festival programme is out. Details arrived by email on Saturday, which is fortunate as the next letter of the A-Z writing challenge is H. The Hay Literature Festival is more than a book event. It is two weeks of stimulation and reflective entertainment. This year the dates are 26 May to 5 June 2016 We are not going to make the trip to Wales, but that does not stop me looking through the programme and highlighting writers, drooling over books, and soaking up ideas. Here are a few events, just in the history section, that caught my eye. Sinclair McKay and Thomas BriggsBLETCHLEY AND ENIGMAEvent 11 • Friday 27 May 2016, 1pm • Venue:…
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Egyptian Mummies, CT scanning & Scams
Dr. Campbell Price, the Curator of Egypt and the Sudan at The Manchester Museum is in the Algarve this week, hosted by the AAA, the Archaeological Association. He spoke to an intrigued audience, highlighting how science is revealing what is under the wraps of mummies without having to unwind the ancient linen bandages. The Manchester Museum is home to one of the largest and most important collections of ancient Egyptian artefacts in the UK. The collection includes objects from prehistoric Egypt (c. 10,000 BC) to the Byzantine era, up to around AD 600.
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Defectors – by any other name
“Kim Philby, Britain’s most notorious cold war traitor, told an audience of East German spies after his defection, that he was able to avoid being rumbled for so long because he had been “born into the British governing class.” So says the Guardian – His exploits, along with those of Burgess, Blunt, and Maclean make for dramatic reading. Known as the Cambridge Spy ring, it turns out that they may have been influenced and possibly led by a woman, Edith Tudor-Hart. Documents declassified after 50 years reveal that Edith was under round the clock surveillance. “The MI5 files detail the way in which the agency’s close scrutiny of Tudor-Hart’s life…
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Álvaro de Campos 125th Anniversary
A celebration of Álvaro de Campos will take place in Tavira from 8th to 25th October 2015. One of the organisers of the programme, Tela Leao, kindly agreed to an interview. The recorded interview explores why this character is of relevance to Tavira, Portugal, what artistic activities will take place and who is involved in the events. Álvaro de Campos was one of the Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa’s heteronyms. Pessoa’s detailed description of Álvaro de Campos, has him born on October 15th, in Tavira 125 years ago. Associations, the local library, that bears the name of Álvaro de Campos, artists, singers, photographers, dancers, actors, performers and writers, are all coming together to celebrate…
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A few photos from the launch of the Copacabana – Panoramas of Rio de Janeiro Exhibition
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Copacabana – Panoramas of Rio de Janeiro
Since September 2012, Portugal along with Brazil, has been celebrating the year of Portugal in Brazil and Brazil in Portugal. The celebration “Year” has involved a range of artistic and scientific exchanges between both Countries. The aim of the year in Portugal is to showcase a young, modern and innovative country, in which the economy, the arts, science and business play a central role. The celebrations continue until Portugal Day, on 10th June. To mark this important “Year”, Tavira has been chosen to host a very special, indeed unique exhibition. In an interview last week, at the Consulate in Faro, Consul General of Brazil in Faro, Ambassador Manuel Innocencio de Lacerda Santos…
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The Romans in the Algarve
The March talk for the Algarve Archeological Association featured Catarina Viegas and it was called “The Romans in the Algarve”. Catarina Viegas who is based at the University of Lisbon spoke in English and gave an informed and detailed talk, with excellent slides. Her studies, which formed her PhD, focused on just a small part of the pottery found in the Eastern Algarve. She told the group that from just those small fragments a vast story can be revealed, which uncovers a civilization’s way of life, echoes of which can be sensed in the present.She started her presentation by recalling an early pioneer of archeology of the region, Estacio da Veiga.…
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Luz sobre a Ria Photo exhibition (Light over the Rio Formosa)
Paulo Viegas is not only a member of the Algarve Photography group, but he is also the powerhouse behind the photography group f/18, based in the eastern Algarve. One of his many passions is a boat called the Golfinho, which has for a few years been lying on the beach in Cacelha Velha. It’s an usual fishing boat made of wood that can no longer make its way up the river estuary because of silt and sand erosion. Boats of this kind are rare. Paulo with others have now raised over 1500 Euros, to have the boat moved and restored. Most of the money has come through contributions and the sale of…
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Mediterranean Diet – Dieta Mediterrãnica – Intangible culture – Tavira exhibition
On Saturday 23rd February 2013, Jorge Botelho, Mayor of Tavira, launched the exhibition, Mediterranean Diet – Dieta Mediterrãnica, at the Palácio da Galeria. The exhibition runs until May 2014. The exhibition explores the intangible cultural heritage of human health and nutrition found in the Mediterranean diet. This is a timely exhibition aimed at a variety of audiences. Only this week, another report has credited the Mediterranean diet, with reducing heart attacks and strokes. According to the New York Times “About 30 percent of heart attacks, strokes and deaths from heart disease can be prevented in people at high risk if they switch to a Mediterranean diet rich in olive oil, nuts, beans,…
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Portugal and the Spanish Civil War
Members of the Algarve Archeological Association took the opportunity this month, to listen to Chris Pollard at the Sao Bras Museum. Chris is a thoughtful, clear speaker, so his presentation about Portugal’s relationship with Spain especially during the 1920’s and 30’s, held people’s attention, with numerous questions being asked. Chris began by explaining the political context that led up to the Spanish civil war. In 1920, Andalusia alone, was owned by just 11 landowners. Peasants worked the land. Although tacitly neutral, World war I (1914-1918) found Spain divided, with conservatives, Church and Army, leaning towards Germany. 1917 witnessed four governments and a succession of labour crises. In 1919, strikes…
