Community Development

Aurora

A community performance created by the Mnemos theater company for Fornos CCC 2025, drawing on the memories, the local area, and the people of Fornos.

Fornos - Santa Maria da Feira, part of the Fornos CCC 2025 program.

Synopsis

Aurora marks the founding of the Mnemos theater company through a community-based performance drawn from the memories, stories, and people of Fornos. Blending theater, movement, and sound design, the production celebrates the region as a place of belonging and identity.

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It was also the natural continuation of a journey that began with Jeanneth and was further developed in this project with Inês. A journey built on friendship and a very unique way of understanding artistic creation.

Although there were only a few of us on the artistic team, there were many of us when it came to what really mattered. An entire parish came together around its memories, its stories, and what makes a place a community.

The motto of the 2025 Municipal Culture Capital was precisely this: to engage with the community, listen to the region, and understand the identity of its residents.

For me, this project had a deeply personal dimension.

For the first time, my grandfather’s voice opened a show I had created. For the first time, I saw my parents take the stage as part of an artistic process in which I, too, was involved. For the first time, I felt I could give back to the place where I grew up a part of what he had given me.

There are few things as important as knowing where we're headed because we know where we came from.

Seeing my parents on stage is a memory I can't even begin to describe. No words of thanks could ever be enough for a moment like that.

For this project, I was responsible for sound design and sound editing.

Aurora reminded me that memory isn't just for looking back at the past. It's also for building the future.

Methodology

The project was developed through community-based creative practices, involving residents of the parish in the creation of the performance.

Local memory served as the main starting point for the play, weaving together personal accounts, territorial identity, and contemporary artistic creation.

Community

Aurora was born with and for the community of Fornos.

It sought to recognize the people who shape the territory on a daily basis, transforming their memories into a collective artistic experience.

Process

The show was developed through a collaborative process that involved professional artists and residents of the parish of Fornos.

The project began with the collection of local memories, community work, and the development of a dramatic structure in which the local area became artistic material.

The sound design was developed in constant dialogue with the staging, the movement, and the community’s testimonies.

Results

Aurora marked the public performance by the Mnemos company and served as a moment that celebrated community-based creativity in Fornos.

The project strengthened the bonds between artists and the community, celebrated the parish’s collective memory, and brought together different generations in a single artistic process.

For me, it also represented a reconnection with my own roots and a unique opportunity to create art in the place where I grew up.