sempropporto

[sempropporto]

Along its fervent religious history, Porto’s populace have shown tremendous character and resistance. Its annual festival of Saint John, with its inheritance of pagan elements, will take on a different character this year, yet it is the mutability of folk themes that have guaranteed their place in North Portuguese society for over two millennia.

During this seminar we will see how it is the people that have carved out the distinct city of Porto as we see it today. Far from the a history of the ‘great man’ and hero worship, we will explore instead folk traditions and earlier pagan courtship rituals. Later on, in the age of steam, it was industry that built a metropolitan worker’s city. We will hear from the locals themselves, using historical accounts as well as interviews made in 2020 to let the town tell its own story.

It is the ‘port’ of Porto which gives its name to the whole country of Portugal. This vibrant city however derives its character because of its emotional and political opposition to the capital, Lisbon. The brusque and colourful language of the locals is also a component of this identity. Combined with this, we have a determined effort to create what Pascal calls “a celebrity culture before the age of celebrity”: the lives of the saints. Finally, we will also see the contribution of migrants, as port wine is drunk — in vast quantities! — thanks to the 500 year-old presence of British merchants.

Led by an expert on art and religious history, Pascal Ansell, this interactive seminar will argue for the peoples’ collective endeavour is the most defining element in how cities develop their characters. Designed to inform curiosity as well as future travels, participants will come away with an increased appreciation for the peculiarities that collectively make up contemporary metropolitan life.