Ecological Spirals and Mineral Journeys - featuring parts of my contribution to a new book by António Monteiro.
'Not Circles, but Spirals: 4-D landscape flows and nature-culture entanglements in the Côa Valley, Portugal'
There is a slow, quiet unraveling at work across some interior landscapes of southern Europe...
Film-Poem: Imagens Em Rochas / Images On Rocks
Between 2021 and 2024 I undertook an ecological artist residency in the Côa Valley, in eastern Portugal - a collaboration with archaeologist/ethnographer Bárbara Carvalho and also the musician Jesse D. Vernon. Much of our creative fieldwork and community involvement was carried out in the zone of the valley close to the Faia Brava nature reserve, which is the location of the Lapas Cabreiras site, known for its impressive collection of prehistoric ‘Schematic’ painted rock-art motifs.
Greater Côa Valley residency - Wild Côa Symphony
Creative Team: ecological artist Antony Lyons, archaeologist Bárbara Carvalho and musician Jesse D. Vernon.
 |
| Music and sonic walk in Vale Carapito |
Situated in an an ecological regeneration area, the aim of our collaborative working
is to establish a space – real and metaphorical – for the co-creation of a
video-sonic ‘portrait’ with which people can genuinely feel an emotional
relationship, and which can continue to evolve over time.
Some further ponderings from the Here Commons Everybody creative programme - soon to enter a second phase - What Commons Next?
In relation to two connected artist residencies in Côa Valley, Portugal and Elan Valley, Wales) my strands of creative exploration seem to be circling around a vortex;
Wild Côa Symphony. A 1-year artist residency project with the Endangered Landscapes Programme & Rewilding Portugal. Summer 2022 update.
[Extracted from a news article on the ELP website, and including personal reflections from primary creative collaborator on Wild Côa Symphony, Bárbara Carvalho, creative ethnographer, Portugal]
Imaginative weavings of landscape, ecologies and communities:
Working closely with local communities in the Côa Valley, the ecological artist, Antony Lyons, and public archaeologist, Bárbara Carvalho, have been exploring this impressive riverine landscape
wanderings, wonderings and ponderings in two valleys
“All that is gold does not glitter
Not all those who wander are lost”
Bilbo Baggins, describing Strider, in Lord Of The Rings, JRR Tolkein
Last summer, I was back in the sanctuary - or retreat - of the ‘artist cottage’
The Hills Are Alive...
[Adapted from published catalogue text] In Autumn 2020, invited by Artefact Projects in Stirchley, Birmingham, I set out to weave together field recordings (video and sonic) from two places - the Elan Valley in Wales and River Rea trail that passes through Stirchley.