Quinta do Pisão, already known for hosting the Cascais LandArt biennial, has just welcomed one of the "cocoons" by Swiss artist Roger Rigorth. It's the third environmental artwork to be installed in the park.
The piece (in the photo) consists of two iron structures wrapped in a weaving of rope and suspended from the trunks of a Quercus suber, or cork oak, a protected species emblematic of the Portuguese territory. The piece suggests a cocoon, a womb, a protection that allows for survival. Or perhaps an acorn from the cork oak itself, a seed, the future, a sustainable future. Roger Rigorth, quoted by Quinta do Pisão, says "you don't need to understand it, just feel it," drawing attention to the 'invisible intelligence of our ecosystem'.
The project of uniting art and nature and drawing attention to Quinta do Pisão is led by artistic director Sofia Barros, herself a visual artist, who has developed public projects that combine arts, environment, and education, believing that art is a good tool for raising awareness about the importance of the environment and biodiversity. The other two environmental artworks she commissioned earlier and which can be seen at Quinta do Pisão are Rise and Fall, by British artist Stuart Ian Frost (2018), and Daydreamer, by Belgian artist Will Beckers (2019).
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+ Pop it in your diary: the next Estoril craft fair (FIARTIL) has got its dates locked in!