Artist Residency in Jardim da Estrela June 2025
I am now at Jardim da Estrela, in Lisbon, for two weeks. My artistic process is one of immersion—allowing the place to guide me, and responding to what wishes to emerge.
The residency begun, with much research on the fascinating history of the house… and the garden.
The house was once a nursery inspired by the pedagogy of Fröbel, a German educator considered, in many ways, a pioneer of early childhood educational philosophy. In 1837, Fröbel opened the first kindergarten, where children were seen as little plants in a garden, tended by the teacher as gardener.
The child expressed themselves through sensory perception activities, language, and play. Oral language was linked to nature and to life.
The child expressed themselves through sensory perception activities, language, and play. Oral language was linked to nature and to life.
My first days are beautiful and peaceful, marked by exploration of the garden, the house, and the history. Yesterday, in a fascinating conversation with Noélia, a staff member responsible for activities in the children’s area, I observed games of tic-tac-toe, memory games, and others, all of which she had crafted using materials from the garden itself: pieces of wood, stones…
On a walk, I sit on a bench and watch a group of teenage youths “playing,” observing how they move within a defined space. They move like a flock of sparrows, harmoniously, while interacting and having fun. I think: what is a garden? What is play? I think slowly, resisting the impulse to search the internet for definitions and knowledge around these concepts. I think as if discovering a virgin forest. I think from nothing… waiting for ideas about the essence of the garden to descend upon me.
I draw, I talk… I surrender to the place. I discover, with gratitude, that this residency is, in itself, an opportunity to “play,” to reconnect with the mind in a new, untouched, ex-pe-ri-men-tal way.
My purpose is to till the soil of thought, to let it breathe — just as we aerate the earth when we cultivate it.
During this time, I plan to gather stories and create an imaginary herbarium.I will facilitate a workshop on the harmonious geometry of plants.
