I can't take a good day without a bad one.

But isn't that life?
It's all just begun.

Because I think I never told you

I am a human rights defender.
I simply felt like sharing this political message, hoping it strikes you as much as it afflicted my global concerns.

«So much heaven, so much hell
So much love, so much pain
So much more than I thought this world could ever contain
So much war, so much soul
Moments lost, moments go
So much more than I thought this world could ever hold»



Texto Imagem-Movimento-Pensamento: "Bombs", Faithless. «To All New Arrivals», 2006.

But inside my soul sings and rejoices

God Save the Queen!

Thank you

[King Albert and Queen Paola]

cahier de voyage#3
Antwerp

My dear friend Lotte had already warned me that the heart of Belgium is Flanders and more precisely Antwerp. Taken by the hands of Brabo, the mythological creature surrounding the legendary origins of this prosperous ancient city, I must say my visit had a particular charm and confirmed the cosmopolitan feel that I expected to find there. In my mind (there, where the roots of my historical knowldegde lie) Antwerp was synonym for wealth, commerce and a busy port carrying goods to the North of Europe. Today, it may well be my favourite Belgian city.

cahier de voyage#2
London

I tryed to stick to my very old promise of never bringing responsibilies to my fun moments, but my chaotic structure (or, should I say, my nature and the nature of everything that crosses my way) made me do it again. I was hired for a last minute job and couldn't possibly say no. So, after dinner, my first evening at London was spent in front of the laptop, untill the sun rose at my window.



I was right at Euston Square, very close to the London University College, and a few tube stations away from everything. Yes, I've minded the gap, looked to the right side of the road before crossing and managed to live London as my city. On my return home I've brought with me its vibrancy and sense of modernity, and I brought this secret wish of living there one day.

Feeling the streets of a city is the joy of any psychogeographer just like me. So I picked a map and drew a circular line around random streets of the city centre and wandered like an old time dandy, stopping only to feel the bustling, to hear the conversations, to smell the scent of coffee and tea, to write down my impressions, and to capture moments in a random snapshot.



I must admit I'm improving my sef-portrait skills.



London is a city of culture. Only a city of trully democratic culture makes its most valuable art and history collections available to the public for free. My passion for museums as houses of knowledge made me go wild on a 4 day tour around paitings, sculpures, perfomances, photos and eclectic multi-material compositions. The Tate Museums conquered my preference. On my way to Tate Modern I couldn't take my eyes of the priviledged terrace over the city, with the majestic St. Paul's Cathedral centralizing the spectators' attention.



I had to go there twice. On the first day, for the general collection, vast and comprehensive. On the second day, early in the morning (so early I had, to my own amazement, to wait and queue for the opening) for the Giberlt & George major exhibition.



I confess my ignorance as I barely knew the artists, but I am now able to understand their photos as a means to communicate beyond the narrow confines of the art world. Gilbert and George's slogan is Art for All. Their works are at times sexually charged, and all of them are extremely powerful (in dimension and in social content). Bad Thoughts (number 7, 1975), expressing the artists' own despair, is one my favourites.

cahier de voyage#1
London

If in London, be open to everything and let your spirit learn from the city where tomorrow is now.

A minha viagem a Londres teve o encanto do inesperado e uma preparação apressada que aguçou o sentido de descoberta e uma sensação de maravilhamento permanente.

O avant-voyage foi atribulado como nunca, bilhetes comprados na véspera, pela noite. Estar em trânsito no Eurostar foi a ignição que em mim despertou a personagem do viajante que percorre a velha Europa colado à janela do combóio. O sentido da viagem soube-me a passado, mas a verdade é que nos olhos levava já a ambição de ser confrontado com os limites da minha experiência presente. Eu queria era saber mais, ver mais e além. E esse novo horizonte abriu-se assim que, após o canal, se desvendaram as England's hills.

Eu sou confessamente um ser do elemento urbano, mas a minha ligação (afectiva, funcional, orgânica) às cidades por onde passo ou onde vivo, nem sempre acontece no imediato ou por vezes não acontece nunca. Percebi, por exemplo, em Bruxelas, como também sou um ser de despertença.

Mas em Londres aconteceu-me acreditar que já ali tinha estado (ou julgar que ali pertencia), sem nunca na verdade isso ter acontecido. E a ligação à urbe foi simbiótica, assim como o domínio confiante dos espaços, dos traços e dos sons, dos ritmos e das horas, do contacto com as pessoas.

A primeira noite em Londres foi uma estória de orientalismo e de descoberta multicultural pelos sabores. A primeira paragem depois da chegada ao hotel foi num restaurante indiano . O cardápio era revelador de um choque saboroso:

Mutter Paneer (peas and cottage cheese)

- 500 gms paneer cubed
- 200 gms shelled peas
- 2 large onions
- 3 medium tomatoes
- 1 tbsp ginger paste
- 2 tbsps garlic paste
- 2 tsps coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 2 tsps garam masala
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 green chillies chopped fine
- 6 tbsps of oil
- 1/2 cups water
- Salt to taste
- 3 tbsps cream
- Coriander leaves chopped fine to garnish

E ali aconteceu a sinestesia que me transportou. Naquela primeira noite, eu fui Bollywood.

Song Title: Nimbooda Nimbooda Nimbooda

Movie Name: HUM DIL DE CHUKESANAM

Singers: KAVITA KRISHNAMOORTHY, KARSAN SANGATHIA & CHORUS

Cahier de voyage

Lembro-me de, numa aula de literatura portuguesa, a Professora B. ter aberto o livro e ter-se suspenso (e a nós, que suspensos estávamos da sua leitura configuradora) numa referência a Xavier de Maistre que se encontra logo nas páginas iniciais das «Viagens na Minha Terra»:

Voyage autour de ma chambre
«Qu'il est glorieux d'ouvrir une nouvelle carrière, et de paraître tout à coup dans le monde savant, un livre de découvertes à la main, comme une comète inattendue étincelle dans l'espace!»

não é bem o que aqui sucederá.
afinal, je n'ai pas entrepris et exécuté un voyage de quarante-deux jours autour de ma chambre. Elle etait tout à fait bien ailleurs.

mas o que aqui me lego, neste apontamento virtual a que me entrego, é o prazer sensorial das minhas mais recentes viagens.

«Oh, partir est ce qu'on redoute»

Perco-me na nostalgia (estranha, anti-natural e antecipatória) de viver o amanhã.
Mas eu sou daqui, deste eterno sentido de um impulso propulsor, motor da vontade.
Inteiro no que há de inicial, original e novo,
e que é a desafogada partida deste regresso.

Música / Filme: «Moby & Mylène Farmer - Slipping Away (Crier La Vie)»