Mar Nos Meus Olhos

Two large-scale urban art murals were painted on buildings in the city of Lagos (Algarve) to mark the centenary of the birth of poet Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, the first Portuguese woman to receive the Camões Prize.

The mega paintings of the poet's face were created by urban art artist João Samina, using the stencil technique, as part of an initiative by the Lagos City Council and the cultural association Laboratório de Atividades Criativas (LAC).

One of the murals, measuring around four metres high and eight metres wide, was painted at the Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen Primary School in August.

João Samina said he felt honoured to have been invited to be part of Lagos' tribute to such an important figure in Portuguese literature as Sophia de Mello Breyner.

“It’s an honour because I like the texts and the work, and also because I do these works in Lagos, a city to which I have a very strong connection and which I have visited regularly since 2013 to collaborate on projects with LAC”, said the urban artist.

For João Samina, this is a type of work that he enjoys doing, which motivates him and fits his way of working: “I usually try to tell a story that convinces me and motivates me to produce the work. This is one of those projects and it was very easy to connect the dots and find parallels between the relationship of both, the poet and myself, with the city”.

Each work takes an average of three weeks to be completed, two weeks of which are spent preparing the “canvas” and another for the creation of the mega paintings.

According to the president of the Creative Activities Laboratory (LAC), Nuno Pereira, João Samina was chosen to create the works due to the recognition of his paintings, which are spread throughout the country”.

“Given the personality being honoured, her connection to Lagos and the legacy she left in Portuguese culture, we felt that João Samina was the artist who had all the conditions to create the two works featuring the poetess”, he stressed.

Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen was born on 6 November 1919, in Porto, and died on 2 July 2004. She was the first Portuguese woman to receive the Portuguese language literary award, the Camões Prize, in 1999.