We asked Matilde Santos to share her testimony about the field trip made to the Materials Bank in the scope of the REVINTAGE project. Matilde is a student of Externato Senhora do Carmo’s Vocational Course of Tourism Technician.
In the scope of the International REVINTAGE Project, with MAERA as the Portuguese partner, a field trip was made to the Materials Bank in the city of Porto. The site is located in the Palacete dos Viscondes de Balsemão. This municipal project was awarded in 2009 and has been open to the public since 2010. The project promotes and safeguards materials that characterise the city’s image.
Throughout the visit, it was explained how the project was created and the objective of the project. We also learned how the tiles were collected, treated, protected and conserved. The tiles had different characteristics in shape, thickness, colour and length. We not only saw tiles (azulejos in Portuguese) but also decorative and constructive elements, stucco pieces and toponymy plaques.
For Matilde Santos, participating in the activity was very important because it helped her to know the cultural component of the country, especially the topic of tile conservation.
The student also mentioned that the REVINTAGE project was very important because it helped her access knowledge that otherwise was more difficult. Therefore, Matilde Santos considered that it was pertinent to have more projects with the characteristics of REVINTAGE.
Cover photo by Girl with red hat on Unsplash (fragment)