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The glaziers of Santo Ovídio - Vidraria Santo Ovídio

Often we don't know what's going on. 

We're foreign and we miss things that other people know without even trying: information that they absorb, we have to scurry after. We're not isolated: we speak to our neighbours, to other parents at the school, to the stall-holders at the outdoor market, but still we miss things. Like knowing the pervading season. 

The local glazing supplier helps with this. 

Vidraria Sto. Ovídio - glass - mirrors - glass blocks - double glazing - tempered glass - x-ray glass - morolux

Some of the time the window display has double-glazing, wavy-edged mirrors and glass blocks. At other times, a diorama appears amongst the glass products to show the prevailing season. 

We never the see the creator of these scenes but we know something of their working methods: they're happy to mix sizes and scales. They're pragmatic and impartial. They make use of what they have to hand: a selection of dollies, toys, knick-knacks, tourist tat and memorabilia. The Christmas display had a least a dozen Santa Clauses, the smallest the size of a wine glass and the largest bigger than a suckling pig. 

Christmas wasn't an event that caught us unawares. We've learnt this one since childhood. Same with Easter. We know the sound it makes as it approaches. So when we saw the glazier's window displays for these two celebrations, we enjoyed them from the comfort of our knowledge. We admired the way that the displays repeated details of the tradition or playfully varied them. 

But vindima and magusto were different. We knew barely enough to remember when these events would come around. In late September, the dollies treading plastic grapes reminded us that somewhere nearby the vindima (grape harvest) was going on. Magusto celebrates the fertility of the land, and in particular chestnuts, as the harvest season is ending. 

Carnival always catches us unaware. This year it was on 20 and 21 February. It has a spring energy but it comes when winter hasn't left. And we hadn't expected the common elements between Carnival and Halloween: 


At these times we looked at the glazier's window displays in a different way, examining it, gathering useful information, collecting details to store, sort and assess. Food for life. Cultural provision. 


Muitas vezes não sabemos o que se está a acontecer. 

Somos estrangeiros e não compreendemos coisas que outras pessoas sabem sem sequer tentar: informação que absorvem, temos de colher. Não estamos isolados: falamos com os nossos vizinhos, com outros pais na escola, produtores no mercado, mas mesmo assim há coisas que não sabemos. 

A vidraria mais próxima ajuda com isto. 

Vidraria Sto. Ovídio - vidros - espelhos - tijolo vidro - vidro duplo - vidro temperado - vidro raio X - morolux

As vezes, a montra tem exemplos de vidros duplos, espelhos ondulados e blocos de vidro. Outras vezes, aparece um diorama entre os produtos de vidro para mostrar a estação predominante. 

Nunca vemos o criador destas cenas, mas sabemos algo dos seus métodos de trabalho: eles estão capaz de misturar tamanhos e escalas. São pragmáticos e imparciais. Usem do que têm: uma selecção de bonecos, brinquedos, quinquilharias, e coisas turísticas.  A exposição de Natal tinha pelo menos uma dúzia de Pais Noel, o mais pequeno do tamanho de um copo e o maior do tamanho de um leitão. 

O Natal não foi um evento que nos tenha apanhado desprevenidos. Aprendemos este desde a infância. O mesmo com a Páscoa. Conhecemos o som que faz à medida que se aproxima. Assim, quando vimos as cenas na montra da vidraria para estas duas celebrações, apreciámo-las com conhecimento. Admirámos a forma como as cenas preservaram a tradição cultural ou a alteraram de forma lúdica. 

Mas vindima e magusto eram diferentes. Mal sabíamos o suficiente para nos lembrarmos de quando estes eventos se realizariam. No final de Setembro, os bonecos a pisar uvas de plástico lembravam-nos que em algum lugar perto a vindima estava a decorrer. Magusto celebra a fertilidade da terra, em particular as castanhas, quando a época da colheita está a terminar. Nestas alturas, olhámos para as vitrinas do vidraceiro de uma forma diferente, examinando-as, recolhendo informações úteis, recolhendo detalhes para armazenar, ordenar e avaliar. Comida. Fornecimento cultural. 

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Location: Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal

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