Evolução -Curitiba F6001 - Ernesto Matos

Evolução - Curitiba F6001 is one of many components of Ernesto Matos’ expert and wide-ranging study of the Calçada Portuguesa, the well-known sidewalk technology and cultural artform found in Lisbon and in many other cities in Portugal as well as in other parts of the world where Portuguese influence has been strong. Literally made with one of these stones that humanity uses in its life support (one of the cobbles of the calçada), Evolução is a social criticism in the face of humanity’s problems. As Ernesto puts it:

“The stones of the sidewalks convey cultural values. Stone has been an integral part of sustaining communication since prehistoric times, and throughout human existence, stone has been the support upon which the great journey of humankind has been made. The value is found in the small, individual stones that make up the whole: the larger pavements. It is a single value that few people notice. Sometimes the beauty of little things, such as stones, is to be discovered within each one, or within the world that exists under the rocks, for example the house of ants. The vital questions: what does the stone give us, and how can we repay it?”

“Evolução - Curitiba F6001 is a criticism of the speed that humanity advances and moves away from the stone and towards a connection with the silicon chip. Without the stone, how will we have the support we need to continue to live?”

For an overview of more of Ernesto’s work, have a look at this website:

https://sites.google.com/site/sonaspedrasmeconfesso/

To learn more about Ernesto’s published work on the Calçada Portuguesa, have a look these publications:

Matos, E. 2004. Lisboa das Calçadas. Lisboa: Câmara Municipal de Lisboa.

Matos, E. 2016. Calçada Portuguesa no Mundo: Stellis undis Contactis. Sessenta e Nove Manuscritos, Lisboa.

Matos, E. 2018. Calçada Portuguesa: Scriptum in Petris. Lisbon: Sessenta e Nove Manuscritos.

Matos, E. 2020. A cultura popular na pavimentação artística da Praça do Império na Exposição do Mundo  Português, de 1940. [Popular culture in the artistic pavement of Praça do Império at the 1940 Portuguese World Exhibition]. Cadernos de Arte Pública 2(2): 47-61.

Matos, E. 2020. Calçada Portuguesa: In Excelsis Petris. Lisbon: Mythus de Er.

You can order Ernesto’s books from bookstores in Lisbon and from these two online retailers:

 FNAC https://www.fnac.pt/ 

 WOOK https://www.wook.pt/