Cervejaria Pireza, Rua Conselheiro Joaquim António D'Aguiar, Barreiro Portugal 5th November 2022

Stuart Bowditch Podcasts

Part of a series of recordings being made for the project Fonema in Barreiro, Portugal. My two week residency is part of Territory, a programme commissioned by Sluice magazine and PADA Studios, which will exhibit as part of the Lisbon Art Weekend 10-13th November 2022. I sat drinking a beer in the afternoon outside of the Cervejaria Pireza listening to the clientele converse about things I had no chance of understanding. I love this kind of situation as I'm completely reliant on interpreting tone, intensity, gesture and body language as to what may or may not be being spoken about. All of these conversations were happening on the ground floor, inside the bar and in the street. After a while I noticed conversations of a different kind happening on the first floor. Residents in this area are keen on keeping caged birds (not something I am a fan of. I don't really agree with the concept of pets.) and at least three birds in cages outside three separate houses seemed to be chatting to each other above the people below.