A Descriptive Memory

1. As a descriptive memory we will gather already existing photographs and video in order to use them in the documentary to be produced, which will reveal the fishing arts as well as other relevant traditional activities that marked the local community’s day-to-day life and which were important for the subsistence of the numerous local families and some of which still live there. 

2. To video record interviews with some of the inhabitants of the Old Quarter who can testify to important moments in their lives and that these are related to local experiences, in order to make a documentary record of the importance of the contribution of their habits and customs to Madeiran Culture.

3. As this is a community of mostly fishing origin, intrinsically linked to fishing and its sea, and knowing that there are fewer and fewer traditional boats embellishing the charming bay of Funchal, this project will embrace the challenge of recovering a traditional Madeiran canoe with several decades of existence, built by one of the best local craftsmen, very popular among the whole community.

This is a bet of the municipality to preserve more of this heritage that will certainly help maintain the identity of this community. The reconstruction process will take place in Largo do Corpo Santo, so that the local population and others can closely observe the entire restoration process, which will be duly documented on video to be integrated in the documentary to be unveiled by Teatro Municipal Baltazar Dias (TMBD). 

4. The premiere of the documentary in question will be exhibited on a date to be announced by the TMBD and aims to invite the official public entities, but also to count on the presence of the residents of the Old Town of Funchal who helped to make this documentary possible. The documentary will later be available in digital format, to be viewed and consulted by all through the TMBD’s webpage. 

5. After the premiere of the documentary, TMBD’s goal is to perform a simple homage to the artisans of the Old City of Funchal who, in a certain way, have contributed, above all and in the last few years, to the affirmation of a community that deserves all the respect and affection, not only from the public in general, but also from the governmental entities in particular.