Last Friday, 18th of May, International Museum Day, the book “Várzea de Calde: Uma Aldeia Tecida a Linho” (“Várzea de Calde: A Village Woven in Flax”) was presented, coordinated by Luis Costa, at the Casa de Lavoura e Oficina do Linho – Museu Etnográfico de Várzea de Calde (Museus de Viseu). Present at the presentation were Dr. Jorge Sobrado, Councillor for Culture of the Municipality of Viseu, Mr. José Fernandes, President of the Calde Parish Council, Dr. Raquel Greenleaf, Director of the Casa de Lavoura e Oficina do Linho – Museu Etnográfico de Várzea de Calde, Manuela Barile, Artistic Director of Binaural Nodar, and Researcher Alessandro from the Department of Social, Political and Territorial Sciences of the University of Aveiro, partner of the Viseu Rural 2.0 project through the European project Susplace, linked to the economic and social sustainability of rural territories.

The opening of the event was also attended by the Grupo Etnográfico de Trajes e Cantares do Linho de Várzea de Calde.

“Várzea de Calde: Uma Aldeia Tecida a Linho” is a 248-page book, written in Portuguese and English, which describes in great detail the relationship between the community of Várzea de Calde and the ancestral tradition of sowing, processing, spinning and weaving flax.

The work is the result of a long three-year period of ethnographic research in the village of Várzea de Calde, carried out by the Binaural Nodar association in close collaboration with the Casa de Lavoura e Oficina do Linho – Museu Etnográfico de Várzea de Calde (Museus de Viseu), the Calde Parish Council and the Cooperativa do Linho de Várzea de Calde.

During the three years of research, more than 50 hours of supporting sound and audiovisual recordings were made (recordings of the flax processing stages, interviews with weavers and other residents, audiovisual landscapes, etc.), which are part of the Viseu Rural 2.0 project, co-financed by the Municipality of Viseu, the European Commission (Creative Europe programme – Réseau Tramontana project) and the Direcção-Geral das Artes, and are available at www.viseururalmedia.org

The book is available for sale at the Casa de Lavoura e Oficina do Linho – Museu Etnográfico de Várzea de Calde or through Binaural Nodar.

Our heartfelt thanks to all those present.