Inspired by the theme “We, Migrants”, the municipality of Ourém is organising the September Festival on 8, 9 and 10 September, with the aim of “addressing the relationship between Cultural Heritage, the History of Place and Interculturality”, with initiatives and dialogues around cultural diversity, inspired by “the trajectories of migration from Ourém to France, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, as well as all the other destinations in the world”.

Zoom link  https://videoconf-colibri.zoom.us/j/92530055686

More information about the Festival here.

Abstract

The seminar aims to address the current panorama of Portuguese emigration, as well as to question and reflect on the cultural exchanges and identity representations built on migratory trajectories.

Thematic panels | Current and historical emigration; effects on places of origin: emigrants' homes; effects of emigrants' return to places of origin.

Programme

10h00 | Opening session

Cláudia Pereira (Emigration Observatory, CIES-Iscte, University Institute of Lisbon)

Luís Miguel Albuquerque (Mayor of Ourém) 

Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs

High Commission for Migration

Centre for Research in Anthropology (CRIA)

11h00 | Panel 1  Current and historical emigration

Moderation  Cláudia Pereira (Emigration Observatory, CIES-Iscte, University Institute of Lisbon)

Carlota Moura Veiga e Inês Vidigal
(Emigration Observatory, CIES-Iscte, University Institute of Lisbon)

Characterising Portuguese emigration in the 21st century

Portuguese emigration grew on the eve of the 25 April Revolution, fell to record lows after that date, grew again from the mid-1980s onwards, increased at the start of the new century, fell during the 2008 financial crisis, reached record highs again in 2013 and has been slowly falling ever since. In comparative terms, Portugal is now a country of migratory repulsion, a characteristic it shares with most Eastern European states. In this paper, we present the recent history of Portuguese emigration, identify the mechanisms and episodes that explain it and discuss the methodological problems involved in studying it.

Victor Pereira
(IHC NOVA-FCSH)

The Salazar dictatorship and emigration. The Portuguese state and its emigrants in France (1957-1974)

12h00 | Panel 2  Effects on places of origin: emigrants' homes

Moderation  Carlota Moura Veiga (Emigration Observatory, CIES-Iscte, University Institute of Lisbon)

Ana Saraiva
(CRIA NOVA-FCSH)

(Post)rural houses between 1900 and 2015: architectural expressions and identity trajectories

António Afonso de Deus
(Lusófona University)

From the Place of the House to the House as Place. The house of the Portuguese-Brazilian emigrant in the valorisation of architecture and urban space

The houses that Luso-Brazilian emigrants build in the places they leave are unique examples of recognised architectural and urban value. In places where emigration to Brazil is very significant, such as Oliveira de Azeméis, the birthplace of Ferreira de Castro, the houses built by the "returning" emigrants have a symbolic charge that carries renewed meanings, brought to life in the architecture of the house and the place where it is located. Casa como Lugar reflects on this phenomenon, on the importance of valuing these architectures for their historical significance and their cultural, multidisciplinary interest.

14h30 | Panel 3  Effects of emigrants returning home

Moderation  Inês Vidigal (Emigration Observatory, CIES-Iscte, University Institute of Lisbon)

João Baía
(ICS-ULisboa)

Place of departure, return or passage? The impact of migration on a rural village in Trás-os-Montes

This communication will present some of the results of an investigation that sought, through the study of migratory trajectories, to understand differences and similarities, in terms of the connection with the village of departure, between internal and international migrants over time. The village of Montesinho was the place chosen to study different types of migration and directions and their effects on that same place. The migratory practices studied developed more between places than between countries, constituting dense translocal migratory currents. A typology will be proposed to analyse the different possibilities of return that have been identified and to question the future of this town, located in Trás-os-Montes, north of Bragança and on the border, which has several characteristics similar to several towns in the vast rural national territory, from the north to the south of the country, a space that is less and less studied, more exposed to extractivist logics (mining industry, forestry production, intensive agriculture, tourism), without any real consultation with the populations affected, functioning as a reserve space for future uses. 

Fátima Velez de Castro
(FLUC)

The representation of migrants in cinema. Designing mind maps and anatopias based on film analysis