Saudade [soh-dah-duh]
Noun: A nostalgic or melancholic state of longing for something or someone you love, with the knowledge that it may never return.
West Australian artist Jacobus Capone’s Forgiving Night for Day is a reflective exploration of the Portuguese word ‘saudade,’ and a celebration of the musical genre Fado as a symbol of Lisbon and Portuguese culture.
After a winter in Lisbon, spending cold evenings exploring Fado bars and early mornings observing the city from isolated lookouts, Capone was inspired to write a poem that was translated and adapted by Tiago Torres de Silva.
Over the course of seven consecutive days, Capone filmed seven different Fado singers reciting his poem from secluded lookouts all over Lisbon into the stillness of dawn. These films are displayed on large screens of varying heights over Pica’s gallery space, with a haunting track of subtle music and singing birds in the background.
Each singer brings a unique style to their recital, and as a result their own meaning of saudade. One screen shows a man proudly belting the tune with a puffed chest while in another film, with rugs pulled tightly around her shoulders, a woman quietly sings the tune as she wipes tears from her eyes.
It is with this that Capone has been able to create an emotional and melancholic atmosphere while simultaneously capturing the catharsis of a new day, and the hope that it brings with it.
Forgiving Night for Day is a part of the Perth International Arts Festival (PIAF) and will be featuring at PICA’s central performance space from 18 February to 16 April 2017.
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