MOIRA: (Re)making Algarve's culture(s) of water through mixed media arts

Abstract

Drawing from Simon Bowen et al's concept of 'multiple making' and relating it to Tim Ingold's 'ways of making', this article delves into methodological considerations regarding the potential use(s) of (digital) artistic (re)creation as a tool for research and dissemination in the field of Heritage Studies. For that purpose, we will focus on Do-It-Yourself approaches to digital art, advocating for the integration of mixed media in the development of (artistic-research) heritage-based projects, such as MOIRA (2022): an in-situ multimedia installation based on the legends of the Enchanted Mouras in the Algarve region (South of Portugal). Aiming to explore the intangible heritage evoked by these intercultural (and intertemporal) narratives, MOIRA featured a digital well inspired by the vernacular water supply structures (particularly those still in use within the Santa Catarina da Fonte do Bispo parish, Tavira), which were frequently featured in the legends. Installed inside a desecrated chapel, the installation employs locally crafted handmade bricks. Furthermore, the public is challenged to take part in the (re)creation process, by activating real-time combinatorial incantations, representing a (poetic) attempt to release the Enchanted Moura. Additionally, visitors were encouraged to reinterpret audio records gathered from a series of workshops previously conducted with a local group of female embroiderers. By underscoring the placemaking processes inherent to MOIRA's creation and presentation, our intent is to reveal the potential of mixed media in the arts to promote engagement, and, ultimately, encourage (cultural) participation through heritage. Moving towards an ideal of 'heritage producers' (in contrast with 'heritage consumers'), we advocate for an 'action heritage' approach, proposed by Helen Graham and Jo Vergunst, amongst other authors. In that way, we hope to call for a critical understanding of heritage, addressing issues as pressing as women's rights - which cannot be disentangled from the cultural legacy that the MOIRA legends convey.