At home and abroad

By Ron Fortier

Imagine a tribute to the fishing folk of a fabled town on the Silver Coast of Portugal that is three-hundred feet long. It is, indeed, nothing short of monumental!

In the town that I once lived in, there is a ceramic mural created by the eminent Portuguese Artist Luís Soares. A self-described Modernist, Soars is quite prolific and executes in a variety of media from paint to ceramics.

He was born in Mozambique and attended the Instituto Portugal de Lourenço Marques in his birth country. He currently lives in and maintains his studio in Cascais on the Portuguese mainland.

Luis Soares was influenced by the cultural mix of white, Black, and Asiatic culture and art in his homeland, which not only profoundly affected him, but it also became a part of his characteristic styles. He has exhibited world-wide, is included in major collections and is well-represented in Europe with his public art installations.

His wonderful ceramic mural pays homage to the seafaring people of Figueira da Foz, which is situated on the Silver Coast of the Portuguese mainland. More specifically, it is installed in the village of Buarcos, Figueira da Foz, on the wall of the Cemitério de Buarcos.

This small town is the original home of many fishermen in the New Bedford fishing fleet.

My stepfather was one. Although born in Gloucester, he returned with his parents during the Great Depression to the city of Figueira where they were originally from.

His story is by no means unique. Many of the sons of Figueira, and their families, came to New Bedford, made a living doing what they knew best: fishing.

Many retired and have returned there to live out their years there as my stepfather did. He and others, many of them his classmates and crewmates, are buried in that cemetery.

Luis Soares

Did you know that New Bedford and Figueira da Foz are sister cities?

And, of course, there are the ties of tradition, language, and culture between two cities separated by the Atlantic. A few years ago, Joao Ataide, the president (the equivalent of mayor) of the city of Figueira paid a visit to the seaport city of New Bedford.

During his visit, Ataide met with New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell and they resigned the Sister City Agreement which reaffirmed the commitment of both cities to continue to strengthen their mutual ties. The two mayors attended a ceremony dedicated to Portuguese fishermen lost at sea.

The ceremony was bittersweet because it not only remembered those who died but also those who lived and dedicated their livelihood to sailing out of the port of New Bedford.

Homecoming

Peter Pereira, a local award-winning photojournalist and a native son of Gala, a fishing village adjacent to Figueira, was initially involved with Joao Atiade’s visit.

Peter organized the tribute event and was filled with emotion when he pointed to his father in the audience, whom he also called his hero. He continued by pointing out how he felt that his generation was so fortunate because he believed that he and others like him had stood on the shoulders of giants.

In a Standard-Times article from June of 2018 when Joao Atiade visited New Bedford, Peter related that although many people have the point of view that the two cities are separated by 3,000 miles they are united by the ocean.

“If there are two places on Earth that are so united, I dare you to find them” said Pereira. Joao Ataide, who spent a week in New Bedford, echoed those very same sentiments.

Atiade said that it was a great privilege to feel the American presence in Figueria da Foz of the expatriated families. Sadly, two years after his visit, Ataide, who rose to the position as the Portuguese Secretary of State for the Environment, suddenly passed away.

While on my last visit to my temporary hometown, I met with one of Presidente Atiade’s assistants who I had first met while they both were on their visit. When he heard that I had a house and studio in Figueira and was planning to return to check in on my mother, he said to let him know when I was in town and we could meet for coffee.

I contacted him upon arriving in Lisbon and we made an appointment to meet. He took me on a short drive up the Serra da Boa Viajem mountain which overlooks the city to have that coffee!

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have such a monument in New Bedford as the A Tribute to the People of the Sea I wondered? Imagine it!

In further conversation, I found out there is a duplicate of the monumental ceramic mural celebrating the people of the sea. It’s sitting in storage.

The pandemic prevented further opportunities to pursue any possibilities of such a tribute for our fishermen in New Bedford. A Facebook Memory popped up and reminded me of the great view while having coffee my last trip over there. The scope and details of what would be involved are considerably challenging. But I still can’t help wondering how a monument like the one in Figueira would affect not just our fishermen, but the long-lasting ties of tradition, language, and culture between two cities separated by and united by the sea.