Mahakavi Camõis (Super poet em concanim)
To evoke Camões is to enter a territory of reverence. Few figures have left such a profound mark on the spirit of a people. This work is a symbolic journey through the moments that most intensely resonate with the poet’s life and work — in particular, his time in the East and the decisive presence of Goa.
The old map of Panjim emerges as a living memory, where Camões’ tears flow in the form of the Mandovi and Zuari rivers. The caravels that opened the sea route to India are here a sign of displacement and discovery, but also of turbulence — between different languages, cultures and peoples that made that city a veritable Babylon. This fertile chaos was direct nourishment for Camões’ writing, which always sought to remain faithful to the lived experience, avoiding excessive fiction. He knew that he had been given the chance to live in an extraordinary time.
Sword and pen intersect — a visual metaphor for his duality: soldier and poet, bohemian and scholar, man of flesh and universal symbol. The bars evoke the Tronco prison in Goa, one of the few places where it is believed that Camões was portrayed while he was still alive. The representation refers to the moment when he was probably composing Canto X of The Lusiads. The gaze that opens, after closing, symbolizes the reach of his vision and intelligence, further amplified by the watchtower (the “cock”) — a physical and metaphorical place from which one can see further.
The crown and beard in red challenge the eye and interpretation. The yellows, where the sword and feather meet, illuminate the painting with the light of the epic. The Lusiads, conceived over 17 years in the East, pulsates in this pictorial territory. Despite the freedom granted to reinvent the basis of the work, the choice to integrate the work on the matrix created by Ricardo Ferreira intensified the challenge and made this tribute even more dense and dialogic.
Year: 2024 | Dimensions: Diptych 140x100 (cm) | Technique: Acrylic on cotton canvas (reverse side)
