The Carlos Machado Museum will inaugurate the sound installation "Cagarros Assembly: The Raft" by American artist Ellie Ga on September 13, at 5:00 PM, at the Santo André Center.

This sound installation is based on the series of listening sessions called Cagarros Assembly, a collaborative project that Ellie Ga developed in partnership with marine biologists from SPEA (Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds) and members of ACAPO (Portuguese Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired) for the Walk&Talk festival. Inspired by the sound of cagarros (Cory’s shearwaters) and the experiences of those involved in the project, the installation reflects on the life cycles of these birds.

The experience draws from a listening session held at Rocha da Relva, where, on the edge of a cliff at night, a group gathered to listen to the cagarros. During the installation, participants pass around a tactile deck of cards, each card representing an aspect of the cagarros' life cycle and a facet of deep listening. Through a combination of field recordings and narrative elements, the installation creates an atmosphere of contemplation, exploring the sounds and challenges faced by cagarros and the natural world around them. It offers an immersive experience, inviting the public to reflect on the complex interactions between nature and humanity.

Cagarros Assembly: The Raft is a sound installation integrated into the Open Studios da Anda&Fala - Associação Cultural | vaga - espaço de arte e conhecimento

Biography

Ellie Ga is a New York City-born, Lisbon-based artist and writer. Her films, texts and performances reflect a passion for multi-disciplinary knowledge exchange told through everyday conversations, poetic sidesteps and obsessive research, often in unexpected contexts: from the submerged ruins of the ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria (Square Octagon Circle) and the charting of the quotidian in the frozen Arctic Ocean (The Fortunetellers) to a study of messages in bottles, both as tools for studying oceans currents and as metaphor for exile (Strophe, A Turning; Gyres 1-3). In her film Quarries, stories of resistance are extracted from unlikely places and found on overlooked surfaces. Her ongoing project Cagarros Assembly developed thanks to a residency with Walk&Talk .