∅ Utopia ∅

During Salazar’s domain, just like in all periods of political oppression, there was a strong pressure to stop individual and group creativity. In spite of that, the utopian thought had become the priority for the intellectuals of the time, who wanted to confront that attitude and fight for “freedom of speech” .

“Árvore’s project” appears as an alternative to the orthodox arts education, following the idea of being able to feel and think freely, with the purpose of educating thinking beings who can actively participate in society. The difficulties were evident, as there was the need to create an area of education where rules and bureaucracy could be overcome.

The individuality of thought and a self-taught learning enabled the project to stand up till today.

Staying in “comfort zone” is now the plague of the century as the same “intellectuals” (who bravely fought against that oppression) are currently compromising the original ideas with bureaucratic details and regulations taken from governmental institutions. It is necessary to explain (to all those who joined the “Árvore’s project”) the importance of being active and think about common solutions without constraints, in order to protect this legacy.

Utopia is an idea, a manifest, which appears because of the need to rehabilitate those values, aimed to focus on learning and doing, as the only way to break the rules. The creation of a space, (not necessarily a physical one), where, in spite of the social or artistic identity, community members could express themselves.

It could be similar to what happens in the “speakers corner”: to step on a neutral territory, already outside the governmental land, free to express new ideas, and by sharing them, make the project grow and upgrade the educational level so that the utopian thinking may also get the chance to be part of the solution.