The paper carnations that fill the dining table tell us what we've come for. Beco sem Saída, the musical show we are about to witness at the CASA Association - Social Activities Center of Atouguia, is part of the "April with Songs of May" program, promoted by the Guimarães City Council to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, the 50th anniversary of the first free elections, and the centenary of the birth of Eduardo Ribeiro, a Guimarães native and opponent of the dictatorial regime.

Around the table, the women who make up the choral group "As Renascidas" are arranging the carnations.

The repertoire evokes, in fact, April and resistance. “A Formiga no Carreiro” (The Ant on the Path), “Menino do Bairro Negro” (Boy from the Black Neighborhood), “Venham Mais Cinco” (Come Five More), “Somos Livres” (We Are Free) or “As Sete Mulheres do Minho” (The Seven Women of Minho), a tribute to the fearless Maria da Fonte, who in the 19th century led a peasant revolt against the policies of then-Minister Costa Cabral. In between the musical interludes, the testimonies of these women from Minho fill the screen at the back of the room.

Starting to work at age 13 for a boss who didn't deduct social security contributions.

Working as a servant, only to be fired when her employer found out she was separated.

Starting to work at age 13, again. "People were slaves. Let's hope our children and grandchildren don't suffer what we suffered."

The testimonies reproduced in the video range from life before the construction of the neighborhood, in an essentially rural context marked by working in the fields "from sunrise to sunset," to life in the Atouguia complex, located at the entrance to Guimarães and built in the late 70s as a solution for people from vulnerable housing backgrounds.

Born in Porto, Marisa Oliveira has always lived in Guimarães, but her connection to this neighborhood was nonexistent until the start of the project. Growing up, she was always told to stay away from that stigmatized area. But her career, which has revolved around musical training, led her to work with communities and to the desire to realize a project here. Furthermore, the current president of the Oliveira, São Paio and São Sebastião Local Council, Diogo Lopes, spoke to her about the neighborhood with "great love and affection." Marisa's participation in the "Singularities of Guimarães" conversation series, promoted by Gerador, unlocked some ideas, and when she learned that there was already a musical group rehearsing at CASA, the foundations for the project were laid.

The show presented on May 16th was the culmination of a process, begun in March, of gradual but emotionally charged rapprochement for the artistic director, who listened to difficult stories, such as the liberating relief of widowhood after 30 years of domestic violence. Stories like this were shared sometimes "with some embarrassment," says Marisa, but also with the optimism of those who managed to start over. "As Renascidas" also marked the debut of the Vozes d'Elas choir, formed by former students of Marisa.

CASA is a recent project, about a year old, although the idea had been around for longer, as Diogo Lopes tells Gerador. Once the conditions for acquiring the space were met, volunteers were recruited for the necessary arrangements. Now, the space serves not only for rehearsals by As Renascidas, but also for boxing and computer classes, always with the aim of fostering more partnerships, as the mayor emphasizes.

The beginning of As Renascidas

The idea of ​​forming a musical group came from Antónia Silva, an “accidental” resident of Atouguia for 42 years. Accidental because she didn't want to leave her parents to go to the neighborhood, but her husband, who has been working in France for 19 years, applied for housing and Antónia came with him. It's not her first time in musical endeavors: Antónia plays the cavaquinho, concertina, tambourine, and drum, and has sung in other groups. She hasn't yet convinced her companions to share instruments other than their voices, but Pedro, her godson whom she welcomed as a grandson, is following in her musical footsteps. About to enter the fourth grade, “he knows everything by ear,” Antónia assures. Moreover, her mastery of the concertina was already evident during the performance, where she participated alongside musicians Mário Gonçalves (percussion) and João Ferreira (accordion).

Echoes of April

The fragments shared in Beco sem Saída are mostly harsh. But there's also room for optimism, or for envisioning a way out of that hardship, which led Marisa to choose to present the name as is, crossed out.

Belém Ribeiro is not a resident of Atouguia, but her interest in learning and keeping busy brought her to Renascidas. A seed planted by her mother, who made her children "know the why of things," and whose illiteracy did not prevent her from knowing the history of Guimarães "from beginning to end," Belém recalls. It is also from her mother that she remembers the enthusiasm felt in the city during Humberto Delgado's campaign: "They hung a thin codfish on a stick and said, 'It's Delgado, but it's good!'" The subterfuge, however, did not prevent police and arrests.

When the carnation revolution of the 25th of April arrived, Belém was already working as a telephone operator and receptionist. It was only when the students took to the streets in the early afternoon that people learned something had happened. "People were also still afraid to speak, because we didn't know which way things would turn out," Belém tells Gerador.

With the revolution complete, Belém recalls the informative campaigns led by Movimento das Forças Armadas (Armed Forces Movement) in the parishes of Guimarães, which the military toured "explaining what democracy was," as she recounts in her video testimony. Despite having to get up very early, Belém never missed the sessions, encouraged by her mother, who in the post-revolution period continued to make her children "understand the why of things." When the time came to vote, the moment was one of great solemnity: "I walked around with the pen in my hand as if it were a treasure," we hear her say on the screen.

Democracy was beginning there, and for many of these women, a new life would begin a few years later in the Atouguia neighborhood. Not everything was easy. In the beginning, there was no electricity, water, or elevators, recalls Marisa from the testimonies collected during the process. And life continues to be difficult, but there is still room for optimism, like that of Antónia, who, despite the difficulties, still has a view of the Penha mountain.