[installation] Leftovers

Today’s economical conditions are producing extreme changes at the labor sector of all countries. As in many other cities, Guimarães has an intense economic activity specially based in the industry sector that employs around 74% of the active inhabitants, being well known as one of the most important textile producer of the country. However, along the economical lack of trust, the market competition from Asia and dumping practices are conducing some factories to its closing and its workers to an unemployed condition. The proposed project intends to look at Guimarães from its periphery, its industrial power force point of view and “dislocate” it to the city center as a performative action connecting three different issues: textile industry labor force, public space appropriation and public participation. The goal is to rethink about the existing working condition (with paid work) through a performative and relational object that will be looking for textile raw material (leftovers) and specialized workers force that was fired during some factories bankruptcy or by the imposed economic measures to reduce its labor force. Further, this object will be introduced in the city’s public space in order to generate a temporary assemblage practice for a temporary new urban structure.  

Team: Meireles de Pinho + Miguel Costa 
Performance Architecture Competition (Shortlisted)  
Location: Guimarães, Portugal | 2012