The first night we arrived in Porto it was cool and gray. But our moods were bright in that a “local” was picking us up for dinner. She was kind enough to drive us around the city before we headed to Matosinhos for a wonderful grilled fish dinner. We passed this sculpture on our route, and I asked her to stop.
The sculpture above is called She Changes. Erected in 2005 in the Praça Cidade do Salvador, between Porto and Matosinhos, the sculpture has received the International Achievement Award of Excellence in Architectural Structures and was recognized by Sculpture Magazine as “one of the truly significant public artworks in recent years”. It was created by an American who was rejected by seven art schools. Her name is Janet Echelman.
If you have the time, watch her TedTalk about how she began to work with fishing nets when her paints did not arrive in time for an exhibition:
Next Week: An unusual bit of Cascais history, Denise and I were in a Porto prison and more thoughts on the quality of life.
In case you are wondering … no we did not take a second trip to Porto. We were there in June. I just didn’t get around to writing about it until now.
This “statue” is named by the Portuguese, ANÉMONA, which translates to jelly fish.
It was erected to honor the fishermen of Matosinhos as well as the fishing industry, in Matosinhos. The netting structure went for repair in October 2020 and was reassembled in April 2021. You see it always in a different perspective, because of the wind.
Fantastic. Janet Edelman's Ted Talk is a must. Thank you for sharing this wonderful adventure.