A look at the Portuguese demographic panorama reveals a great contrast resulting from the high migratory movement from rural inland areas to coastal cities. We observe an increase in uninhabited places, which find themselves in a limbo between memory and forgetfulness. Consequently, the historical and cultural heritage associated with these places is also at risk of being forgotten.
Archive and Memory seeks to explore the potential of the digital archive for the preservation of memories associated with the most uninhabited places in Portugal, by disseminating their history and stories. By collecting existing documentation, dispersed in several places, and through the indexing and categorization of these documents, the project aggregates material about craftworks, traditions, tales, places, people, and music from the less inhabited municipalities. The user can access this documentation when exploring the national territory through a visual demographic mapping. The possibility of expanding the collection in a participatory way is also foreseen, by making it possible for users to submit contributions, in order to rescue the places and stories that shape our culture from oblivion. processing, the web page encourages the user to explore a lexicon of analogies and gradually discover their level of bias.
By highlighting the most uninhabited places and aggregating material that can keep their traditions and memories alive, this project seeks to raise awareness on the possible loss of cultural identity as a consequence of the demographic crisis that we are going through.
