A new cultural association has been created to help breathe new life into the historic centre of Portimão and provide a platform for new ideas
P.O.I.S! (Palco das Ondas Invisíveis, which translates into Stage of Invisible Waves) was founded by Camille Bobeau, who moved to Portimão, where her boyfriend Jonty France already lived, shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic broke out. Together they opened ‘Le French Cookie’, a small store selling freshly-baked cookies on Portimão’s Rua Direita.
“We had a moment of pause to think about what to do with our lives,” Camille told the Resident. “I love eating, so my boyfriend would bake cookies for me, which I loved. When I had a friend come over to stay with us, he baked cookies again and she loved them too.”
With more time than usual on their hands, the couple decided to bite the bullet and open their own cookie shop in the centre of Portimão. Their current store is located on Rua Direita, one of the town’s main shopping streets. As Camille explains, the decision to open the store in Portimão was not just business-related. “We also wanted to breathe life into the town and participate in a positive movement to improve it,” she said.
Creating the association was a logical next step for Camille, who led a series of cultural initiatives in the town before, together with French artist and friend Charlotte Mohns, pitching the idea of painting the accessible route on Rua Direita to the local parish council, which ended up funding the project.
“Basically, we had to create the association because of this project to receive the funding to get started. The association is still very new, we haven’t even held an official presentation event for the public yet, but it is something we are planning,” Camille told us.
As she explained, the main goal of P.O.I.S! is to make the historic centre of Portimão “happier and livelier”.
“We want it to be organised, to have a vision, because now it is a bit confusing. Tourists and residents do not really know where to go, and that is something super important that needs to be addressed,” Camille said, stressing how businesses are mostly scattered around the historic centre instead of being concentrated in one area.
Another goal of P.O.I.S! is to bring cultural events directly to the people and visitors of Portimão.
“The issue (of culture) in Portimão is very complex. The Teia d’Impulsos association recently organised a debate in which they mentioned Portimão has cultural events but not enough of an audience for them. And the truth is that not many people here have the habit of ‘consuming culture’. That is why it is super important to bring culture and art to the streets of Portimão. Instead of trying to motivate people to seek out culture, we want to bring it to them,” Camille said.
One of the ideas in the works, which the municipal council has already shown receptiveness to, is to close Rua Direita off to traffic for one day on a Sunday to hold an open-air market, with stands featuring local craftspeople, producers selling locally grown vegetables and fruit, live music performances and workshops.
Another project involves opening the municipal plant nursery to the public.
“It is incredible. It could be opened to the public for visits or used to host workshops for children,” Camille suggested. “We have many ideas, but we have to start focusing on just a few soon to get them going.”
Another key goal for P.O.I.S! is for the association to act as a platform for new ideas.
“We have many people in Portimão with very good ideas and it would be incredible if we could support them, be it by providing them with the support of a legally established association or simply motivation,” she said.
For now, the association’s focus is on completing ‘Cidade a Cores’ project, which involves extending the painting of the accessible route on Rua Direita to other key streets and areas in the historic centre of Portimão. P.O.I.S! has already launched an open call for artists to sign up until March 31, with the goal being to assemble a team of nine artists.
“We are handling all the complex issues like logistics and bureaucracy. The artists can focus on the fun stuff: creating and painting,” Camille said.
Anyone interested in learning more about the association, pitching new ideas or signing up for the ‘Fresco II’ project can visit its website: https://poisstudio.wixsite.com/portimaocultura
