CALOR: when Mina transforms into a stage

©Sónia Godinho

Between June 11th and 13th , the São Domingos Mine hosted CALOR , the new community show from the MALACATE project, created by the artistic structure MEIO DO MATO in collaboration with the local community.

For three nights, hundreds of people explored the paths of Mina in a traveling artistic experience built from the memories, affections, and stories of this unique territory. Along the way, the public was invited to discover different spaces, characters, and landscapes, in a creation that transformed Mina into a stage and the community into the protagonist.

But CALOR started long before the premiere.

Over several months, dozens of residents of Mina de S. Domingos joined the MEIO DO MATO artistic team to imagine, build, and rehearse this performance. Conversations, walks, shared memories, creative exercises, and many hours of collective work gave rise to a work deeply rooted in the place and the people who inhabit it.

CALOR is also the result of a journey that began in 2025, when MEIO DO MATO's proposal was selected by the MALACATE Council — the project's community curatorial group — to develop the community-based creation for 2026. A process that reaffirms MALACATE's mission: to place contemporary artistic creation at the service of the encounter between territory, community, and artists.

To everyone who participated in this adventure — residents, volunteers, partners, artistic and technical team — we extend our most sincere thanks.

A very special thank you to the community of Mina de S. Domingos, who once again opened their doors, shared stories, welcomed artists, and made this show a true collective creation.

To the artistic group MEIO DO MATO , for their sensitivity, dedication, and ability to transform listening into creation.

To the Municipality of Mértola , co-producer of the MALACATE project, for the continued support that makes the realization of this work in the territory possible.

And to all the spectators who joined us these past three nights, thank you for walking with us.

In this post, we share a selection of photographs that capture some of the most memorable moments of CALOR. Images of a show that has ended, but whose memories will continue to be part of the history of MALACATE and the São Domingos Mine.

See you soon. The journey continues. ❤️

To learn more about this project, visit our website: https://www.cepatorta.org/malacate

The MALACATE project is promoted by Companhia Cepa Torta and co-produced by the Mértola Municipal Council, in partnership with the Serrão Martins Foundation and with the support of the Mértola Senior University and the São Domingos Mine Choir.