The artwork Panorama du grand canal – Vu d'un bateau D'après Promio (hommage to Mondego) is intended, above all, as a tribute to the River Mondego, and concomitantly to the city of Coimbra. There are rivers that form part of the landscape of certain places, whatever they may be, but we also know that there are rivers that are places in themselves. This is the case of the River Mondego, whose particular relationship with the city of Coimbra is all too evident — a place of dreams, reunions and childhood — the “river that looks out over the city”. This was the starting point for a work inspired by what is considered to be the first traveling film in the history of the moving image. It was made in 1896 by Alexandre Promio, a “cameraman” for the Lumière Brothers who spontaneously placed his camera on a gondola during his visit to the city of Venice, taking advantage of the need to be able to “catch” all the beauty that the city emanated through the camera's lens. The result was unexpected, magical, and he wanted to achieve a similar result.

Pedro Cabral Santo