To raise awareness of the environmental issues and the need to care for others and the planet from an early age through musical and artistic experiences for the whole community. That was the aim of the Mil Pássaros Project, created by the Companhia de Música Teatral (CMT). In 2024, Mil Pássaros has already been to Fundão and Dessel in Belgium. Now Mil Pássaros is in Coimbra.

The installation Mil Pássaros em Coimbra, the fruit of an artistic-educational project carried out between 2023 and 2024, has been open to the public since June 14. But on July 18, the Convento São Francisco will become more sonorous, with even more orizuros (paper birds made by and with children, developed to draw attention to the need to listen to nature). Due to the musical component of the project, Mil Pássaros em Coimbra will be part of the 5th edition of Dar a Ouvir – O Som de Todas as Coisas, an initiative of the Jazz ao Centro Club at the Convento São Francisco in Coimbra. The installation will be open until September 1 (from Wednesday to Monday, between 3 pm and 8 pm).

This project was inspired by a Japanese tale. According to this tale, a wish comes true if you build a thousand orizuros while visualising it. Orizuro is a bird made of paper using the origami technique. After the bombing of Hiroshima, the orizuro symbolized the desire for peace and a spirit of unity in building a harmonious world.

The development of the Mil Pássaros Project involved intense training for 48 educators, who were encouraged to take all the learning to their classes in 31 kindergartens. The educators worked with more than 1,000 children and their families through the creation of an ‘installation’. The orizuros also served as a scenario for the performance of PaPI-Opus 8 (a musical theatre piece performed in all the kindergartens). All the orizuros built throughout this process are now together in the installation Mil Pássaros. Together, the birds celebrate the beauty of a collective will.

CMT’s philosophy is marked by the creation of relationships between art and education and by the articulation between academic research, artistic production, training, technological creation, community involvement, and the dissemination of the importance of musical experience and art in general in social and human development.

CMT has made a decisive contribution to a diverse and wide-ranging cultural offer, with a repertoire that is a kaleidoscope of shows, installations, workshops, medium and long-term projects, training activities, publications in various formats, participation in research projects and presentations at national and international academic level.