The signing of the contract between Metro Mondego and the Belgian artist Paul de Gobert was celebrated on August 20th, in the Salão Nobre of the Coimbra City Council.
The artist is in Coimbra, regarding the installation of his work “𝗟𝗲𝘀 𝗣𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗱𝗲𝘀” on the walls surrounding the Coimbra Terminal Station of the Mondego Mobility System. The plastic artist's visit to Coimbra has as its main objective the study of the place where the work will be placed, allowing the creation of the installation project for the panels, as well as visiting the old Museum of Urban Transport in Coimbra, where the panels will be restored.
The work “Les Palissades”, created during the construction of a new headquarters building of the Belgian bank “Crédit Communal”, in 1975/76, in Brussels, resulted from artistic and urban concerns of the promoters of the project that led to the commission for painting the palisades protective and minimize the visual impact of the construction site. Protected since the end of the project, and after restoration carried out in 2005, some of the palisades have been part of several exhibitions, particularly in Brussels.
The work, a set of wooden panels, with a global extension of around 100 meters, is currently in the possession of Paul de Gobert, and the artist is willing to transfer them to Metro Mondego (MM) so that they can be installed on the walls of the building. square at the Coimbra Metrobus station and can therefore continue to be enjoyed by the public and reinforce the qualification of the new space surrounding this station.
The artistic career of Paul De Gobert, who, since 1966, became a professional in Fine Arts, includes, among other murals, the entire Vandervelde station of the Brussels metro, frescoes and exhibitions around the world, having published several illustrated travel books, of which Examples include "Visages de Mongolie", "Ma Traversée de Bruxelles" and "Jardin Sauvage", having been the subject of several articles and monographs, such as that of Pierre Loze.
The plastic artist's visit to Coimbra has as its main objective the study of the place where the work will be placed, allowing the creation of the installation project for the panels, as well as visiting the old Museum of Urban Transport in Coimbra, where the panels will be restored. The visit will be accompanied by Prof. Alfeu Sá Marques, President of the Board of Directors of Águas de Coimbra, who provided the space for this purpose.
Considering the very relevant experience and reputation of CEARTE – Centro de Formação Profissional para o Artesanato e Património, in training in Restoration and Heritage, MM requested the collaboration of this entity to support Paul de Gobert in the restoration of the work. On this first visit to Coimbra, Paul de Gobert will also have the opportunity to have a first working meeting with Dr. Paula Cavaleiro, trainer of this Center, who will work with the artist.
