Fishermen say that when a mermaid sings, it raises a tidal wave. Once upon a time there was an angry mermaid that sang and flooded Lisbon. The waters would not stop rising until her lost half was found and returned. The lost fish tail is a metaphor for an essential part of Lisbon that is at risk of disappearing in the face of commercial interests and political bravado. When memories are erased, traditional places of culture are closed because they cannot overcome real estate speculation, the elderly are expelled from their homes, fado is silenced by iPods in the streets: Lisbon is not Lisbon, any more than a mermaid is a mermaid.
Thais Linhares is the author of books and videos. She lives in Lisbon next to the Tagus. Before that she lived in France by the Loire, in the United States by the sea, and then was born in the spring of 1970 in the Brazilian Navy maternity ward. Graduated from the National School of Fine Arts and Master in Digital Creative Media at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, she is currently a PhD student in design at the University of Lisbon. She has received several awards for her work in illustration, animation cinema and comic books. To find out more, visit linktr.ee/thaislinhares and have fun!
