Sounds, memories and cultural heritage in Aveiro: the SOMA project and the case of the feast of São Gonçalinho

Abstract

SOMA is the name of a research project, developed at the University of Aveiro/INET-md, that aims to construct a digital archive of the sounds and memories in the region of Aveiro. The main goal is to construct a dynamic place to represent memory through creative processes related to the musics and the sounds. One of the most relevant annual events of the municipality of Aveiro is the Feast of São Gonçalinho that happens in January. This feast includes many ritualistic performances, such as “lançamento das cavacas” - the act of throwing local dry candies from the top of the chapel - and the performance of the “Marcha of São Gonçalinho” throughout the narrow streets of the neighborhood. From 9 to 13 January 2020, the SOMA team carried out fieldwork (interviews and audiovisual recordings) during the Feast of São Gonçalinho. We were interested to know how the event is defined by the residents and what kind of sounds and music are related to the feast by people's discourses. In this paper I intend to show how some sounds and musics, such as the sound of the “cavacas” falling to the ground or the performance of the “Marcha de São Gonçalinho”, reactivate personal memories of the event. This reflection will address a second discussion about the representation of individual memory in digital sound archives.