Now they’re speaking out, and from down here: Revolution!

Abstract

In Portugal, the military coup of 25 April 1974 is remembered, while the revolutionary process that followed is relegated to the shadows. Memory work can play an important role in contexts where parts of history are obliterated. If we think about where this work has been done, where the Revolution subsists/resists, we find several examples in the field of arts, particularly in the 21st century. Taking as examples the film Prazer, Camaradas!, by José Filipe Costa, the play Um Museu Vivo de Memórias Pequenas e Esquecidas and the play transformed into a documentary Elas também teve lá, by Joana Craveiro (Teatro do Vestido), we notice some common particularities in the sources that feed them and in the objects they represent. These are works that investigate and create based on “small memories”, or weak memories, in many cases, women’s memories.