The CERA PROJECT presents Terra em Eco – Ressignificação e Memória, an interdisciplinary artistic research project by Inês Norton. Focusing on Portuguese landscapes affected by forest fires, the project explores how these territories change and regenerate, and how people relate to the land and its ecosystems.

Developed through an artistic residency in partnership with Master João Lourenço’s clay studio in Barcelos and the Côa Valley Archaeological Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this art project brings together contemporary art, traditional craftsmanship, scientific research and local knowledge. Inês Norton will collaborate with clay masters, performers, musicians, biologists, conservation specialists, environmental associations and local communities, creating opportunities to share knowledge and explore different ways of relating to the land.

The residency will lead to a new body of collaborative work spanning sculpture, sound, performance and video. Through these interconnected practices, Terra em Eco – Ressignificação e Memória explores how artistic creation can help us listen to landscapes, preserve ecological memory and reflect on the fragility of ecosystems, the importance of biodiversity and our shared responsibility in the face of environmental change.

The project is part of The CERA PROJECT’s Territories, Resistance, Freedom programme and is funded by the Portuguese Republic – Culture, Youth and Sport / Directorate-General for the Arts (DGARTES). The project will be presented to the public at Museu do Côa in 2027 through an exhibition and a programme of public activities.

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Inês Norton is a visual artist whose practice lies at the intersection of nature, matter and technology, exploring the dialogue between the organic and the synthetic. Through sculpture, installation and sensory experimentation, she investigates the points of contact, tension and friction between natural and artificial systems, reflecting on the sensory and ecological transformations of contemporary life. Sustainability is a central pillar of her work, which is characterised by a critical, intuitive and, at times, ironic approach to anthropocentric models and the human relationship with ecosystems. In recent years, she has deepened her research into sensory experience in the digital age, the fragmentation of touch and the technological mediation of the body, questioning the persistence of physical experience in an immaterial universe. Her works bring together materials, technological devices and installation strategies that stimulate new forms of perception and engagement with the environment. Her work has been exhibited in several art organisations, namely MAAT, MNAC, UMALULIK, the Cerveira Biennial, the Luanda Triennial, Harddisk Museum, Appleton Square, Casa Niemeyer and the Berardo Collection Museum. Her work is held in collections including Sindika Dokolo, MNAC Chiado, CAC Málaga and the Figueiredo Ribeiro Collection.

www.inesnorton.com