José Mário Branco, be supportive

A picture book to learn about the life and work of an unusual man.

After successfully completing the crowdfunding campaign for the publication of the book “Maria Lamas, love, peace and freedom”, we are once again resorting to crowdfunding to complete our project of publishing a picture book about José Mário Branco. Mafalda has already written the text and Rui Pedro is finishing the illustrations. In order to print 1,000 copies, we need €4,000. We believe in the importance of making the life and work of this remarkable musician — one of the figures who has had the greatest impact on Portuguese music since the 1960s — known to a wide audience . We sought to create an interesting book for children, young people and adults, which promotes the meeting between generations.

As José Mário Branco said in an interview: “Of course, we need to make the young people aware of the good and bad things of the past, so that they can look for ways forward, avoid repeating mistakes and errors, and seek solutions to new problems.” His life and work are an example of his dedication to causes he deeply believed in, of the fight for freedom, and he did what he wanted in the way he thought best. He always wanted a more just, more egalitarian, more supportive and happier society. During the PREC discussions, he would say to his colleagues: “You are in music because you are politicians; I am in politics because I am a musician.” He was arrested, opposed the colonial war and, as it was impossible for him to go to the front to fight against his African brothers, he went into exile in Paris. His music crossed borders. With the 25th of April, he was finally able to return to Portugal. He continued to fight for his values.

This campaign consists of pre-selling, at a discount, copies of the picture book "José Mário Branco, ser solidário". If you want to have this book at home, choose the reward and buy it here!

About the author

A Barca do Inferno is a small publisher that creates and publishes picture books since 2012. It's our way of sharing themes and ideas that we love. Our books are not just for children, we try to make books to dream at any age! The care, effort and investment that each project requires does not allow for many publications, but we work every day because we believe that someone will like to browse through one of our books. We have already published several books, many of which are included in the National Reading Plan lists.

Mafalda has a degree in Art History from FCSH/UNL and a master's degree in Art and Heritage Sciences from FBAUL, with a merit scholarship in the academic year 2012/2013. She completed an internship at the Ingres Museum in Montauban, France, under the Leonardo da Vinci program and collaborated with the Modern Art Center of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in the production of texts about works by the artist Fernando Calhau published on the Foundation's website. In 2012, she founded the publishing house Barca do Inferno with Rui Pedro Lourenço. In 2018, she received a Literary Creation Grant from the Directorate-General for Books, Archives and Libraries / Ministry of Culture. She has written several books, many of which were recommended by the National Reading Plan.

Rui Pedro Lourenço was born in Leiria in 1973. He studied painting at the Centro de Artes e Comunicação Visual - Ar.Co. in Lisbon. In 2001, he was selected for the National Exhibition of Young Creators, in the field of illustration. He has worked in advertising and in bookstores, as a wall and furniture decorator and collaborated on a newspaper cartoon . He currently works in illustration and is an editor and illustrator at Barca do Inferno, the publishing house he created in 2012 with Mafalda Brito. He participates in painting and illustration exhibitions. He lives and works in Leiria.

Budget and due dates

The €4,000 from this campaign will be used to pay for the printing of 1,000 copies of the picture book “José Mário Branco, ser solidário ”, the PPL commission, the rewards and the production of the book’s final artwork.

All backers will receive their rewards by the end of November .

Images