TUA // Trás-Os-Montes, Portugal // October, 2010 // © Ricardo Rodrigues da Silva
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Click here for the exhibition @ The Point Gallery in Amsterdam
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Walking along Tua's train line - inaugurated in 1887 - is walking side by side with the history of a People.
Masterpiece of Portuguese engineering, Tua's train line travels through a diversity and cultural mosaic of the Portuguese landscape and it is a cornerstone of the mobility and accessibility of the region of Trás-os-Montes. Tua's valley is one of the richest areas in bio-diversity in Portugal, with 86% of all its species covered by at least one national or international protection statute.
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Used countless times on the behalf of politicians during election time, the Tua train line is riddled with controversy and media coverage having even been victim of over-night train carriage robbery back in 1992.
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With the partial closing of the train line in 1992 and complete deactivation in 2008 room was left for big corporations to move in and claim there place. EDP (Portuguese Electrical Company) is on the verge of building a Water Dam claiming that it will bring progress and prosperity to the region.
On the other hand several independent studies reveal that reactivation of the train line and connection with neighbouring Spain would not only allow to preserve the cultural and ecological identity of the area it would also generate a great amount of tourism and economic growth, far more than the expected by the Water Dam.
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Fifty three kilometers of beautiful natural diversity and culture about to disappear in the name of progress.
On the 2nd of October 2010 a group of people from backgrounds as far apart as Environmental Engineers to Graphic Designers set out to walk these 22km in what could might have been Tua's last train line travelers.
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text: Ricardo Rodrigues da Silva