Topologia: Muralhas e Memória stems from an artistic residency by the Threadsafe collective (Faro, 2025). During this research period, the Muralhas de Faro were approached not as a static monument, but as a living structure, shaped by erosion, time, and human presence. The archival work developed in the residency (sound recording, 3D and 2D scanning, and texture studies) revealed the need to create a deeper tactile dialogue between this historical site and inhabitants. Out of this material dialogue emerges the concept of “Topology”: the study of place, of its continuities, and of the stories embedded within its stones.

The project will unfold in two subsequent stages. The first is a community-led action in which local participants, both permanent and temporary, will collectively produce large-scale rubbings along the battlements. This tactile process functions as a low-tech scan of the Walls, allowing gestures, desires, and individual encounters to be physically imprinted onto its stones.

These rubbings will then be transposed into an exhibition inside the Muralhas themselves. The sheets of paper, a “second skin” of these Walls, will be assembled in the form of a continuos interactive membrane. This installation will feature a soundscape, created from captured site-specific recordings, as well as oral stories from the Faro population. The final goal is to materialise the union between local communities, their narratives, and the collective memory created through their intervention in the space. Through this inversion, we allow the public to effectively walk “inside”
the re-imagined Walls, which are continuously reshaped through
collective memory.