Ericeira Zine

This is it. A magazine (series?) on Portugal and its artistic influences. The first in this series touches on the influence of Portuguese fishing culture from Ericeira in art, how it shows its head in the rest of the country, and how Portuguese culture in general is influenced by this sense of longing (Saudade).

You can read the full zine online here.

Personal Project

2024

Zine

Ericeira is a small village near the Portuguese capital, it’s known for its fishing culture and great waves. It stands near the legendary surf spot of Nazaré, and the imponent Mafra with its massive baroque palace.

Ericeira used to be a small fishing village where fisherman gathered to go out to sea, leaving behind their wives to embark on perilous journeys from which they often didn’t return. Today, its popularity as a surf spot and proximity to the largest waves in the world have led it down the path of gentrification, a common theme in Portuguese cities. Despite this, it still retains a lot of its former charm and population with brilliant stories to tell.

Most of my research was done hands-on in Ericeira, analyzing its landscape, history, art, and culture. Ideally, I would’ve liked to have featured stories and memories from the older Portuguese generation in my zine, but due to unfortunate circumstances, I had to cut my time in Ericeira short.

As previously mentioned, Ericeira sits in a bit of limbo in terms of who lives there. There’s a big chunk of the population who have come seeking surf culture (which exists there in abundance), sunny skies (check), and good food (also check).

I thought this zine could serve as a small window into the culture that was there before, how it influenced Portuguese art, and how it still shows up from time to time if one looks hard enough.

In simpler terms, this zine is intended to serve as a guide to understanding Ericeira for people who love and respect this beautiful place as much as I do.