A Coca

Opened on April 24, 2021, coinciding with the opening of the Monção & Memórias Museum, the sculpture “Coca”, by the artist Bordalo II, located in the external area of ​​the museum, was inspired by the imaginary dragon of Monção, transmitting a message of sustainability and environmental awareness.

With a strong visual impact and a strong ecological component, the work of art, eight meters high and four meters wide, is made of "high-density plastic, parts of recycling bins, parts of car bumpers", among other types of "garbage, waste, and residues that cause contamination and pollution". It was the first time that Bordalo II “created” a mythological figure, and it was also his first work in the Minho region.

About this sculpture, Bordalo II said: "I took a character that doesn't exist to warn about a reality that does exist. The need to preserve nature. My idea was to change the original concept of the story of Coca, which is a bad animal, taking us to question man's actions in the present. Perhaps, now it is the human animal that assumes the role once attributed to Coca”

In addition to the aesthetic beauty and contemporary approach of his creations, the artistic use of the materials reveals criticism of the world we live in, a world in which objects, once valuable, quickly lose their value or importance.

Bordalo II confronts society with its own consumerism, creating, from something that was thrown away, pieces that make us think or, as the artist says, “put our hand on our conscience”. It intends to denounce “an extremely materialistic society” and promote “ecological and social sustainability”.