The illustrator Roberto Chichorro, considered one of Mozambique’s greatest visual artists, returns to children’s books in a new work by the Portuguese Lurdes Breda, the writer who is celebrating 20 years of publishing for children and young people.
Entitled “Bashshar, the bird keeper”, the book, which will be presented on the 21st in Leiria, tells the story of a character celebrated by his people as the messenger of good news and who wants to bring back to his village the colorful birds and flowers that once abandoned it.
Speaking to the Lusa news agency, Lurdes Breda, a native of Montemor-o-Velho, in the district of Coimbra, highlighted the collaboration with Roberto Chichorro, the 82-year-old Mozambican artist whose vibrant colors are a hallmark of his work.
Lurdes Breda, through the Portuguese School of Mozambique, published her first book (A Árvore Mágica) with illustrations by Roberto Chichorro in 2019, the first of two texts she produced “during a short visit to that African country, seven years earlier, in 2012.
“Roberto didn’t want to work on book illustrations anymore, but he really liked the text and made an exception. The curiosity is that now he says he’s going to dedicate himself to illustrating children’s books. He says he’s back to being a child again and he’s really enjoying making the dolls,” emphasized the writer.
According to Lurdes Breda, this new book was the result of a challenge from Roberto Chichorro.
“It’s very beautiful, it’s different. Not to belittle other nationalities, those born in Mozambique have different feelings about the text. And Roberto is a spectacular human being, a person for whom I have great professional and personal admiration,” she said.
Not even the fact that they are from different generations – the illustrator is about to turn 83, while Lurdes Breda is around 30 years younger – has caused any obstacles to the new book coming to fruition.
“He has a child’s soul, artists have a different sensibility and he, being aware of his surroundings, lives in the magical world of his illustration, of his motives, and is an extraordinary human being. Very shy, very reserved, but once you get to know him and have some contact, he’s a charming gentleman, with an incredible sensitivity, no one gives him the age he is,” said Lurdes Breda.
Regarding “Bashshar, the bird keeper”, a book coordinated by Teresa Noronha and published once again by the Portuguese School of Mozambique, the writer defines it as “a story of hope that promotes intercultural education”.
Celebrating 20 years of publishing – “20 years of different paths, different people and different projects, as unlikely as they are wonderful”, she said – Lurdes Breda is the author of 24 works and co-author of another 11, published in Portugal, Brazil and Mozambique.
“There would be no better way to celebrate these two decades of books, stories and people than with the launch of a book that brings together two nationalities, two continents and two different cultures, but which complement each other so well,” she said.
“Bashshar, the bird keeper” is part of the theme of the European Heritage Days 2024, and aims to highlight the importance of literature in Europe as a bridge to other continents and other cultures.
The launch of the new book by Lurdes Breda and Roberto Chichorro is scheduled for the 21st, at 3:30 p.m., at the Moinho de Papel (a museum linked to the traditional paper-making process), located in the city of Leiria.
