Erik Samakh’s intervention in the mountains involved in this first phase (Açor, Estrela, Gardunha, Malcata/Mesas), consisted of installing lights in emblematic places that could, as a whole, symbolize the Route. As an extra point comes Vagalume from the Lageosa Agricultural Professional School. This point signals the desire for future actions such as workshops to be carried out in partnership with the school’s pedagogical program. These small LED lights, powered by solar energy, were designed by Erik Samakh to imitate the pulsation of fireflies at night, creating poetic places and providing tourists and visitors with an experience of integration with the environment. The work includes a narrative created by the artist himself.

Fireflies are visible at dusk. Protocols for visits and awareness raising to contemporary art will be implemented with the collaboration of groups of hikers, schools and other entities linked to nature and tourism. Step by step, the route reveals itself: pioneers, the small lights illuminate the PES. A luminous dot, sign and trail, memories of future reunions with the men who build the landscapes.
The artist’s speech was accompanied by local technical assistance. The various phases of the work were recorded in photography and video. These records, made by Carlos Casteleira, were displayed in an exhibition scenography at Espaço Pontes, in Fundão and later at the Sabugal Museum. The photographic works of other invited artists will be included in future exhibitions with the theme of human interaction with mountainous spaces.