In the fishing community of Rabo de Peixe, where the Atlantic shapes both livelihood and identity, a new cultural initiative is reimagining what it means to grow up by the sea. Blending art, technology, and environmental awareness, the project “Heróis do Mar também se preparam em Terra” (“Heroes of the Sea Also Prepare on Land”) is setting out to transform one of the Azores’ most socially vulnerable communities into a laboratory for creative resilience.

Developed by Get Art and supported by Portugal’s Direção-Geral das Artes through its Artes e Periferia program, the initiative is designed as a pilot project—one that could eventually be replicated across coastal and fishing communities in Europe’s outermost regions.

Art Meets the Edge of the Atlantic

Targeted primarily at children of fishermen and their families, the project brings together an unlikely mix of disciplines: visual arts, performance, electronics, and creative robotics. But at its core lies a powerful idea—turning marine waste into artistic expression.

Plastic debris collected along the coastline is repurposed as raw material for workshops, installations, and performative pieces. Participants work with applied electronics, 3D printing, and robotics to create objects that are as much about environmental awareness as they are about artistic innovation. It is, in effect, a fusion of ecological consciousness and contemporary creation—where discarded materials are given new life through imagination and technology.

A Community-Based Model with Broader Reach

What makes the project particularly ambitious is its intent to scale. By grounding its methodology in the specific social, cultural, and environmental realities of Rabo de Peixe, Get Art is testing a model that can be adapted to other communities facing similar structural challenges—economic vulnerability, early school dropout, exposure to marine pollution, and limited access to cultural infrastructure.

Local partnerships are central to this approach, including collaboration with the Escola Básica Integrada de Rabo de Peixe and the Associação Cidadania Ambiental de Rabo de Peixe, as well as institutional backing from the Conselho Consultivo para as Regiões Ultraperiféricas.

If successful, organizers envision expanding the initiative to other fishing communities across the Azores and beyond, linking distant coastal regions through a shared framework of artistic engagement and environmental stewardship.

Beyond Art: A Tool for Social Change

At a time when many peripheral regions struggle to access cultural resources, “Heroes of the Sea Also Prepare on Land” positions art not as a luxury, but as a catalyst. The project aligns closely with the goals of the Artes e Periferia program: decentralizing artistic creation, promoting equal access to culture, and using creativity as a tool for social inclusion and ecological awareness.

In Rabo de Peixe, where the rhythms of life are still tied to the tides, this initiative offers a different kind of preparation for the future—one where the next generation learns not only how to navigate the sea, but how to reimagine the world around them.

In Diário dso Açores, Paulo Viveiros-direcotr