March 18th will mark nine months since the death of José Saramago. Nine months is how long it takes to die, as the author wrote in "The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis," because nine months is generally how long it takes to be born. Therefore, this March 18th, the Saramago Foundation has decided to bid farewell to the writer by opening his house and library, so that his friends, readers, and those who need to see how, where, and in what way the writer worked and lived can tour the place where he spent most of his last years and where he wrote his books.
The farewell ceremony will take place at 5:00 PM on Friday and will have "the solemnity of simplicity." The director of Casa Pessoa, the writer Inés Pedrosa, will read a fragment from "The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis" in Portuguese, which will later be reproduced in Spanish by a Canary Islands artist. For her part, Pilar del Río will explain to the attendees the reasons for opening such an intimate space to the public.
A cello will provide music for the event, which will end with a toast to the life of José Saramago. Red wine from Alentejo and Malvasia from Lanzarote will be served, two places linked to the writer's literary and vital biography.
Several Portuguese and Spanish authorities have expressed their interest in attending this farewell, although the Saramago Foundation indicates that the names will be provided as confirmations are received.
In addition to the family, a group of friends, readers, his publishers, and curators of the Foundation will travel from Portugal. Friends and publishers from Spain and other countries will also travel. On the 19th, in consideration of visitors from outside Lanzarote, a tour of the island will be conducted on a bus chartered for the occasion.
Visits
Starting on the 21st, from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, the house and library can be visited in small groups of no more than 15 people. "A Casa" will be open to the public from Monday to Saturday, both included, and the tour will take place every half hour.
Two guides will facilitate the tour of the house and library. Visitors will receive an explanatory brochure of the house and the places Saramago frequented the most. When passing through the kitchen, a Portuguese coffee will be served. At the end of the tour, there will be a shop with books by José Saramago in all languages, as well as records, films, notebooks, postcards, and other ways to get closer to the writer.
Photographers Daniel Mordzinski, Joan Francisco Vilhena, and Juan José Cuadrado have selflessly collaborated with the Foundation, ceding rights to their works. Ester Fernández Viña from Lanzarote has created the brand for the "A Casa" complex, an olive tree symbolizing peace and wisdom that projects letters from the trunk, which is Saramago.
The initiative to open the house and library for public visits, according to the Saramago Foundation, has been possible thanks to the feasibility studies and the work of Mario Alberto Perdomo and Fernando Gómez Aguilera, as well as the various groups that, under the direction of Javier Pérez, have had to adapt a private home to the requirements of the law. "To all of them, as well as to the political representatives who welcomed the project from the beginning, our gratitude," concludes the Foundation in its statement.
