Republicas of Coimbra

TERRITORY OF UTOPIA

This visual story gives an insight to the intense life of so called "Republicas"- 24 Portuguese student communes surrounding the oldest University of Portugal. Today I explore them as independent futuristic micro-states. Entering these houses I consider as crossing a border – in culture, in time and in space. 

As every Micro-State, each Republica has its own laws, traditions and territory. Citizenship of Republicas is temporarily and given only to actual students. Therefore, the population of these communes is forever young: their sleepless energy is constant and in unpredictable way changes this mutual reality - which can only be described as Utopia. 

Density of the Utipian time and space continuum allows new generations of citizens to reject any tenacious and boring laws of common reality – speeding up the social evolution. 

In the last century, the overcontrolling patriarchate of the fascist state tried to straighten University life and curb free intellectual youth. And Utopia won the game. Taking anarchism, Marxism or socialism and and bringing them to life, they created their own democratic society in the midst of the fascist Estado Novo, long before the Portuguese revolution of 1974.

Today student Republicas keep experimenting with new models of co-living. They became international communities of bright and different - living together without hierarchy, building their life on mutualism and trust.

I am sharing the beauty of this Utopia with printed or web media, in any language.
And cordial thanks and warm hugs to all friends who have agreed to be in it!

The story is submitted to Vokrug Sveta magazine  ("Вокруг Света", vokrugsveta.ru) 

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I continue to photograph the Republicas since 2018. The first article was published in the print "Russian Pioneer" magazine (afrin.photographer.ru/republicas-of-coimbra) in November 2018, and the second will appear in the May issue of "Around the World" mag. (vokrugsveta.ru).