Helena Loermans

“I'm Helena and I came to Portugal 35 years ago, and if you ask me why, I'll say it was a love story. I think it was because of the light. The light here is much more interesting, much stronger, much more illuminating than in the Netherlands.”

Before coming to Portugal, Helena worked in a laboratory analyzing human and animal tissues at university. It was a microscopic and cellular job.

“Aside from the work I did at university, I always had weaving as a hobby. I've always been dedicated to clothing, knitting, textiles. In my family there are six sisters, and since we were little, my mother let us work with the sewing machine. When we had our first Barbies, we made them lots of knitted and lace clothes... I was always in the textile area, and I went to learn weaving.”

In the 80s, the government in the Netherlands cut support to universities, and Helena decided to change her life and come to Portugal.

“I have observed that many things happening with today's migrants I also went through 35 years ago. Of course, it wasn't the same, but a lot was.”

Helena remembers the difficulty of not speaking the language when arriving in a new country, not knowing where to go, not having information to get to a certain place, the number of papers needed, and the time it takes to obtain a legalization document.

“When I came to Portugal, I realized it wasn't easy, nor did I want to, enter the scientific analysis area, and I thought about starting a weaving studio here and possibly giving classes. In the 90s, I entered a course as a trainer at the Costume Museum in Lisbon. My strong point has always been seeing materials, making the analysis and technical drawing, and then making the fabrics.”

Helena calls the loss of social skills that occurs as a result of the isolation of those who live in the countryside, away from a larger community, the "hill syndrome."

“In Portugal I lived in the countryside, but after 12 years, I realized I was losing my social skills. That's when I decided to move to the village, here in Odemira. This was in the 2000s. I have never regretted it because it is much healthier to live in a community than in isolation.”

In 2021 Helena saw the BOWING performance in São Teotónio.

“I thought: I'd like to be there, I'd like to be a part of it.”

When, in early 2022, she saw the BOWING posters inviting participants to the weekly sessions at the Odemira theater, she felt the desire to embark on this adventure again.

“Every Wednesday, I thought: I'm going! But don't ask me why; I never went…”

Walking with Jóia, her dog, on one October night, she passed by the Odemira Market, where rehearsals for the BOWING BACK show were taking place, and Matilde invited her to join. She went home to leave Jóia, came back, and joined the group.

“From then on, I was passionate. Above all, for being in a group of very happy people, while I knew that these people's lives were not easy, and so much joy wasn't justified. I was very excited to experience this happiness, this socializing, this music, this dance, and the joy of meeting... It was a deep joy, not innocent, a joy of survival. One of the most important things that BOWING brought us was the possibility of getting to know each other and getting to know the lives of this migrant population much more deeply. I made many friends. I learned more about their journeys here, about their lives, and about the stories they bring with them. This, on the one hand, was enriching, and on the other hand, it made me more modest.”

A strong memory she keeps from this journey was the moment when a man from Bangladesh and a man from India, Yusef and Jagjeet, helped her put on a turban before the show.

“It started as a joke between Yusef and me during rehearsals, but on the day of the premiere, they were both arguing about who could put the turban on me better!”

In the performance, Helena also welcomed the audience inside the ‘New SEF’, and she was the guardian of the top floor of the building, where she spoke only Dutch and played with the incomprehension of those who heard her.

“We all know that regarding this migrant population, there is fear and prejudice on the part of the local population. I see that this project shook things up a bit with the local population.”