Ghostbirds is Memento mori.

My existence stands upon all the past lives, either supported or weighted by them; I can't talk about my current state without talking about the history.

In Portugal, the swallows have significant meanings: love, loyalty, and hope. They bring good luck to the new beginnings.

“The swallow is connected to a lot of things that are dear to us,” explains Ricardo Brochado, an archaeologist and the cofounder of bespoke Porto tour operator, The City Tailors. The birds’ qualities—they mate for life and raise their chicks together—make it a shoo-in as a nostalgic symbol. “They don’t leave the nest until all of the babies do,” Brochado says. “And they always return.” That connection to “the nest”—to a home or a homeland—is so important in Portuguese culture that there is a word for it: saudade.

Brochado explains the concept is best described as that feeling of melancholic connection you get when you taste your grandmother’s cooking or smell a scent that takes you back to your childhood. In 1896, Raphael Bordallo Pinheiro registered the patent for his original version of a ceramic swallow, still made using original molds in our charming town, Caldas da Rainha. It is thought to be the embodiment of that feeling. It carries the saudade of the giver, that good memory, with it. “When you’re giving this as a gift, you’re basically giving a part of yourself that stays there. You’re creating a connection,” he says. ...Swallows also serve as protective charms. In fact, some believe the symbol functions much like a Jewish mezuzah, the small, encased parchment scrolls affixed to doorposts in Jewish homes and temples. “There’s a common ground between the Jewish people and the Portuguese diaspora,” says Apolinario. “We’ve sailed the world and we’re immigrants, and we always feel saudade for our homeland. A lot of people want to come back. The swallow represents that there is a nest somewhere in Portugal, although people are living all over the world.” (an exerpt from "Here’s why you see swallows everywhere in Portugal" National Geographic Magazine, October 2021)

I believe art is power. I'm hoping this small gallery would make your life a bit richer and denser upon visiting.

I may have been a bird at some point. I long for a clear blue sky, forever trying to find a "home".

Mika Aono, Gallery Director