Artistic Funchal

In the center of Funchal, not far from the city market, we came across an alley lined with artistically painted doors. Some paintings were realistic, others pure fantasy, and together they gave the street the feel of an open-air gallery. I didn’t photograph every single door — now I rather wish I had, if only to remember each scene more clearly. Later we found more painted doors scattered through other streets, but that first alley impressed me most.

I have a soft spot for metal statues, and the ones we found here didn’t disappoint. Their green colouring added to the visual effect.

Towns tend to put up statues of people tied to their history, and mermaids are a familiar sight by the seaside. You expect that kind of statues, the ones that tell you something about local stories. But a statue of a piece of cloth? As Madeira is famous for its embroidered lace, actually, why not.

The artistic pieces were what I found most refreshing, though. The fish assembled from colourful sheets made me smile — a bit grumpy, a bit forlorn-looking, yet it brightened the front of the hotel.

And what about the figures battling a dragon by the cable car station, or the stump reworked into a hand, its five cut branches capped with yellow metal bands to look like fingertips? Looking at it — rough dark bark for skin, metal-tipped branches for fingers — is a bit unsettling, and it stays that way even in a photograph. But I like that the piece is talking to the viewer — of pain and damage, but also of restoration, in a body grown old and worn.