Illustrated stops ‘Paragens Ilustradas’ is an artistic intervention and urban poetry project developed in 2016 by Desejos Urbanos as part of the EDP Foundation’s Public Art programme, which is dedicated to creating collaborative works in rural areas of Portugal.

Inspired by the route of the bus that passes through the parishes of the Rio Maior area — Vila da Marmeleira, Assentiz, Ribeira de São João and São João da Ribeira — the project proposed the creation of a visual poetic journey between these places. A path made up of arrivals and departures, meetings and farewells, punctuated by daily life and interwoven with literature, in dialogue with the work of the poet Ruy Belo.

The project combined illustration, text and public space, creating an accessible and thoughtful work designed to be experienced as part of the community’s daily life. Illustrated Stops invites every passenger to transform the act of boarding into a moment of listening and paying attention to the poetry that inhabits the everyday life of these places — a form of public art to be touched, explored and shared by people of all ages.