In its December 2025 edition, Jornal Ativa’Mente interviewed Honorina Silvestre.
From left to right: Dr. Anabela Monteiro, Honorina Silvestre, Carolina Veríssimo
The content of the interview is provided below. Alternatively, you can also download the relevant pages of the Jornal: Jornal Ativa’Mente #7 (December 2025) - Interview with Honorina Silvestre (PDF).
CIRCULODEMAJALIS is an Association for Citizenship through Art, Tradition, and Knowledge, based in Canha, in the municipality of Montijo. The Association has played a crucial role in promoting local history and identity through cultural and social initiatives.
Recently, the Association gained great visibility with the organization of the first edition of the Canha Medieval Fair. To learn more about this and other projects, we interviewed the President of the Association, Honorina Silvestre, whom we thank for her availability.
1. Tell us how and when the idea to create the CIRCULODEMAJALIS Association came about. Who were the founders and what were their initial motivations?
Thank you for listening to us and for your kind words.
CIRCULODEMAJALIS is a small socio-cultural organization that was created on the initiative of a few people who love Canha and its rural character. Some are from Canha, others are not. They all share the idea that in today’s society, in our country in particular, the sense of community has been lost, and they all understand that they can give a little of themselves to counteract this way of thinking and being. We are now in our third year of association life, with immense challenges ahead, still without a headquarters (we are waiting for some municipal support to be able to finish it), but with a firm desire to achieve the goals we have set.
The name comes from a plant that is found in all fields where there is water. - the Lily of the Valley (convalária majalis).
We chose it because of its simultaneously pagan and religious meaning. The Circle comes from the deep conviction that accompanies us that life is an incessant circle of life and death, of light and darkness, of renewal.
2. What is the Association’s mission?
Our mission, in a nutshell, is to build citizenship through artistic processes that bring generations together and characterize community identity. We also want others to know and recognize it.
We would like to contribute to the necessary connection between the inhabitants of the eastern and western parts of our municipality.
3. What are the main activities and projects that the Association promotes? How do you assess the community’s receptiveness to your proposals?
We are committed to encouraging anthropological, architectural, archaeological, and historical studies on the eastern part of our municipality, based on the town of Canha.
Without this knowledge, there is no identity. We don’t really know ourselves.
Without knowledge, there can be no evolution that encompasses contemporary issues and traditions, no development that is environmentally and socially grounded. I would like to remind you that we are a sociocultural association; we know that these studies take time and will require diverse involvement.
We can intervene by example and action and, above all, suggest to those responsible for governing this area of the municipality what we consistently consider to be important.
We do not yet have the tools to objectively measure the results of our actions.
But we have succeeded in gaining at least one more member to work with us! And this has been happening! During this period, we have doubled our founding members (40).
We are happy because in recent community actions there has been growing involvement of people (who do not belong to the Association) in the public actions we promote.
So we always celebrate Forest and Tree Day/Poetry Day on March 21 and Creativity Day on November 17.
We try to publish a book every year and get involved in activities that others promote and that are compatible with what we want to do. We also make our anniversary in May a day for sharing the various arts and celebrating friendship.
Every year, we choose a street and evaluate it on several levels. This year, we chose the street(s) that runs in front of our Mother Church and goes to Fonte Velha. I invite you to visit our website (https://circulodemajalis.com/) and follow us on social media (CirculoDeMajalis) to learn more about our activities and also to come and work with us.
4. Who is the target audience for your activities? Do you have specific strategies to reach different age groups or social groups?
The target audience is the general public. We talk about Citizenship.
But in our actions, we give priority to those who can convey important values of community life to younger people.
5. What are the biggest challenges the Association has faced?
The biggest challenges from the point of view of the Association’s existence were:
a) being able to work with people who are scattered, holding meetings for specific groups online and discussing processes and activities;
b) having headquarters where we can organize workshops and promote traditional activities;
c) organizing the Canha Medieval Fair (a challenge, an opportunity to develop tourism through culture and history);
d) and, of course, economic difficulties.
6. How has the Association contributed to the local community?
We find we have drawn attention to the people of Canha and their knowledge.
We also believe we have conveyed the idea of strength that comes from being together, being competent, daring to break with the idea that nothing can be done.
We believe that we are working, in our own way, to affirm a certain community self-esteem that seems to have been dormant.
7. What are the Association’s plans and projects for the coming years?
Our plans remain the same (because they are broad and ongoing). To make happen:
- With historical truth
- With knowledge sharing
- With a desire to integrate more people
- With a desire to bring together diverse communities and engage them in the exchange of experiences and traditions, but always with a view to achieving a more socially integrated, supportive, and modern future
8. What message would you like to leave to the readers of Jornal Ativa’Mente?
Believe that dreams guide life at any age for each individual, and that it is worth believing that together we can go further and walk more safely.
Thank you once again for your time and for sharing.
We are very grateful for this opportunity to introduce ourselves.