Rita Carvalho

I spent six years in the conservation workshop of the National Tile Museum in Xabregas, cleaning and rebuilding panels that had been ripped off demolished palaces. You learn a lot about a city when you glue it back together one square at a time. These days I guide instead, but I still cannot walk past a facade without checking the glaze. Lisbon has more tiles on its streets than most museums have in storage, and almost nobody explains them. Why are the shop fronts in Baixa green and white? Why does a butcher in Graça have a pelican over the door? What is a figura de convite and why is he holding his hat? I speak Portuguese, English and decent French from two years in Lyon. If you care about ceramics, bring questions. If you do not, give me an hour and you will. Today my sessions are live video walks through Lisbon; you join from home, and I answer whatever you ask as we go.