Gleaning
© Vitorino Coragem
There's another side to Bah Oui that you don't see in the clothes or accessories, but it's in every corner of the space: I'm a gleaner. I collect pieces – which I discover at antique fairs, flea markets, auctions – without a defined criterion, other than finding them beautiful. An old poster, a ceramic figure, a letter opener, a vintage stapler, a tape dispenser, porcelain bathers, an antique seamstress's mirror, haberdashery counters from a closed shop in Baixa, mirrors from an old bakery. Each piece enters the shop, helping to build the atmosphere of the house.
There's a special one. A white polar bear, which belonged to my grandfather. I don't know exactly why I decided to bring it to Bah Oui, I only know that since it's been here, it has gained a prominent place and I consider it my guardian. It observes the shop just as I remember it inhabiting my grandfather's shelf. It must have witnessed many Sunday lunches and today it witnesses conversations about dresses, hats, and silks, among other confessions. "Mon Regard" is not a place of suggestions. It is rather a space where I leave these things and curiosities – an object, a book, a film – that somehow shape what I then choose to bring to Bah Oui. A perspective in constant construction, always.
Bah, Oui!
