Although positioning as a photography gallery was only seen by Manuela and João as a starting point, it was expanded even before the space launched officially, when an architectural event intended to make use of the ruined warehouses that had just been bought and which would become Espaço Mira. For the event, Mira asked curator João Maia to organise an exhibition. The invitations went out, and even before there was a solid ceiling over the galleries, an exhibition was installed that "included writing, video, painting, photography and illustration".

From that moment on, the multidisciplinarity is evident in the numbers accumulated over 10 years — 228 exhibitions, 169 talks, 142 performances, or 120 book launches — these being spread across what are now the three Mira spaces: Mira Fórum, the original warehouse dedicated to photography exhibitions; Espaço Mira, dedicated to contemporary art and still curated by João Maia; and the new Mira Artes Performativas, dedicated to contemporary dance and performance.

The process then began with "conversations about the weather, about health, about cats, about improper parking, about, I don't know, these ordinary things".

And the "mesh grew thicker and thicker", to the point where today the galleries are part of the daily lives of those who live in the area. Dinners with guest artists are usually held at Dona Rosa's restaurant, a little further down the street. Drinks after an opening tend to be at the Malmequeres de Noêda Association. The most recent project involves the shelter across the road, with a community garden run by those who attend the two institutions.

Filipe Lourenço, chairman of the board of Malmequeres de Noêda, always speaks with a twinkle in his eye about the work to renew an association that has fallen by the wayside, but which now promotes a dance group, jiu-jitsu classes and recently started a federated futsal team. But the pride with which he talks about an episode related to Mira is almost physical: straightening his posture and puffing out his chest, he talks about the time Mira premiered a play by a British artist right there, on the stage that takes up most of the concert hall at the association's headquarters. "The relationship with Mira is excellent, excellent. We couldn't have asked for any better."

The same measure of pride seems to fill Manuela and João when they show us a tribute paid by the residents: on the occasion of Mira's 10th anniversary, they presented them with a golden plaque, engraved with words of appreciation, inside a blue velvet frame. This object, in the profusion of celebrations for the 10th anniversary, seems to hold a special place. Amongst the press reports and institutional guests, the golden plaque shines a little brighter: "This devastated us. It brought us almost to tears."