She went on to record two more albums with the band, but then came ‘her intention to record other things’, having had ‘great encouragement’ from her friend Regina Guimarães, a poet, playwright and lyricist, with whom, in the early 1990s, she founded the band whose name is a tongue twister: Três Tristes Tigres (‘it was a little mischief so people wouldn't forget; I think it was a good bet’, she laughs). ‘Regina was always telling me ‘I'll write you the lyrics, let's do songs', because I'd already started working with her on theatre projects."

Partes Sensíveis (1993), Guia Espiritual (1996) e Comum (1998) were the albums released by TTT in the last decade of the 20th century. After a 22-year hiatus, the trio, made up of Deus, Guimarães and Alexandre Soares, released Mínima Luz in 2020 and are now preparing to release their fifth album of originals, possibly in May. The disc, which was supposed to be called Atlas, has since changed its name and will be called Arca. ‘In a way, it talks a lot about migrations, both human and animal. The way things change. There have always been migrations. That's why I also talk about this eternal perspective. Migrants aren't a new thing; it's always been like this. And animals migrate too. The wind is everywhere. There are no barriers on the planet.’

“Ó vida que se semeia/ Todos nascemos migrantes” [‘O life that is sown/ We are all born migrants’] are verses from the first single, “Exodus”, released last year, which features singer-songwriter A Garota Não on vocals, and whose video clip was made by Deus.

Arca was a name that Ana Deus had already considered for other projects and which ‘ended up fitting like a glove’ on this disc, not only because of the themes, but also because of the cover, designed by artist Hilda Reis. ‘She makes collages and started making little paper boats so that we could somehow make up the cover. And I, who already had Arca [in my head], when I saw the paper boats, I thought it made perfect sense,’ she says.

Passarinhar with Ana Deus

Ana takes us on a trip to Porto in the 80s and 90s and points out some of the places she used to go to with her eyes wide open, and of which she has fond memories, such as the Rivoli, where we recorded our interview (watch below). ‘I chose this place because it's part of my route as a spectator and as an artist. And I've seen this place in many ways; I've seen the Rivoli as a disco where there were parties. There was no audience; the floor was a wooden platform. It was like a discotheque after a certain hour, and I attended a fantastic Peter Murphy concert where the floor collapsed during the song Kick in the Eye,’ she recalls. ‘The floor opened up, swallowed some people, who weren't hurt too badly, and were lifted up onto the stage with the help of the musicians, and that's how a great memory was made, at least for me,’ he laughs. She also remembers a concert she saw there ‘by the fantastic Elza Soares, who was still very elegant’. ‘It was one of the most beautiful concerts I've ever seen,’ she says, also recalling some of the shows and events she took part in at Rivoli, including the Quintas de Leitura. ‘The Quintas de Leitura moved between the Campo Alegre Theatre and the Rivoli. In fact, I learnt a lot from the Quintas de Leitura, I learnt various ways of interpreting poems and various authors. I met a lot of new authors, new poets,’ she says.

The artist also describes her journey through the city from Escola Árvore, on Passeio das Virtudes. ‘That's where, in the 80s, I ended up meeting a lot of people connected to music, and I think that's what pushed me down this path, because people are more important than schools,’ she says. From Passeio das Virtudes, the artist tells us how she used to walk through the city: ‘the route went past the old Luso, then we went to Moinho de Vento, which was an inclusive bar, gay friendly - I mean, back then you didn't have to say that, that expression didn't exist; anyone was welcome, of course. And we'd end up in Foz and Boavista; we'd go round, sometimes we'd even pass by Foco when there was Loco Mosquito - this was in the 80s,’ she laughs.

Although she ‘wanders less’ nowadays, she likes to go to Culturgest ‘to see the exhibitions that are there’ and is a regular at the Almeida Garrett Municipal Library, where she picks up lots of books. ‘I usually see the exhibitions that are at the Municipal Gallery, and then I wander around, because [Jardim do Palácio de Cristal] have more and more white chickens,’ she says.

It was also because of the birds that Ana says she chose ‘wandering' (passarinhar) as the motto for this section. The artist argues that birds ‘have changed’ in the city. ‘When I lived in Santarém there were lots of animals; I pass an animal and look at it, I'm not indifferent, and it's normal to connect with animals, and I've noticed the number of exotic birds that also appear among the flocks of doves,’ she says. According to the artist, there are ‘various types of parrots, strange parakeets, and black and white squawks are starting to come... So, there are animals that are getting closer to the city, perhaps as a matter of survival. The city is attracting more and more people from all over in search of food, but also animals, particularly birds, which have changed a lot over time.’

Ana also argues that Porto should have dovecotes: 'I notice that doves have almost all their legs missing part of their fingers and many of them still have strings.... I can imagine doves trying to sleep in strange places, near wires and irons. They want to fly and they're trapped. And I wonder why there are no dovecotes. There's a dovecote, as far as I know, in Serralves, which is very beautiful, and I think there should be more dovecotes in the city, so the doves don't go shitting on the buildings, don't you? At the same time, they could control the population. It's a bit like homelessness. You have to find places for people.’