This video shows an image from the beginning of the XX century, depicting Portuguese intellectuals and artists in Martinho da Arcada coffee shop, located in Lisbon. This film was shot under water, taking advantage of its movements and describing a counterclockwise circular camera motion. It represents the erratic passing of time, constantly interrupted by the fluid movement of the water that mirrors and reflects the symmetric image.
This video was retro-projected on a blank area of the mirror. Consequently, not only is the video image itself (deferred) reflected through the water, but it also relates to the viewer’s own image reflected at that very moment.

On the mirror on the right there was a sentence from Almeida Garrett that implies that anyone that enters a coffee shop can see the culture underneath, much like as if that particular coffee shop was the mirror of the city of Lisbon at that time.

Repensar o Chiado/Reviver o Chiado, Academia de Belas Artes, 2011.