Museu José Meigalão

Unique colorful place created by one local friendly hippie about his life and dedications to Elvis, CR7 and many other celebrities.

January 2021. I went back to see José, now close to 70 years old. He had found a job as a bricklayer and house painter in Jersey in the past, before returning home for retirement three years ago. It was then that he set out to sculpt and paint the cliff below his house. It has become a wall full of luminous and intertwined animals, often immense, with here and there portraits of Ronaldo or the King, his idols, and those of local celebrities. There are also Madonnas, a table of the ten commandments, other symbols. He has just finished a "capella" in honor of his parents, in front of the cliff, the pillars of which are made of a pile of recovered tires. José is one of those artists, often despised during their lifetime, because they did not study, have no relations, were simple workers or craftsmen, who carry out stupendous and senseless works. Museums and exhibitions around the world pay tribute to their work, under the name of brut art, or raw art, or singular art. What José does is rare, and unique on the island of Madeira, it is a shame that the local authorities have no interest in it.