Português

Hidden Tales

Stories hide in plain sight.

A street, a dish, a staircase, a bridge, a viewpoint. Hidden Tales looks closely at what’s already there, and gives it the shape of a story.

Who is behind it

Hidden Tales is a project created by Victor Viana, in Porto. The illustrations follow Bento through the city’s streets, tables and riverbanks, keeping small moments in stories and objects.

How a Hidden Tale is born We start with the moment that almost went unnoticed. The object comes last.

  1. 01

    Place

    Porto offers something only it could offer.

  2. 02

    Experience

    Someone arrives, stays, tastes, gets lost.

  3. 03

    Memory

    The moment refuses to be forgotten.

  4. 04

    Story

    It becomes a chapter, with its own title.

  5. 05

    Object

    So the story can keep travelling.

Ribeira on Paper: illustration of The Ribeira, seen from across the river, with Bento the capybara.

Why a capybara?

Bento is a tourist capybara from Brazil who set out to see the world. He arrives full of questions: curious, gentle, a little greedy, often taking the long way round. That’s why he’s good company. He learns a place slowly, the way you do when you really travel.

Portrait of Bento: a capybara in a straw hat with a red feather, with a backpack and binoculars.

Why “Saudade”?

Saudade is the Portuguese word for missing something you love. Our first collection is about the moment you realise a place has stayed with you, sometimes before you’ve even left.

Sketching Porto at Sunset: illustration of Above the Ribeira, at sunset, with Bento the capybara.

Porto is where it starts

Hidden Tales is the first project of the NUVON incubator, our partner studio. NUVON looks after the online shop, distribution, photography and video.

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