Swimming in quicksand

What brought you to Portugal in the first place?

Gourdasi Lakicevic: Ah, that’s a long story! I was very sick in India – where I had gone with my ex-husband to flee the war in Serbia. I’d had typhoid, dysentery and tuberculosis in the left lung and intestines; he’d caught malaria. We both nearly died, but we survived, and we asked to be allowed back to Europe.

The Indian authorities could only get Romania and Portugal to accept us. Nobody wanted Bosnians at that time (my husband was from Bosnia), so we chose Portugal. In a way, I realise now that Portugal accepts anybody because it’s a bit like arriving in the Bermuda Triangle when you come here. No matter how hard you work; whatever you do – it can all disappear like that!”… she snaps her fingers in explanation.

How did you come to be cleaning public lavatories?

Someone has to do it! I have a son to support. I was a single mother at the time. I have incredible capacity for hard work – however difficult or unpleasant. But the sad thing was that I lost the job because the Junta didn’t want anyone to work long enough to become “effective” they call it – unable to be sacked, in other words. So they told me to go away and “maybe come back in one year”!

Is that when you decided to work for yourself?

It was when I was looking for something/ anything to earn money. I had no plan to make mirrors, but a friend encouraged me to try, and I did and now, well now it has become my passion.

How did you manage to afford the tools you need for these mirrors?

That’s a good story! I was entitled to some sort of social support for my teeth, and I asked if I could use the money instead to buy tools. The people at social security really helped me… when I finally got the money, last year, it was only weeks before the first Christmas market I took part in. I worked day and night, and managed to get 10 mirrors ready in time – five were bought by the people from social security, and one I gave to a woman there who helped me a lot. The other four I managed to sell in the Aljezur market. At last, money was coming in…

But it hasn’t been easy?

It hasn’t been easy because while I have been developing new mirrors and new ideas, the world has run out of money! The other day, I took part in a crafts fair in the Golden Triangle. Vila Sol, it was. I had to pay €300 to be entitled to show my work. I sold nothing… not one piece. In fact no-one sold anything! I’d worked for two months getting stock ready for that show, thinking it would be a perfect place to sell.

Tell us about this latest Christmas market you’re taking part in...

It’s a Christmas Crafts Fair in the village where I live: Barão de São João, and it’s taking place on Saturday, from midday to 6 pm at the Atabai bar. There’ll be other artists taking part; many beautiful things: jewellery, puzzles, wood, Christmas gifts, things to eat, mulled wine. It will be a perfect event for families - and with any luck, we may all sell some of our work!