About
What is Anastomosis
We are a non-profit association, dedicated to creating learning spaces for children and adults. Our work brings together community, childhood, art, relationships, and care for the land, with the intention of supporting more meaningful ways of growing and living together.
What does Anastomosis mean
An anastomosis is the reunification of two divergent structures, such as water streams, leaf veins, blood vessels, or disconnected societies. Coming from ancient Greek, the word carries the sense of opening connection where separation once existed.
For us, Anastomosis speaks of reconnection: between people, between children and adults, between learning and life, between human beings and the natural world. It expresses our desire to create spaces where care, creativity, relationship, and shared meaning can grow again.
Selected recent projects
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"Os meus tesouros" Marionette play 2024 - 2025
A play for children, inspired by our own experience as parents with our first child.
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“The Incredible Adventure of João”, Summer 2024
Our stop-motion film, created together with five children, in collaboration with Jogos d'Arte was presented at the Portuguese Surf Film Festival Ericeira
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"Tiny Wonders", Summer 2025
Another project (marionettes out of metal objects, created with a group of eight with kids) in collaboration with Jogos d'Arte
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Our main project, Castelos de Areia e Letras (CAL) a learning community for children aged 6 plus, opened its doors in September 2025.
How it started
In the summer of 2018, in a small theatre in Amsterdam, Joaquim Pedro and Diana Carmen met and became friends through a shared love of art, games, and imagination.
After becoming parents, their focus turned to the environments children (and adults) grow up in and how learning, daily life, nature, care, and community can belong together again. From this, Anastomosis was born: a way of reconnecting what modern life separates — children and adults, learning and living, structure and imagination, people and nature — a path that now continues through the association and CAL, its active learning community.
