ART OF Reflections

Matheus Cursino. Brazil.

Samba in Shepherds Bush

We arranged to meet Matheus at his home in West London, out comes a man dressed more for the beach than the backstreets of Shepherds Bush. Short shorts and flip flops were the outfit that particular Wednesday. A few days prior we’d sent him amongst other things, a styling brief with the sort of flavour we were looking to capture. Long trousers, pair of trainers. Your typical East London attire described by a couple of naive ‘creatives’. But we weren’t speaking to any typical East Londoner, or in fact a Londoner at all. We were going to speak to Matheus Cursino Florence de Oliveira. Campinas born and bred. And he didn’t give a … about our styling brief. God bless him for that, he showed us the error in our ways just by being him.

In September he’d up ended his life. Packed a bag and travelled halfway across the world to continue his education, and start a new life in the comparatively less sunny city we call our capital. A quick glance through his Instagram shows a man firmly living his best life. A Guinness or two in Dublin, taking in the sights and sounds of Ibiza, and of course getting to know his new home. The smile lighting up each corner of Europe he goes, Santos jersey very much in tow.

Of course moving halfway across the world doesn’t come without its sacrifices. As we spoke to Matheus the conversation turned to his girlfriend, Flavia, who was a pleasant surprise. With Matheus in London and Flavia in Brazil, the definition of a long distance relationship was taken to cinematic heights, they are the real life Nora and Jung from Past Lives.

Their connection to each other through football and across time and geography makes Scunthorpe to Salisbury seem like a walk round the corner. What they share with each other stops at their choice of football team. Santos vs Corinthians respectively. Love trumps football by all accounts, in his own words he calls Flavia his “VPN”. Sundays are spent with a pre-arranged Google meets. Laptop spun round to make sure Santo’s exploits reach Shepherd Bush’s very own Santista.

You’ll be pleased to know that she’s been in London with Matheus for at least some of the World Cup, his first tournament away from Brazil can’t possibly hope to compare to Sao Paulo, but new friends are in towe, a mix of fellow Brazilians and newfound Brits who will be plenty good company .