Portugal and Spain prepare memorandum for cultural cooperation
“AN The idea is to have a cultural cooperation memorandum with specific objectives and projects”, indicated Graça Fonseca to journalists, during the official opening of the seventh Mostra España, at the National Museum of Ancient Art (MNAA), thank you that the next step will be to hold a first meeting to establish this document.
Speaking in the presence of the Minister of Culture and Sport of Spain, Miquel Iceta Llorens, Minister of Culture of Portugal, indicated that work had already started to create this memorandum between the embassies of the two countries, in different areas of culture, such as the audiovisual, archives and museums.
“The cooperation between Portugal and Spain has been, and continues to be, a priority of Portuguese cultural policy”, emphasizes Graça Fonseca, contributing that the memorandum should become “a stronger agreement between the two countries in the area of culture”.
The minister also indicated that she also intends to “deepen what the exhibition of Portuguese culture in Spain is all about”, which this year takes place in its 19th edition, and for next year, she hopes that the MNAA will take a work to the neighboring country. , like the Prado Museum, from today onwards, the guest work “Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia with Magdalena Ruiz”, by Alonso Sánchez Coello (1585-1588), at the Portuguese Museum.
For his part, the Spanish Minister of Culture pointed out the “common and separation points” in the history of the two countries, but said he wanted to “collaborate more and more” in the cultural area.
“We are proud that, every two years, there is an Exhibit Spain that brings the Portuguese closer to our culture and the expression of our art. We are two countries in the European Union in which a culture has a very important weight. Both Portugal and Portugal Spain has a very important cultural heritage, and many episodes of history in common, we share the Atlantic vocation, and it makes us richer when we work together”, emphasizes Miquel Iceta Llorens.
The Spanish Minister of Culture also indicated other initiatives that should unite as tutelages of the two countries in a joint work, namely a preparation for the Centenary of José Saramago, “and many other things”.
“In Portugal an excellent job is being done on the Statute of the Artist, and I want to ask the Minister of Culture for some advice on the reforms that allow creators to work with more freedom and resources. Portugal is ahead of schedule. [nesta questão] and that is why we need to take advantage of this experience, “said the minister to journalists, after the presentation of the guest work, coming from the Prado Museum, in Madrid.
For her part, Graça Fonseca welcomed the compliments of the Minister of Culture of Spain: “It is with satisfaction that we hear that other countries, such as Spain, are related to sharing our work [sobre o Estatuto do Artista]. It is something that we have been working on, in the dialogue that we have been doing through our embassies, working during the Portuguese Presidency, in conjunction with Ministries of Culture, and it is something that is also within the scope of European politics, “he said, on an issue” with some duration and which is about to reach its conclusion”.
Both ministers said they wanted “more Portugal in Spain and more Spain in Portugal”.
For his part, the director of the MNAA, Joaquim Caetano, recalled that, after visiting the museum, in other editions of Mostra Espanha, works by Goya, El Greco and Velasquez, it was once again by Alonso Sánchez Coello – an artist who lived for a few years in Portuguese territory -, with a large painting that “shows how Spanish and Portuguese crossed billionaires, and with great quality”.
In its seventh edition, Mostra Espanha, a biennial festival of Spanish culture, – which this year is present in twenty Portuguese cities – is a program of cultural activities promoted by the Ministry of Culture and Sport of the neighboring country, and its main objective is to show the dynamism and the creativity of contemporary Spanish cultural industries.
The program, which began in September, includes more than a hundred initiatives in the areas of cinema, theater, music, dance, development and colloquiums, extending until December this year, and can be consulted at www.mostraespanha.org.
Read Also: Portugal and Spain meet to discuss bilateral cooperation