The Government of the Azores, through the Cabinet of the Regional Assistant Secretary of the Presidency for External Relations, promotes the exhibition "Antero de Quental and Vitorino Nemésio: living verbs of Azorean culture." It will open on September 13 at the Toronto Public Library Bloor-Gladstone.
This itinerant exhibition is part of the programme of the 20th General Assembly of the World Council of Houses of the Azores, held in Toronto between September 13 and 16. It promotes a cultural moment with the Diaspora, demonstrating the Regional Government's intention to disseminate the relevance of Azorean culture abroad.
The exhibition is intended to disseminate two major personalities of the Azorean and national literary scene: Antero de Quental, a native of São Miguel Island who is considered as one of the greatest poets and thinkers of the 19th century; Vitorino Nemésio, a short story writer, novelist and critic from Terceira Island is a leading figure of the 20th century.
The exhibition consists of 28 information panels depicting the life and work of each author, including the reproduction of Antero's manuscripts and writings by both authors as well as references about them in several newspapers. It comprises an "educational and emotional" component, although it is primarily focused on the information component.
Moreover, the exhibition also features a print by Azorean painter Urbano inspired on the poet and the autobiographical letter he wrote to Wilhelm Storck, a sketchbook by the same artist dedicated to Antero de Quental and a reproduction of Vitorino Nemésio's portrait by DaCosta. The pieces in exhibition also include two medals depicting Antero de Quental on display, one by Azorean sculptor Álvaro Raposo França and the other by Irene Vilar, and a silver medal portraying Vitorino Nemésio.
In addition to the information panels, there are several multimedia resources at the disposal of visitors. They will also have the opportunity to watch of one of the episodes of TV programme "Se bem me lembro" (If I can remember) presented by Vitorino Nemésio on RTP/Açores. They cans also watch a video produced by the Azorean Government narrating the biography of Antero de Quental that feature the participation of António Machado Pires, Rui Goulart, Laura Lobão and Aníbal Raposo.