The Regional Director Culture, Jorge Bruno, presented in Ponta Delgada on Monday afternoon the website “Cultura Açores” (Azores Culture), the new designation of Azores Knowledge Centre on the Internet.

The new site, which intends to identify everything related to Culture, concerning the action of the Regional Government, has been redesigned and now features a more appealing graphics and an updated search engine in order to reach a wider audience, stressed Jorge Bruno.

According to the Regional Directo, one can find at the address http://www.culturacores.azores.gov.pt, cultural contents, such as an Image File, a Digital Library, Documents on Popular Theatre, the Azorean Encyclopaedia, the Genealogical Inventory, Azores Building Heritage Inventory, the Azores Archaeological Inventory, the Azores Whale Heritage, Azores Sound Recordings and the Regional Register of Cultural Assets.

On the occasion, the Regional Director for Culture said that these contents are dynamic, being constantly updated and that new collections will be made available shortly, including the “Joanne Purcel Estate,” the photography archive “Foto Pepe,” the “Linguist and Ethnographic Atlas of the Azores” and the “Carlos Machado Genealogies.”

As Jorge Bruno announced, the creation of the Cultural Agenda of the Azores is one of the novelties of the portal, being the main dissemination channel of all cultural events taking place in the Azores which, in addition to the Regional Directorate of Culture and its Peripheral Services (museums, libraries and archives), will include other cultural promoters that may use this channel for the promotion of their cultural events.

In this context, a partnership was established between the Association of Municipalities of the Autonomous Region of the Azores that will provide information on the activities promoted by Azorean municipalities, assured the Regional Director.

For the government official, this agenda will be a “meeting point” for the cultural scene in the Azores, in which promoter will be contacted by the Regional Directorate for Culture with the purpose of disseminating their events, whose information will be disseminated, free of charges, in the cultural Agenda of the Azores, which will be constantly updated.

With this agenda, the public – local community, visitors or any citizen - will have access to a calendar of cultural activities, with the possibility of researching by type of activity or theme and by island as well, which will facilitate the access to information on the cultural events taking place on all islands, mentioned the Regional Director.

On the other hand, Jorge Bruno also stressed that the overlapping of cultural events addressed at the same audience may be avoided if cultural promoters wish so.

On the “Cultura Açores” portal, special emphasis will be given to the Azorean Encyclopaedia, which has undergone remarkable improvements regarding its web design and research potentialities.

For the government official, sharing strengthens collective intelligence and, based on these guidelines, the Government of the Azores continues to develop this initiative by sharing and enabling the access to Azorean cultural heritage in digital format while promoting the Culture of the Azores.