The Regional Directorate for Culture, through its External Services, joins the celebrations of the European Museum's Nights and the International Museum Day on May 17 and 18. The department will organise a series of activities under the theme "Museum: collections that make connections."
The Angra do Heroísmo Museum will mark both days by raising awareness for the role of collections. They are considered to be the evidence of the history of Humanity and they also play a role in the establishment of ties to the community, through collective memory.
The activity programme organised for May 17 will be held under the theme of adventure and will focus on the interpretation of one of the most iconic pieces of the museum - the paper boat "Autonomy." Francisco Barreto Corte-Real travelled on this boat from Terceira to São Miguel on May 17 and 18, 1895 to commemorate the Azorean Autonomy that had been granted by the national government led by Hintze Ribeiro. This achievement was being celebrated in Ponta Delgada.
Under a partnership with Port Authorities, the Museum will organise a wall painting activity that will be carried out along the ramp of Porto de Pipas.
Inspired by the adventure of "Autonomia," the activity will be coordinated by artist Phillipa Cardoso, who is also the author of the design.
Simultaneously, there will open kayaking classes taught by instructors from Iate Clube de Angra do Heroísmo.
Children from the age of five, youngsters and adults may participate in these initiatives. Registration should be made by telephone number 295 240 800 or through the email address [email protected].
The participation fee for each activity is set at 5 Euros.
On Saturday afternoon, an open zumba session, taught by instructor Sandra Coelho, will be held at the auditorium of S. Francisco Building. In addition, there will be also a climbing demonstration on the façade of Nossa Senhora da Guia Church by the "Os Montanheiros" group.
The programme also includes martial art demonstrations by several clubs: Clube do Jogo do Pau da Ilha Terceira, Clube Shotokan de Angra do Heroísmo, KickBoxing Club de Angra do Heroísmo e Escola de Krav Maga Açores. The event will be held at the church cloister between 4 PM and 6 PM.
From 8 PM to 10 PM, the Angra do Heroísmo Museum will open to the public one of its most relevant collections, which is dedicated to military heritage.
Visitors will have the opportunity of seeing and handling some of the weapons that marked several historical moments and which are part of our collective imagination.
At the same time, nearly two hundred images depicting pieces that have been photographed by António Araújo since 2006 will displayed at the cloister. These pieces were photographed for the "Museu Aberto" (Open Musem) page, which is published fortnightly in the "Diário Insular" newspaper.
On Saturday night, the celebrations will resume the voyage of "Autonomia" with the screening of the musical comedy "As Sete Viagens de Jeremias Garajau" by Zeca Medeiros at the churchyard of Nossa Senhora da Guia Church. This work evokes, through music, dance and theatre, some of the most important events of Azorean History.
With this programme of activities, the Angra do Heroísmo Museum follows the directives issued by the Council of Europe, which encourage the organisation of activities to attract younger audiences by promoting the renovation of traditional methods of participation.
In turn, the Francisco Lacerda Museum on São Jorge will mark these celebrations with the opening of the itinerant exhibition "Natália Correia: A Feiticeira Cotovia" on May 18 at 4 PM. This exhibition was organised by the Regional Directorate for Culture in 2013 on the occasion of the celebrations of Natália Correia's birth anniversary (90 years) and her death anniversary (20 years).
Two days earlier, May 16, the Pico Museum will host the final phase of the presentation of the activity "O Museu como factor de inclusão social" (The Museum as a factor of social inclusion) at 9:30 PM. Under this activity, the members of the Occupational Activities Centre of the "Santa Casa da Misericórdia" of Madalena developed a project that consisted in a handmade brochure about the Pico Museum that was created from recyclable materials.
The Santa Maria Museum will celebrate this date on May 18 with the opening of a temporary exhibition titled as "Baleação na Ilha do Pico – O Espírito do Lugar."
Consisting of 15 photographs by Rainer Heelberg, which belong to the collection of Pico Museum, the exhibition evokes the economic importance of whaling in the Azores.
On Saturday night, the Flores Museum will open an exhibition of paintings in oil and acrylic by Certon Kister, a young Dutch self-taught painter who has been living on Flores for eight years; his works depict several themes related to the island. The display will be open to the public on the following day, May 18.
Under the celebration of the International Museum Day, the Carlos Machado Museum will organise an activity under the title "Multiplicação do Pão" (Multiplication of Bread). It consists in the exhibition of the document "Pão" by André Laranjinha, which is co-produced by the Carlos Machado Museum/Alice's House, in different dates and places.
Morning and afternoon sessions for students are being held today at the Teatro Ribeiragrandense. The documentary will be presented by its director during a session for the general public to take place at 8:30 PM.
The Carlos Machado Mobile Museum will take part in these celebrations with the organisation of an exhibition on the making of bread, while the Ribeira Grande Municipal Museum will display objects related to agriculture and the making of bread.
On May 18, the documentary will be exhibited at the Furnas Monitoring and Interpretation Centre at 3 PM and at the Cine Teatro Lagoense on May 22 at 9 PM. This session will be attended by director André Laranjinha.
Established by proposal of ICOM - International Council of Museums (a body of UNESCO), the International Museum Day has been celebrated since May 18, 1977. In turn, the European Museum's Night was established in 2005, being an initiative developed by the French Ministry of Culture and Communications.