Traditionally celebrated on May 18 since 1997 to strengthen links between museums and society, through various cultural activities, the international day will this year have the motto “Museums, education and research,” according to the website of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), promoter of the event worldwide.
Starting from this theme, the public company Museus e Monumentos de Portugal (MMP) launched the challenge to the 38 national museums and monuments, and the 169 museum spaces that make up the Portuguese Museum Network, to join these celebrations, promoting dozens of activities. throughout the country, including various activities dedicated to families.
Guided and thematic visits to exhibitions, reservations for some museums, theater, dance, circus and music shows, workshops, conferences, among other initiatives, mostly free, for all audiences, make up a general program that currently totals 258 activities, involving more than seven dozen museums and monuments across the country, according to a statement from the MMP.
This year, International Museum Day coincides with the European Night of Museums, created in 2005, which allows visitors to enjoy these spaces at night, and participate in the multiple scheduled activities, which can be consulted online (permanently updated ).
According to the MMP, entry to the 38 museums, monuments and national palaces under its jurisdiction is free.
The programming begins, in some spaces, from Thursday, specifically in Braga, where it will be possible to carry out “A sound journey through musical education”, a concert/recital that will associate music with the heritage space, at the Biscainhos Museum , and in Porto, a “Visit at night and with lanterns!” It is one of the proposals of the Soares dos Reis National Museum.
Still in the north, in the Monastery of Leça do Balio, headquarters of the Lello Bookstore Foundation, the work “Descida da Cruz”, by the Portuguese painter Domingos Sequeira (1768-1837), will be exhibited to the public for the first time, and will go to the Museum Soares dos Reis National Museum, for exhibition starting June 1.
Gerardo Rodrigues at the piano will mark the International Museum Day and the European Night of Museums at the José Malhoa Museum, in Caldas da Rainha, and at the National Museum of Conímbriga there will be presentation of communications in the field of master’s and doctoral work made in that museum.
In Coimbra, the municipal museum organizes the theatrical guided tour “The Guardallaves climbs the Torre de la Almedina”, at 11:00 a.m., aimed at the general public and children over 6 years old, upon registration, according to the general program.
In the Leiria neighborhood, the Alcobaça Monastery will present a workshop titled “A journey in time: what is it like to be a monk?”, at 10:30 a.m., to publicize an important part of the monument – the Scriptorium – where The copyist monks produced codices, medieval books.
In Lisbon, the National Museum of Ancient Art will organize, especially for families, a fun visit related to the “Portrait of an artist: the art of Domingos Sequeira”, while during the European Night of Museums, at 9:30 p.m., in the old In the studio of the painter José Malhoa, in the Anastácio Gonçalves House-Museum, “A musical and literary evening of the early 20th century” will be held, by the Portuguese Music Heritage Movement.
Also in the capital, the National Museum of Ethnology will organize guided tours of the “Amazonian Galleries” between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., in whose visitable reserves the general public has access to collections related to Amazonian cultures with more than 1,700 objects. that constitute them, representing a total of 37 indigenous peoples.
For its part, the Rainha D. Leonor Museum, in Beja, will organize the “Museu na Rua” through workshops and, in Funchal, at the Quinta das Cruzes Museum, a 19th century dance will take place.
The MMP highlights, in the statement, that this year’s edition of International Museum Day highlights its “fundamental role in education and research, highlighting the importance of museums as dynamic educational institutions, which promote learning, discovery and cultural understanding.
Annually, more than 40 thousand museums around the world participate in International Museum Day, according to ICOM, organizing programs that involve, among others, guided tours, book presentations, historical recreations and conferences.
Source: Observadora
