A colloquium, a conference, a national meeting, a poetic-musical performance and the continuation of historical research projects and the readership community. These are the main ingredients of the 2016 Activity Plan of the Institute of Ibero-Atlantic Culture (ICIA).
The overall objective is “to pursue programming in line with the idea of a project that mediates communication within the community, in line with the idea of a city (Portimão) and a region (Algarve) between two seas”.
João Ventura, president of ICI, stresses that it is about «continuing to cross the Atlantic in the wake of the “vague people” in the Algarve that demanded the Americas, renewing, in the context of cooperation with the History Center of the University of Lisbon, the ongoing research project, henceforth, called Crossings. And we also look at the Mediterranean, the mystic-lyric of the poets who celebrated it, the nostalgic of Manuel Teixeira Gomes through his nomadism and chronicles of cultural cabotage between Mediterranean cities and the painful exposure of the South to wars and current dramas the endless migratory movement they provoke and to the north to the economic crisis that fuels tensions and unleashes fear and xenophobia, but which can still be a space for new solidarities».
Among other planned actions, the following stand out:
Crossings [Studies]
In cooperation with the University of Lisbon History Center, proceed with the historical research project on Algarve sailors and merchants who demanded the Americas in the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries.
At the same time, cooperate with specialized magazines Annals of Overseas History (Center for Overseas Studies, Universidade Nova de Lisboa); Complutense Magazine of American History (Complutense University of Madrid); History Magazine for All (University of Tucumán, Argentina).
Shipwreck with spectator [Coloquium on the current Mediterranean]
Colloquium, on a date to be announced, which will bring together nationally renowned personalities to debate the current situation in the Mediterranean, exposed to the south to wars and the dramas of the endless migratory flow they provoke and, to the north, to the economic crisis that fuels tensions and it unleashes fear and xenophobia, but it can also be a space for new solidarities.
The steps around [Community of Readers]
Around the table, we will celebrate the birthday of Manuel Teixeira Gomes, revisiting the Mediterranean cities where he wandered, so, as João Ventura said, «guided by his nomadism, we revisit as sedentary travelers his Levantine places and taste their main flavors».
The Readers Community will also be a space for meetings with writers, presentations and book launches, cliterary celebrations such as World Poetry Day, taking place next Monday, March 21, from 19 pm, at Taberna Porta Velha, in an atmosphere of literary get-together in which participants will be invited to read poems by Mediterranean poets, World Book Day, etc. .
The presentation of the recent book by writer João de Melo, is also scheduled for May 12, at the Municipal Library of Portimão, the ships of the night.
Anna Lindh Foundation Portuguese Network Meeting [National Meeting]
A Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation (FAL) comprises 42 countries in the region and its mission is to promote intercultural dialogue and mutual knowledge between people and societies on the southern and northern shores of the Mediterranean.
The Portuguese Network was formed in 2005 at the same time as the creation of the Anna Lindh Foundation itself, and is currently made up of 40 members from the most diverse areas of activity in the country's cultural and social life, including the ICIA.
In collaboration with the Centro Nacional de Cultura, an organization that coordinates the Portuguese Network, the ICIA will organize, in Portimão, in October, the annual meeting, this year inspired by the Mediterranean itineraries of Manuel Teixeira Gomes, where, among other topics, ways will be discussed. and internal organization processes in order to consolidate the notion of “network” among its members, seeking new forms of intervention to disseminate FAL's values and objectives.
Manuel Teixeira Gomes' tour [Conference]
This conference, integrated in the meeting of the Portuguese Network of the Anna Lindh Foundation, aims to update the message of Euro-Mediterranean dialogue that humanist traveler Manuel Teixeira Gomes bequeathed and that, in that meeting, will be adopted as a tribute to his memory.
The Sea of Ulysses [Poetic-Musical Performance]
As João Ventura expresses, this is an artistic creation project involving local artists, who will present a poetic-musical recital, «to meet the poets of the Mediterranean so that, despite the turmoil that today churns its waters, we find ourselves on its poetic shores. the hope of a common sea».
Luis Sepúlveda and João de Melo are the new honorary members
At the General Assembly of the ICIA, held on 12 March, the writer João de Melo and the Chilean writer Luis Sepúlveda were admitted as honorary members.
The group of honorary members is thus made up of António Borges Coelho (Full Professor of History at the University of Lisbon), António Marques de Almeida (Full Professor of History at the University of Lisbon), Caio Boschi (Full Professor of History at the University of Belo Horizonte, Brazil), Cláudio Torres (Director of the Archaeological Field of Mértola), Lídia Jorge (Writer), João de Melo (Writer), Nuno Júdice (Writer), Luis Sepúlveda (Writer), Maria da Graça Mateus Ventura (Centre of History of the University of Lisbon), Martim Afonso Gracias (former mayor of Portimão), Maria do Rosário Pimentel (Associate Professor of Portuguese Studies at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa).
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