The parishes of Tavira will have a specialist in the area of conservation and restoration working on the recovery of their heritage, following the creation of the company for religious and tourist activities, Artgilão.
«I have the dream of being able to create a restoration office/studio in Tavira, but while this dream is not possible, we want to start the work of protecting our art pieces, with the help of Marta Pereira, who is knowledgeable and will give us great help in this task of better defending our heritage,” explained Father Miguel Neto, parish priest of Tavira.
In the note sent to the ECCLESIA Agency, the parish priest of Tavira informs that his "central concern" of the work is to make the most of the heritage that is his responsibility where, in addition to preservation, "it can be offered to the faithful and visitors."
In this context, the priest points out that the Algarve parish has multiple churches, such as Santa Maria, Santiago, S. Paulo, and S. António, which can “generate revenue” for the conservation and restoration of pieces.
The hiring of the technician Marta Pereira, graduated by the Polytechnic Institute of Tomar and a specialist in the area of conservation and restoration, came after the creation of the company Artgilão – Religiosas e Turísticas de Tavira, Lda, which was designed with the «objective of financial exploitation all the possibilities that may arise” in the parish.
According to Father Miguel Neto, the new company Artgilão resulted from the request he made to parish employees to think of “ways to economically monetize the heritage” in September 2016.
The profitability that currently involves the sale of merchandising, in the church of Santa Maria, and tourist visits allows «the creation of jobs», such as the restoration technique.
The parish priest of Tavira also informs that the merchandising – bookmarks, cloth bags, earrings, religious items – was created based on the church's heritage as a design basis, «namely their tiles, which are a strong brand».
“We want these pieces to be ambassadors of our cause and our project, so that we can effectively carry forward ideas that allow us to recover and preserve the assets that the parishes of Tavira have and that we want everyone to enjoy,” he developed.
Father Miguel Neto also reports a partnership with the Municipality of Tavira that will allow the churches to be "open and visitable", in the months of June and August.
«We want to deepen this relationship, so that the Churches benefit from the existing proximity and collaboration, as well as the Christian people, who will certainly see their traditions strengthened and promoted, as Tavira is rich in moments and religious expressions that are very particular in our region,” concluded the priest.
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