The Portuguese Contemporary Art Network (RPAC)

This is a very meritorious initiative in all respects that, perhaps, will open the door to the future Center for Contemporary Art in the Algarve

I bring to the attention of the readers of the Sul Informação RCM nº 50/2021 of 11 May, which creates the Portuguese Network of Contemporary Art and the figure of the Curator of the State's Contemporary Art Collection (CACE). It is, for me, a duty of conscience, it is a very meritorious initiative in all respects that, perhaps, will open the door to the future Center for Contemporary Art in the Algarve.

The XXII Constitutional Government's Program established as a priority the pursuit of a cultural policy of proximity, promoting a strategy of territorial decentralization and deconcentration, encouraging broader access to the arts.

In this sense, after nearly 20 years, a public policy for the acquisition of contemporary works of art was resumed, which privileges national creation and its respective fruition throughout the territory, through the constitution of the Commission for the Acquisition of Contemporary Art and the annual allocation of a budget for the acquisition of contemporary art.

This public acquisition is essential for artists, in accessing the art market, but also to consolidate the exhibition and circulation of Portuguese contemporary art in the national territory, thus ensuring that the contemporary art spaces existing throughout the country are known, disseminated and supported.

From North to South of the country, there are several institutions that develop fundamental work in the field of Portuguese contemporary art, some aimed at the preservation and dissemination of the work of contemporary Portuguese artists, such as the Nadir Afonso Contemporary Art Museum, in Chaves , the Graça Morais Contemporary Art Center in Bragança, the José de Guimarães International Arts Center in Guimarães, and the Atelier-Museu Júlio Pomar, as well as the Arpad-Szenes/Vieira da Silva Museum in Lisbon, among others.

This context demonstrates that it is necessary to go further, promoting networking, linking the various contemporary art spaces in the country to expand access and dissemination of Portuguese contemporary art, giving them centrality, regardless of the location of the territories in which they are located. situate.

To achieve the objectives established in the Government Program and continue this cultural policy, the aim is to ensure a structured policy for contemporary art, based on the Portuguese Contemporary Art Network (RPAC) and the State Contemporary Art Collection (CACE) .

Simultaneously, a mapping of all spaces dedicated to contemporary art in the national territory was carried out, resulting in the identification of more than 120 institutions.

RPAC promotes social, cultural and artistic responsibility goals, namely in the training of teams and the professionalization of spaces, in multidisciplinarity, in multiculturalism, in accessibility and mobility and in internationalization.

At the same time, a policy of acquisition and circulation of CACE is established, as well as a more correct and efficient management of its deposit and respective documentation, allowing for its adequate conservation and investigation, as well as the consolidation of the contemporary art collection of the State, defining a strategy for its dissemination and respective fruition throughout the territory.

Thus, under the terms of article 28 of Law nº 4/2004 of 15 January, in its current wording, and of paragraph g) of article 199 of the Constitution, the Council of Ministers resolves:

1 – Create the RPAC, as a network of institutions headquartered in national territory that meet the following requirements:
a) Have as their mission the activities of promotion, valorization and dynamization of art;
b) Ensure regular public access;
c) Promote cultural mediation activities or educational services;
d) Promote their own cultural program;
e) Have an operating budget;
f) Have the necessary technical conditions for the production of exhibitions and the safeguarding of heritage, whether owned or in storage.

2 – Determine that the RPAC has the following objectives:
a) To structure itself as a space that brings together and encourages different centers of Portuguese contemporary art, called "satellites", with social, cultural and artistic responsibility;
b) Promote the mobility of artists, curators and other actors in the contemporary arts scene, as well as the crossover of artists represented in the collections of the various institutions that comprise it;
c) Bringing the different communities of the national territory closer to contemporary art and culture, contributing to the increase of audiences and their loyalty;
d) Foster standards of rigor and quality in the exercise of the activities of contemporary art institutions headquartered in national territory;
e) Promote the decentralization of cultural offer and a broad enjoyment of contemporary art, in conjunction with regional governments, local authorities, as well as cultural, social and professional institutions and agents;
f) Promote programs to support network programming;
g) Foster dynamics of interrelationship between artistic and research practices in these areas;
h) Promote programs aimed at children and young people, in conjunction with the National Plan for the Arts;
i) Stimulate the network circulation of the collections of contemporary art institutions, as well as private collectors, namely through the celebration of collaboration protocols;
j) Encourage national and international multidisciplinary projects, namely through exhibitions, performances, seminars and conferences;
k) Foster and develop an editorial policy;
l) Encourage cultural programs that can be co-produced on a network and roaming;
m) To stimulate Portuguese artistic creation and production in the national territory, internationalizing it through different lines of artistic and cultural cooperation, as well as cultural tourism;
n) Boost and reinforce the dynamics of internationalization of contemporary art, namely through partnerships with international networks in the same field.

3 – Commit the implementation of the RPAC to the Directorate-General for the Arts (DGARTES), in conjunction with a team composed of:
a) A representative of DGARTES, who coordinates;
b) The curator of the State Contemporary Art Collection (CACE);
c) Representatives of national contemporary art institutions, appointed by order of the member of the Government responsible for the area of ​​culture.

4 – Establish that DGARTES, in conjunction with the team referred to in the previous number:
a) Presents the strategy for the RPAC to the member of the Government responsible for the area of ​​culture, within three months after the entry into force of this resolution, which must include the national mapping of Portuguese contemporary art centres;
b) Implements the RPAC strategy, ensuring the fulfillment of its objectives;
c) Promotes the procedures for adhesion to the RPAC, as well as the articulation between the institutions that compose it;
d) Regularly monitors and evaluates the implementation of the RPAC, preparing semiannual reports on the activities carried out within the scope of the network;
e) Promotes the signing of protocols with public or private entities, namely for the establishment of partnerships and obtaining patronage and sponsorship within the scope of the RPAC.

5- Establish the CACE curator, hereinafter referred to as curator, with a temporary nature, under the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage (DGPC), in order to ensure an efficient management of the CACE, its deposit and respective documentation, allowing for its proper conservation and investigation, as well as consolidate the State's contemporary art collection and define a clear strategy for its dissemination and respective enjoyment throughout the territory.

6 – Establish that the curator's mission is:
a) Coordinate the Commission for the Acquisition of Contemporary Art (CAAC), created by Order No. 5186/2019, published in the Diário da República, 2nd series, No. 101, of May 27, 2019;
b) Develop an acquisition policy that values, preserves and strengthens the State's artistic heritage and encourages national artistic creation, in conjunction with the CAAC;
c) Develop a policy for the public enjoyment, dissemination, preservation and conservation of the CACE, in conjunction with the DGPC;
d) Elaborate an annual programming plan for CACE that affirms it throughout the territory and promotes the approximation of citizens to contemporary art;
e) Define an identity and brand strategy for CACE;
f) Propose to the DGPC the signing of protocols with public or private entities, namely to reinforce the representation of Portuguese contemporary art in the public and daily image of these entities, for the establishment of partnerships and to obtain patronage and sponsorship;
g) Develop educational and pedagogical projects based on the CACE collection, in conjunction with the National Plan for the Arts.

 

Final grade

In the information and knowledge society in which we live, the development of territories today involves the production of content and distinctive signs that promote their brand image and are capable of attracting new, increasingly demanding audiences.

The Portuguese Contemporary Art Network points in this direction and leaves the door open so that, in the short term, in the Algarve region, not only an itinerant program of Portuguese contemporary art can be created, but also, and above all, the embryo of what could become the future Center for Contemporary Art in the Algarve.

 

 



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