GAMP invites you to travel through the history of Portimão through old illustrated postcards

The story of Portimão's picture postcard in the first quarter of the 29th century is the theme of another outdoor exhibition in the series "Passear pela História", promoted by GAMP - Group of Friends of the Museum of Portimão, which will be inaugurated on the 18th of July , at 00 pm, at Praça Manuel Teixeira Gomes, in this Algarve city.

Thanks to the collection of the bibliophile João Tavares, archived at the Documentation Center of the Museum of Portimão, to which the collector Manuel Mendonça and also António Feu were associated, it was possible for GAMP to assemble a set of postcards that recall and fix in memory the urban and social landscape of Portimão for about one hundred years, between 1900 and 1925.

Through the images presented, which include the first illustrated postcard from Portugal, published in 1894 on the occasion of the Commemorations of the XNUMXth Centenary of Infante D. Henrique, the beginnings of the intense maritime, industrial, rural and commercial life that shaped Portimão can be covered.

Fonseca Dias, Luís Urbano dos Santos, with photographic studios in Portimão, and Faustino António Martins are, among others, the photographers of some of the images on the exposed postcards, which, over time, constituted a very popular and accessible means of communication.

The first illustrated postcards (non-photographic) were typographically printed on a metallic plate. This technical process, although maintained and widely used in commercial postcards, would later evolve into the use of photographic illustration, through the lithographic process and phototype, as well as the strong and natural contribution of numerous photographers, who, meanwhile, emerged to respond to this new challenge.

This exhibition is the seventh edition of the exhibition project entitled “Passear pela História”, serving as an invitation to discover some of the first images of the old Vila Nova de Portimão, through the first illustrated postcards of the locality, both during the transition from monarchy to the republican regime, as well as the elevation to the category of city, which took place on December 11, 1924, by decree-law signed by Manuel Teixeira Gomes, from Portimão, then President of the Republic.

“Passear pela História” is a bilingual proposal (Portuguese and English) for street exhibitions started in 2017, which also seeks to strengthen the identity of the Portimonense community, by valuing the city and the municipality as a cultural and leisure destination, providing residents and tourists, in an informal way, a relaxed and unexpected journey through time, on various aspects of the unique history of Portimão.

It is also an invitation to discover (individually or in groups), in the public space of Portimão, its history, the singularities of the places, its people, its heritage and the main aspects that shaped its territory and its society.

The exhibition, which is yet another achievement of the very active Grupo dos Amigos do Museu de Portimão, this year awarded with the “Institution” prize, attributed by APOM -Associação Portuguesa de Museologia, will be on display until September 17th.

This open-air exhibition is promoted by GAMP, in close collaboration with the Parish Council of Portimão, the Museum and the Municipality of Portimão.