Mário Moutinho, president of the International Committee for Social Museology, appealed, in a letter written this Sunday, November 10, for «common sense and dialogue» so that the difficulties between Emmanuel Sancho, suspended as director of the Costume Museum, and the Holy House of Mercy of São Brás de Alportel «are surpassed».
In this letter, Mário Moutinho recalls how “there are several types of museums”.
“There are those who blindly obey the dictates that come from above with reverence. They are obedient, repeating the achievements of the past to exhaustion. They limit themselves to being the “visiting rooms” of the localities. They take no risks. The established powers like these museums. They are decorative, they extol our own achievements, they entertain the population with dances and entertainment and thus they distance people from uncomfortable thoughts such as politics, democracy, freedom, change… But some of the museums aspire to be much more than that”, he writes.
The responsable alludes to the letter written by Father Cunha, founder of the Museum, saying that it is “common sense to resolve problems through dialogue, which are sometimes just minor misunderstandings”.
«The work of the director of the Costume Museum, Emanuel Sancho, is recognized by the national and international museum community as exemplary. It is also a work that dignifies the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de São Brás de Alportel», considers Mário Moutinho.
However, “Emanuel Sancho, instead of being supported and praised by the management of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de São Brás de Alportel, is restricted in his own work, he is prevented from continuing to guide the Museum that he has built over the years with professional competence, love and dedication”, he argues.
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