Dozens of events under “SCUT regime” mark the schedule for Braga 2020 – Capital of Culture of the Atlantic Axis, which kicks off on Saturday with a joint concert by Braga’s Pereira Pereira Cristo and the Galician orchestra SonDeSeu, was announced today.
“The events are free of charge for the user (SCUT)”, said the general secretary of the Atlantic Axis, Xoan Mao, to underline that the public does not pay.
Xoan Mao said that the objective of “Capital” is to promote the “consumption” of culture, but also to encourage cultural production.
“What is intended is for it to be a kind of contracting grant, a fair in which the cultural production of Northern Portugal and Galicia is sold,” he said.
Music, poetry, dance, painting, festivals, folklore, cinema, seminar and illustration are some of the areas present in the Braga 2020 program.
The program outlined for this year includes “reference” events in the municipality of Braga and a set of new initiatives, which count on the collaboration of cultural agents from the municipalities of Northern Portugal and Galicia.
“We hope to contribute to the consolidation and diffusion of the culture of the Northwest Peninsular, aware that this opportunity will be an important bridge for the construction of Braga’s candidacy for the European Capital of Culture in 2027”, maintained the Mayor of Braga.
Ricardo Rio also noted the municipality’s commitment to affirming culture as a “fundamental sector” for the development of the municipality.
According to the mayor, “Capital” will mean an increase of 400 thousand euros in the investment that the Câmara de Braga makes with its usual cultural program.
Alderwoman for Culture, Lídia Dias, pointed out that, as Capital of Culture of the Axis, Braga will “step out of its comfort area” in terms of cultural programming, with incursions, namely, in jazz, public art and in urban art.
On Saturday, in addition to the concert by Daniel Pereira Cristo and SonDeSeu, the exhibition “Popular Musical Instruments of the Northwest Peninsular” will also be inaugurated, curated by Napoleão Ribeiro.
This is an exhibition integrated in the VI Convergências Portugal / Galicia, a cultural week that will also take to the Theatro Circo, in Braga, on February 23, a Tribute to Zeca Afonso show, with the participation of the Braga Philharmonic Orchestra, Canto D ‘Here, Chorus of Parents of the Calouste Gulbenkian Conservatory and Orfeão de Barcelos.
Janita Solomé and the Galician singer Uxía are the guest artists.
Still in February, Espaço Vita will host a concert with Amâncio Prada, singer and one of the greatest promoters of Galician lyric music, while in March, the highlight goes to poetry, with recitals, documentaries, book presentations, gatherings, theater and street animation.
April will be the month dedicated to dance, with the “B de Dança”, in which professional companies and dancers residing in the North of Portugal and Galicia will participate.
Between April and September, the municipality will promote a series of visits to archaeological sites representative of the occupation, evolution and formation of the cultural features that characterize the territory of the Northwest Peninsular.
This cycle “Discovering Origins – Time Travel” will take place in Braga, Guimarães, Lugo, Marco de Canaveses, Gerês and Ourense.
In May, the Capital of Culture offers a set of concerts, conferences and visits integrated in the Organ Festival, an event that contributed to the recovery of organs from tubes of great historical and artistic value.
June will be marked by the “Festival Música d’Ponte”, which seeks to establish bridges between classical music and other musical worlds, and by “Fenda”, a festival that combines modern music and contemporary art with the history and tradition of the Roman origins of Braga.
In July, the program will be filled by Mimarte – Braga Theater Festival, the Book Fair, Castro Galaico Festival, “Jazz no Eixo” and the International Folklore Festival.
The month of August will have as its main focus the seventh art, with the “Cinema a Taste of Summer”, which will highlight different proposals from Portuguese and Galician cinema.
In September, the first edition of “Braga Young Virtuosi” takes place, an international violin competition promoted by the Municipality of Braga and the Sinfonietta de Braga, and the 1st Iberian Cravo Competition, which will pay homage to Iberian music.
The Northwest – Raiz Contemporary Music Festival opens its October program, a month that will also be marked by the premiere of the Informal Opera Festival, organized by the Sinfonietta Musical Association of Braga.
With the “Braga at Risk”, to be held in November, the Capital of Culture of the Atlantic Axis also arrives, which aims to recognize and encourage the work of artists residing in the Northwest Peninsular in the field of illustration.
The schedule of the VI Capital of Culture of the Atlantic Axis ends in January 2021 with the Biennial of Painting of the Atlantic Axis, an initiative that encourages artistic creation by enabling cultural exchange and the knowledge of artists.
The municipality will create, at the former Francisco Sanches school, a permanent cultural space where the works awarded by the Bienal do Eixo Atlântico will be exhibited throughout the successive editions.
Created in 1992, the Atlantic Axis of the Northwest Peninsular is a cross-border association that integrates the 36 main municipalities in the Euroregion Galicia-North of Portugal.
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