The non-registered deputy Cristina Rodrigues warned today, in parliament, about the state of degradation of the Museu dos Biscainhos, in Braga, which, according to the Assistant Secretary of State and Cultural Heritage, is already being the target of reparations.
At a hearing at the parliamentary committee on Culture and Communication, MP Cristina Rodrigues questioned the Minister of Culture about whether she was aware of the “high state of degradation” of the Museu dos Biscainhos, and the adjoining building, “namely at the level of the facade, with degradation of the balconies and windows, as well as infiltrations ”.
The Minister of Culture, Graça Fonseca, referred the question to Ângela Ferreira, who said it was not a “situation of high degradation”.
However, he assumed that, “effectively, the façades have some structural conservation problems”.
“We are currently concluding the repair of the skylight, which caused many of the infiltrations that led to this degradation of the facades and we will then proceed to recover the facades”, he explained.
According to the Assistant Secretary of State and Cultural Heritage, “the complete restoration of the Museu dos Biscainhos is an integral part of the Cultural Heritage Recovery Plan”, and the tutelage estimates “a work with some weight”.
The Cultural Heritage Recovery Plan is part of the Economic and Social Recovery Plan for Portugal, presented today, mentioned by the Minister of Culture in her initial speech, in today’s parliamentary committee.
According to Graça Fonseca, in the plan presented today, “Culture assumes a strategic place, […] the proper place for transversal policy, the engine of economic dynamism and social cohesion, with a comprehensive and innovative action program ”.
“This plan has ambitious, but realistic and concrete measures. There are 14 measures to be implemented in the short / medium term, grouped into five areas of intervention that cover all cultural and creative sectors, and impact throughout the territory of Portugal ”, he said.
One of these 14 measures is the “national investment plan for the rehabilitation and integration of cultural and natural heritage, which aims to restore and boost the country’s many monuments, palaces and museums, most of which integrate natural spaces of biodiversity, important cultural assets for economic development and territorial cohesion ”, which includes the restoration of the Museu dos Biscainhos.
The Minister of Culture also highlighted other measures, such as “the national program for the arts in public infrastructures and equipment, which aims to promote and support artistic creation within the scope of public infrastructure investments, such as the Metro network”, and “The investment in artistic and cultural networks in the country – the national network of theaters, movie theaters and movie clubs, the national network of contemporary art and the creation of a network of artistic residencies in the territory”.
Graça Fonseca also highlighted “some measures in the area of creativity, technology and digitalization”, such as “the program for the investigation and development of highly specialized skills in the field of culture – such as conservation and restoration – and the creation of a network laboratory for cultural heritage research ”.
The manager and university professor António Costa Silva presented today, at the Centro Cultural de Belém, in Lisbon, the document prepared at the request of the Government entitled “Strategic Vision for the Economic Recovery Plan of Portugal 2020-2030”.
The document, which is under public discussion, will serve as the basis for the recovery plan, the first draft of which will be presented by the Government to the European Commission in October.
–
