“Banca da Cultura” collects creative proposals from across the Algarve

We challenged the community and the cultural agents of the region to join us in building the Candidature of Faro to be the European Capital of Culture in 2027.

During September there was an open call to the cultural and creative sector in the Algarve region to submit proposals and contributions to the cultural and artistic programme of the application. A total of 73 proposals were received, from agents throughout the region representing different artistic disciplines, with a significant number of multidisciplinary projects. Many of the projects show a great desire to work with and for the community, as well as to disseminate the Algarve's cultural heritage (tangible and intangible) and to take culture to unusual places.

Bruno Inácio, Team Coordinator of Faro's candidacy to become the European Capital of Culture 2027, highlights the quality of the proposals presented, as well as the mobilising capacity of the entities that joined this initiative: "We are very pleased with the participation of the cultural and creative sector in the call we made to help us generate ideas for Faro's candidature process to become the European Capital of Culture. We received very interesting proposals that show the will and capacity of a sector that permanently seeks to reinvent itself, broadening its vision and capacity for action. We received proposals from all over the Algarve, which is also very important because the candidacy assumes this facet. We will now analyse the proposals and seek that within the process of artistic construction they are relevant".

This phase of collecting ideas for the artistic content of the Candidature of Faro to European Capital of Culture 2027 also included an appeal to the entire population through the project Banca da Cultura. In online or face-to-face format, this project counted more than 800 participations, not only from individuals but also from entities and organizations that want to join the process. During 3 months, digital sessions were held, visits to associations and regional organizations were made and the existence of a space dedicated to the candidacy in the Faro Municipal Market was also remarkable in this project.

Among the themes most mentioned by the general population, the urban space and the community stand out, as well as nature, health and well-being, representing respectively 29%, 18%, 11% and 8.2% of the total of proposals submitted. Sofia Martins, responsible for the area of public participation in the candidacy, explains the importance of community involvement: "”Banca da Cultura” appears as a reinforcement of the characteristics of accessibility and proximity that are intended with this project. This initiative allows us to make the project known, to collect ideas for the artistic and cultural programme of the application, but above all to listen to the challenges, ideas and proposals from different groups in our community".