Artistic Director’s message

After these 37 years lived in the company of various actors, in this, which is and has been the toughest of numerous Art Biennials that occurred during that time in Portugal, it is important to reflect on the role that the Biennial of Cerveira has played and should play in the future, as an integrating element of local, regional and even national development.

If someone asks me what the benefit was for the County where the Biennial is headquartered, in addition to a purely promotional aspect of tourism, I confess I do not know the answer. Because, even today, despite a complex administrative structure with a public service nature, the Biennial of Cerveira Foundation has today the same problems that it always had, since its first manifestations, as can be read in the press news of that time.

So, the creation of this Foundation solved what?

I do not think it was an ideal solution, since it was not endowed with substantial resources for its purposes and its maintenance requires an investment beyond the means available for the size of this County. It is

therefore necessary to rethink their identity, their real goals and its role in culture at various levels, as the Central Governments do not know how to benefit from and support what could be an engine for the development of the Alto Minho region.

I am sure that the current Executive council of this city, due to the concern that it has shown in improving the living conditions of its inhabitants, might know to how to make the necessary decisions for the future, and for the future and lasting solution to the problem.

This XVIII Biennial of Cerveira, I must emphasize, 1st – the guests that, in order to review the past, will be present because they were awarded in previous Biennials; 2nd – the Tributes, also because they played an important role in continuing the Biennial and the institutional image of this land; 3rd – the Higher Schools of Art as a reference for research and the future of Contemporary Art, and 4th – the traditional contest to open doors to new talents.

Henrique Silva
Artistic Director of the XVIII Biennial of Cerveira