Aveiro and Rouen compose the official international cultural cooperation programme in 2022

“Temporada Cruzada Portugal – France 2022” Programme

Aveiro and Rouen are part of the official programme of “Temporada Portugal – França 2022”, which begins in February and runs until October. This is a cooperation programme that celebrates culture and the ties that bind the two countries, seeking to highlight the excellence of artists, thinkers, scientists and entrepreneurs. “Temporada” is also an opportunity to discuss Europe and integration, values of inclusion, parity and equality, culture and heritage.

The intention to design a “Temporada Cruzada” programme has its origins in the CreArt | Cities Network for Artistic Creation project, of which the two cities are partners, in the search for closer bilateral cooperation in areas beyond the visual arts. Thus, the plan of activities with actions taking place in both cities simultaneously includes concerts, poetry and literature, conferences on history and cultural heritage, book presentations, meetings between museums and artistic residencies around ceramics, with the presence in Aveiro of the artist Laure Delamotte Legrand planned for the autumn.

School exchanges for the youngest

Also integrated in the programme is the “school-twinning”/”school twinning” project involving two classes of the Glória EB1 and students of École Pépinière Saint-Julien, curated by David Alexandre Guéniot, a French artist living in Portugal, and with the cooperation of the Centre Photographique Rouen-Normandie. Together and throughout the 2021/2022 school year, pupils will work on letters and writing through drawing and graphic expectation, exploring words, gaining a taste for reading and understanding the importance and function of a book. At the same time, the students are awakened to the concepts of citizenship and cultural diversity. The result will take the form of a publication that brings together works from schools in the two cities.

The opening moment of “Temporada” takes place in Rouen, on 25 February with the concert by Chapelle Corneille and Duo Electro/Fado by Lina Rodriguès Raul Refree. The closing event takes place in Aveiro with a concert by Orquestra Filarmonia das Beiras with the participation of musicians from Rouen.

The realisation of cooperation programmes such as this one promotes the integration and articulation with the cultural agents of Aveiro providing them opportunities for exchange and growing international visibility. Simultaneously, it positions Aveiro in the cultural cooperation networks, consubstantiating the strategic objective 10 of the Strategic Plan for Culture which aims at the internationalisation of cultural creation. It also contributes to the process of Aveiro’s candidature to become the European Capital of Culture in 2027. Rouen, in turn, is one of the French cities applying for the European Capital of Culture 2028.

The “Temporada Cruzada Portugal – France 2022” promotes cooperation projects between entities from both countries. As a whole, this programme aims at the cultural dynamisation in the counterparts, enhancing the exchange of experiences between artists and entities. In Portugal, the Season is coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture through GEPAC and in close relationship with the Camões Institute and the French Embassy.

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