On 19 March, the 3rd edition of Atlas, the cultural mediation programme of the Municipality of Braga, was presented.
This programme returns with a new look, aligned with Braga’s Cultural Strategy 2020-2030 and with the mission of democratising access to culture for all audiences, regardless of age or social class.
Inclusion and intercultural dialogue are the pillars of Atlas. Through a diverse and accessible programme, it seeks to involve different communities and strengthen ties between people and artistic structures.
The programme, which runs throughout the year, is divided into three strands: Collabora (Programme of Collaborative Projects in Artistic Residency), General Programming and Annual Programming.
According to Ricardo Rio, the mayor of Braga, this is a winning project, recognised at various levels and quite innovative in the diverse way it approaches the responsibility of bringing culture to everyone.
‘The presence of culture throughout the territory is fundamental and the Atlas has this direct result, working as a tool for social transformation, capable of bringing people and ideas together. This work with everyone and the cross-fertilisation of artistic experiences has brought very positive results and given rise to truly distinctive projects,’ he said.
In the previous edition, for 2024, Atlas developed programmes with 23 artistic entities, 14 institutional partners, 57 schools, 12 school groups, 23 social, day and nursing home centres and 9 social inclusion institutions. The total number of participants was 14,485. The programme also won the National Arts Plan award that year, in the territory and cultural democracy category.
For the community, Atlas is an opportunity to become active agents, participating in the programme’s projects and initiatives and contributing ideas and suggestions to make 2025 a memorable year for culture in the city.
For artists, it offers a diverse platform to present their work to a wide and diverse audience. Finally, for institutions, the programme seeks to collaborate with public and private entities, schools and other cultural organisations, aiming to build a more robust and comprehensive programme that benefits the entire Braga community.