A delegation from Alicante’s Museo de Bellas Artes Gravina (MUBAG), led by Juan de Dios Navarro, Deputy for Culture of the Diputación de Alicante, was received by Catarina Santos Cunha, Councillor for Tourism and Internationalisation at Porto City Council, in a protocol greetings session. The meeting also discussed possible partnership initiatives between the two institutions, thus strengthening relations between Porto and the Province of Alicante.
The MUBAG delegation, made up of Director Jorge A. Soler Diaz and technicians María José Gadea Capó and María Gazabat Barbado, is in Portugal at the invitation of the Soares dos Reis National Museum, and had the opportunity to visit the Museum and hold several working meetings, analysing the development of future projects between the two institutions.
A technical visit was also made to the Soares dos Reis Museum’s reserves, with particular emphasis on the painting, sculpture, furniture, glass and ceramics collections.
As part of the International Museum Day programme, a public talk was held yesterday evening on the possible similarities between Portuguese and Spanish artists of Naturalism, focusing on the collections of each of the museums represented.
Moderated by António Ponte, Director of the Soares dos Reis National Museum, the conversation included the participation of the Director of the MUBAG, who presented the contents and exhibition programmes, and the technicians María José Gadea Capó and María Gazabat Barbado, who held a dialogue with Ana Paula Machado, Manager of the Soares dos Reis National Museum’s Painting Collection.
By the end of the year, a delegation from the Portuguese Museum will visit MUBAG to strengthen exchange commitments and co-operation projects.
Juan de Dios Navarro considered this trip to the Soares dos Reis National Museum to be “a fundamental action for culture to transcend borders, and to start collaborating and getting to know both museums, which from this meeting are twinned and committed to future projects”.
For António Ponte, Director of the Soares dos Reis National Museum, the exchange with MUBAG consolidates the museum’s internationalisation strategy, adding that there will be exhibitions and exchange initiatives based on the museums’ respective collections.