The Funchal City Council promotes, from this week, the creation of another urban art intervention in the Campo da Barca area, namely in the respective municipal tunnel. The new work will be authored by the artist Marco Fagundes and is supported by the Municipality within the scope of Support for Associations and Activities of Municipal Interest, in collaboration with Associação Wamãe.
According to the CMF’s communication office, the intervention has already started and will continue until February 14, on working days from 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm, and on weekends from 8:00 am to 11:00 pm. Traffic will be interrupted only on one of the roads, being managed by the PSP on site.
According to Madalena Nunes, who has the areas of Culture and Social Development in the municipality, “the special character of this intervention, which will have the participation of people from various places and origins, such as young people who are residing or have already resided in the Establishment Vila Mar, users of AFARAM and other institutions with a view to social inclusion and even People in Homeless Situations. In addition to being artistic, this is, therefore, an intervention with an important social component. ”
The official also recalls that CMF has invested in the potential that artistic practices have in the process of inclusion, development and social cohesion and that this project once again associates artistic creation with this work, with the involvement of citizens at risk of social exclusion, but which, in this case, will be contributing to the enrichment of the artistic heritage of the city that is yours. This is a strong message that we send and that means a lot to us. This is one of the objectives of the Educating Cities, whose network Funchal is part of and whose work has been recognized at regional, national and international levels. ”
It should be noted that the mural joins two others already existing in the place, namely «A Baleia» (The Whale) , by Marcos Milewski and «Cristiano Ronaldo», by Luísa Spínola, “creating what we can already consider an urban art pole in Funchal , in this case with a somewhat innovative intervention, carried out in a tunnel, which is unusual in Portugal ”, reinforces the mayor, adding that“ in recent years Funchal has followed a cultural policy that favors accessibility, democratization and valorization of local cultural agents. ”
“By using the urban space for the installation of artistic events, we have managed to reach a great diversity of people, who otherwise might not have access to them. This accessibility of painting, installations, theater, video and sculpture, among others, in surprising places in Funchal has happened at different times and with different cultural agents, sponsored by the Municipality. ”
In terms of murals spread across the city, Funchal has supported several projects over the past few years. This is the case, for example, of the mural in the Almirante Reis car park, designed by Bárbara Gil, in addition to the two other interventions already mentioned in Campo da Barca. “More and more cities have been including urban art as part of their tourism promotion and planning strategies, due to the gradual social valorization and institutional legitimation of this type of aesthetic expressions in the public space, and we believe that this is another form of urban revitalization, strengthening the city’s identity and its dynamics. ”