a Raquel Weizman report
Barcelona, Spain
MAC – The Movement for Contemporary Art Lisbon / Portugal – celebrated its 17ºth anniversary and gave away the MAC 2011 Awards. This year the award is a sculpture by the Portuguese artist Santos Lopes.
First imposed in 1997, MAC awards aimed strengthen links between the various agents and art practices: representations, expressions, knowledge and skills – as well as objects and spaces associated with them – institutions, media, groups or individuals that throughout the year more actively involved in the cultural production, promotion and dissemination, enriching the national and international art scene, in the safeguarding of tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
Among the numerous Portuguese artists and journalists, special prizes and medals were awarded to the Spanish journalistic team comprised by journalists and art promotors from various magazines and institutions.
Eva Defeses, founder of the PR Agency Defense Fine Arts and of Niram Art Israel Magazine received the MAC Cultural Promotion Award, handed to its representative in Portugal, Héctor Martínez Sanz.
Niram Art Magazine, art publication founded by the Jewish Spain-based artist Romeo Niram, was granted the MAC Press Award. Fabianni Belemuski, its director, received the award for the whole editorial team.
Madrid en Marco, another art magazine from Spain was also awarded for the journalistic work of its director, writer Héctor Martínez Sanz.
Before the Awards’ ceremony, a special Medal of International Recognition was handed to Spanish art adviser Antonio Calderón de Jesús for his achievements in international art partnerships and projects by Alvaro Lobato de Faria (manager MAC).
Portuguese TV presenter Joao Paulo Sacadura, from the cultural TVI show Cartaz das artes was awarded MAC TV Press.
Art awards were granted to artists Teresa Mendonça, Luisa Noguiera, Ricardo Paula, Onik Sahakian , Joao Duarte, Roberto Chichorro, Hilario Teixeira Lopes .
To the material realization of these awards, MAC called some of the most recognized names in the Portuguese medal art and Sculpture – João Duarte, Alberto Gordillo and Maria Manuela Madureira. MAC Awards were, over the years, experiencing changes but always keeping the value which presided at its foundation: to relief and reward quality. Each year, MAC focuses on pursuing a global strategy and coordination in the field of culture, with predominance in the Arts, but also including the lyrics, music and other related areas, bringing to us and our partners, the mission to stimulate, support and promote artists, institutions and measures wich facilitate access to new opportunities.
One of the main functions of MAC Awards translates into a particular appeal and co-responsibility of institutions with major impact on cultural level, essential for the development of a coherent, consistent and effective strategy, with the obligation to enhance the diversity of initiatives that develop in society and, similarly, encourage co-operation between the various entities for the promotion and dissemination of events.
“As space of meeting and dialogue between different cultural and institutional sectors, in defense of a free culture and multidisciplinary, MAC is seeking to be the link between those whose paths normally do not cross – emerging and established artists, producers and collectors, public and private sector – transmitting a concept of culture without geographical or disciplinary boundaries, focusing with particular relevance in the way of Portuguese-speaking countries. In the context of world globalization in which MAC was founded, the theme of intercultural dialogue has a focus on our main goals, playing a key role in the pursuit of our activities to contribute to human development, recognizing and preserving the diversity while promoting pluralism, autonomy and participation in the knowledge society. Accordingly, much of our mission is dedicated to defending the Portuguese cultural heritage, material and immaterial, the disclosure of the role of Portuguese culture in the world and the updating of its relations with other cultures. All this work is done through exhibitions, publications, training courses, study-trips, seminars and conferences, as well as children’s workshops, training for school-age youth and teachers, promoting tours to various cultural spaces that not only the space allocated to MAC, covering several areas, expanding our mission to provide services to various institutions, municipalities and public and private organizations, particularly in the areas of consultancy and arts commissioner.”
Más info: http://defesesfinearts.com/2011/07/lisboa-entrega-de-los-premios-mac-2011/