06-02-2023 | source: Beira.pt

The symposium will begin at 3pm, with the opening session and the inauguration of the exhibition “Do Bicho da Seda ao Bordado de Castelo Branco”.

The symposium “The Creative Cities Network of Unesco” takes place today, February 6, at 155h00, in the Municipal Library of Castelo Branco, on the theme “Handicrafts and Popular Arts – Embroidery”.

The initiative, which will include several debate moments and interventions from specialists in the area, focuses on embroidery, “one of the most important cultural heritages of Castelo Branco”.

The Castelo Branco City Hall, organizer of the event, also informed that the event is due to the candidacy to the Unesco Creative Cities Network in the category of Handicrafts and Popular Arts.

With this application, the municipality intends, “through this iconic traditional art of the county, to invest in creativity and in cultural and creative industries, fostering economic development.

In a press release, the city council explains that this program, launched in 2004, aims to “promote cooperation between cities around the world that use heritage and creativity as a strategy for sustainable urban development.

“The embroidery of Castelo Branco is one of the most recognized treasures in the handicrafts of the center of the country. The motifs have an aesthetic that corresponds to a visual grammar of its own. The intensity of the colors and the light is given by the silk threads, embroidered on the base of raw handmade linen. The drawings/motifs have their own symbology: the Tree of Life, birds, carnations, roses, lilies, pomegranates or hearts – all with a clearly exotic profile,” says the same source.

The symposium will begin at 3pm, with the opening session and the inauguration of the exhibition “Do Bicho da Seda ao Bordado de Castelo Branco”, followed by the intervention of Maria de Lurdes Pombo from the Portuguese Association of Parents and Friends of the Mentally Handicapped Citizen (APPACDM) of Castelo Branco on the history, production, and applications of silk.

At 15h30 Carlos Correia, from Universidade Nova de Lisboa, will speak about “Heritage and Creativity”, followed by the participation of some Portuguese cities that are already part of Unesco’s Creative Cities Network, namely Barcelos, Caldas da Rainha, Idanha-a-Nova, and Covilhã.

The presentation of the candidacy will also take place, including the presentation of the site dedicated to this popular art and that intends to take “to the virtual world” the embroidery of Castelo Branco’s municipality.

The initiative will end with the presentation of a promotional video and the signing of the Letter of Principles, at 5:45pm.