Over the next three years, the winning projects of the first edition of the PARTIS & Art for Change initiative, promoted by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and “la Caixa” Foundation, will show how the arts can contribute towards building more sustainable and cohesive communities.

The 16 winning projects were selected among 132 proposals, in a contest with national scope – supporting, for the first time, entities in S. Miguel (Azores), Faro, Odemira, Viseu, Esposende, Braga and Guimarães – which was also marked by the diversity of target communities and artistic practices that range from theatre to music, visual arts, dance and multimedia.

In these projects where several worlds intersect – the artistic coordination of some of them is made by renowned figures such as Madalena Victorino, André Amálio, Filipa Francisco, Graeme Pulleyn or Sofia de Portugal – there is, for instance, a theatre group working with both hearing and deaf people, a group of artists over 60, an orchestra composed of children from three different communities of the island of S. Miguel, a “springboard” for youngsters who are inclined to performing arts and circus, a methodology for theatrical interpretation for the blind and visually impaired, among many others.

A special interest on the theme of the environment also stands out with three projects intersecting the arts of the Earth, nature and environmental concerns with performing, plastic and visual arts.

The duration of these projects is between 24 and 36 months, starting in January 2021.

PARTIS & Art for Change

The PARTIS & Art for Change initiative was launched in January by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and “la Caixa” Foundation and aims to award 1,5 M euros to innovative projects that demonstrate the role that performing, plastic and visual arts can play in the pathways for the integration of those who are in a situation of social vulnerability and in the construction of more cohesive communities.

PARTIS

The PARTIS initiative, launched in 2013 by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, aims to support innovative artistic projects and promote social inclusion. After three editions, 48 projects were supported with a total amount of 3 M euros. In the first two editions, the initiative had about 11 500 participants, involved 651 partner organizations and culminated in almost 1000 public presentations (performances, installations, exhibitions) which mobilized more than 200 000 people.

The Art for Change initiative was launched in Spain in 2018 by the “la Caixa” Foundation to support artistic projects capable of promoting social change and has financed, up to this day, 383 projects with 5 M euros. It had 59 000 participants and involved 170 cultural institutions and 308 artists.