50th anniversary of April with the exhibition “Dictatorship, Revolution, Democracy”

At the end of 2022, CEIS20 was invited by the coordinator of the Intermunicipal Art Plan, António Cerdeira, to scientifically coordinate a travelling exhibition that would tour the different schools in Coimbra and the CIM-Coimbra from 2023/2024. The challenge was quickly accepted and the team was put together: António Rafael Amaro, João Paulo Avelãs Nunes, Julião Soares Sousa, Olga Solovova, Sérgio Neto and myself. After preparatory meetings with the ESEC design team, consisting of professors Sílvia Espada and Pedro Maia and then-students Carolina Remígio and Madalena Rodrigues, work began on the 11 panels that make up the "Dictatorship, Revolution, Democracy" exhibition.

As we approach the day of the official commemoration of the 50th anniversary of 25 April, the team is delighted with the work that has been done: since September 2023, the exhibition has travelled to around a hundred venues - schools, libraries, universities, museums, town halls, civic, leisure and cultural associations – from the north to the south of the country. This is a CEIS20 dissemination project with a wide national reach, with DGEste recommending the exhibition and its collection to all schools in the country, both public and private, from mainstream to vocational schools. The team responsible for the project couldn't be happier with the results achieved: encouraging young people to take an active part in democratic life; reaffirming a society that is more aware of its recent history; making the memory of 25 April tangible; contributing to a commemorative experience that conveys the principles and values underlying the MFA programme, namely 3D, peace, freedom and progress.

21 April 2024, Clara Isabel Serrano

Clara Isabel Serrano is an integrated researcher and member of the scientific coordination of CEIS20.