A "polyphony of voices" for the XXVI University of Coimbra Cultural Week
"Voice" is the theme chosen for the next edition of the Cultural Week of the University of Coimbra, with applications open until the 4th of November.
English version: Diana Taborda
"I ask for the floor". These words, uttered by a young student of Coimbra, "in a seemingly innocuous gesture, were the spur that accelerated the Carnation Revolution* ". The Vice Rector for Culture and Open Science, Delfim Leão, recalls the episode that took place shortly before the 25th of April and that serves as the inspiration for "Voice", the theme of the 26th edition of the Cultural Week of the University of Coimbra.
The theme, presented on 3 October in the Senate Room of the University of Coimbra (UC), is part of the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of April 25, to be held in 2024. We need to "realise that what we now take for granted, freedom of expression, did not exist", says Delfim Leão.
Delfim Leão adds that the chosen theme, "the voice", "is used in the singular to give it an omnipresent and omnipotent force, but which ultimately unfolds into a thousand other voices. It is this myriad of perspectives, this polyphony of thought and expression, that we hope to elicit with the theme of this Cultural Week".
"We call on our cultural partners to join us in creating a chorus of voices," says the Vice-Rector.
The 26th Cultural Week will take place from the 1st to the 15th of March 2024 and applications are open until the 4th of November.
Proposals for artistic projects can be submitted in a variety of genres: exhibitions, music, theatre, dance, cinema, installation art, performances and activities for children.
More information and application form available in Portuguese at https://www.uc.pt/semanacultural.
© DR
*Translator's note: This happened on the 17th of April 1969, during a visit to the University of Coimbra by the President of Portugal and other high representatives of the authoritarian regime in force since 1933 ("Estado Novo"), when a young student named Alberto Martins, who was the President of AAC, Coimbra students’ Union, and the Voice for the Coimbra students asked to take the floor. His request was denied. Amidst the ensuing uproar, Martins climbed onto a chair and “dared” to speak, leading to his arrest. This was the beginning of the 1969 Coimbra academic crisis, and the first stone was laid down towards the Carnation Revolution, which took place 5 years later.