Serralves Wants to Collect Our Memories of Its Park in the Year of Its Centenary

The Serralves Foundation, in Porto, is promoting a project to collect personal testimonies, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of its park, which is being celebrated this year Photographs, letters, memoirs… The cultural institution is looking for all these elements, which it will try to compile on a website, in exhibitions (both digital and physical) and also in a book.

“We want people to celebrate our history with us”, Helena Freitas tells PÚBLICO The director of Serralves Park highlights, in a 2023 that will include several moments linked to the 100 years of this space, two dates: 21st and 22nd April.

During these days, “the park will open its doors”, to invite people to share the (physical and mental) memories they keep of the space It will be two symbolic days, but sharing can be done throughout the year, via an email address created specifically for this purpose (memorias@serralves.

pt) ​ The project to collect testimonies, which was presented to the media this Friday, also includes three “memories meetings”, one of which will challenge writers and other artists to talk about their “artistic and literary memories” of Serralves Park.

It is scheduled for March 17th and will be the second of these free entry events The first will take place next Friday, March 3rd — the theme is “learning and living with the park” —, and the last one will take place on March 30th, the day on which “entities that live with Serralves” (not only entities linked to local power and the media, such as different cultural institutions, associations and companies) will talk about “the park and the city” of Porto.

At the end of May, Serralves should start sharing the collected memories On the 25th of that month, the cultural institution will present at a conference (and will also publish on the website it is creating to mark the centenary of the park) the interviews it has carried out with different stakeholders — between those responsible for managing the park, employees of the foundation , regular visitors and other “reference actors”.

A few weeks later, on the 15th of June, a digital exhibition will be inaugurated Four months after that date (October 17th), there will be a physics one.

Digging up memories in the archives These exhibitions will seek to bring together representative elements of what is the “patrimony of the park”, describes its director, stating that both objects shared with the foundation by the public and materials present in archives can be included Helena Freitas mentions that the Serralves Foundation is already carrying out this excavation work to collect elements that will help tell the story of the park's 100 years.

“We have several archives: from Serralves, from the city itself… Countless fantastic archives”, she says The book that will result from the collection of memories (and which will simply be called Parque de Serralves: 100 years of History) will be presented on 18 November.

The Serralves Foundation, in order to carry out this collection of testimonies, is counting on the help and coordination of Maria Fernanda Rollo, a historian and university professor who is also one of those responsible for Memória para Todos, a citizen science project which, also following a logic community consultation, "promotes the study and organization and dissemination of the historical, cultural and technological heritage of Portugal", can be read on their website In the opinion of Maria Fernanda Rollo, it made no sense, nor would it even be possible to tell the story of Serralves Park without listening to “the people who help to live it, to transform it, to understand it”.

The historian leaves the challenge to the public: “Please, come visit, revisit Serralves on the 21st and 22nd of April Share your memories with us.

” In a year that will be marked by several dates dedicated to the celebration of the centenary, the park will not fail to host other events included in the Serralves Foundation's program One of these events is Serralves em Festa (2nd to 4th June), a free entry event offering 50 hours of uninterrupted cultural events and which will return after a three-year interruption.

it made no sense, nor would it even be possible to tell the story of Serralves Park without listening to “the people who help to live it, to transform it, to understand it” The historian leaves the challenge to the public: “Please, come visit, revisit Serralves on the 21st and 22nd of April.

Share your memories with us ” In a year that will be marked by several dates dedicated to the celebration of the centenary, the park will not fail to host other events included in the Serralves Foundation's programme.

One of these events is Serralves em Festa (2nd to 4th June), a free admission event offering 50 hours of uninterrupted cultural events and which will return after a three-year interruption it made no sense, nor would it even be possible to tell the story of Serralves Park without listening to “the people who help to live it, to transform it, to understand it”.

The historian leaves the challenge to the public: “Please, come visit, revisit Serralves on the 21st and 22nd of April Share your memories with us.

” In a year that will be marked by several dates dedicated to the celebration of the centenary, the park will not fail to host other events included in the Serralves Foundation's program One of these events is Serralves em Festa (2nd to 4th June), a free entry event offering 50 hours of uninterrupted cultural events and which will return after a three-year interruption.

The historian leaves the challenge to the public: “Please, come visit, revisit Serralves on the 21st and 22nd of April Share your memories with us.

” In a year that will be marked by several dates dedicated to the celebration of the centenary, the park will not fail to host other events included in the Serralves Foundation's program One of these events is Serralves em Festa (2nd to 4th June), a free entry event offering 50 hours of uninterrupted cultural events and which will return after a three-year interruption.

The historian leaves the challenge to the public: “Please, come visit, revisit Serralves on the 21st and 22nd of April Share your memories with us.

” In a year that will be marked by several dates dedicated to the celebration of the centenary, the park will not fail to host other events included in the Serralves Foundation's program One of these events is Serralves em Festa (2nd to 4th June), a free entry event offering 50 hours of uninterrupted cultural events and which will return after a three-year interruption.

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