Ponta Delgada | Azores’ candidacy to ECOC to be presented on 30 May

Ponta Delgada is bidding for the title of European Capital of Culture. But it is not going alone: it is taking an entire archipelago with it!

“Our Nature is Human” is the motto of the candidacy of Ponta Delgada | Azores to European Capital of Culture 2027 - Azores 2027, whose official presentation will take place next Sunday, 30 May, through digital platforms.

When talking about the Azores, Nature, Landscape, and Biodiversity are the main assets that come to mind. But the Azores are also its people, their stories and experiences, its heritage and its culture. That is, therefore, the working basis of the Azores 2027 project, which will now be made public. Given the uncertainties arising from the current pandemic situation, the Azores 2027 coordination team chose to produce an audio-visual piece that symbolised one of the main aims of this project - the union between all the islands - instead of organising a face-to-face event with online broadcasting. This piece involved over a hundred people in its production.

This video, directed by the Azorean Hugo França, had the Teatro Micaelense as its stage, hoping to mirror the cultural richness and diversity of the Azores, crossing tradition and contemporaneity. In addition to several artistic notes, the video - featuring a soundtrack by musician Luís Senra - includes statements from Professor Onésimo Teotónio Almeida, President of the Azores 2027 Committee of Honour, the Mayor of Ponta Delgada, Maria José Lemos Duarte, and the President of the Government of the Azores, José Manuel Bolieiro.

The video will be broadcast next Sunday at 8.30 p.m. (Azores time) through the Facebook pages of Azores 2027 and the Municipality of Ponta Delgada, and the project’s official website - www.azores2027.eu - which will launch on the same day.

Azores 2027 is a project of union: Ponta Delgada has the whole archipelago on board 

The motto of the European Union, "United in Diversity", suits the Azores very well - the richness of the archipelago lies in the diversity of the islands, a portrait set to be presented to Europe by this candidacy.

The European Capital of Culture bid of Ponta Delgada comes to affirm the archipelago for its identity, its multinational people, and its natural and cultural heritage. The coordinating team argues that this is the strength of Azores 2027, which wants to count on the support and involvement of all Azoreans, from Corvo to Santa Maria. That is why all islands have been appointed Azores 2027 ambassadors to represent the project, essential players in bringing the Azoreans and all the islands closer to this candidacy.

Consultation and participatory actions have also taken place, namely the Sharing Imagination Lab and the Open Door. The first action had, to date, over fifty participants from the fields of culture, environment, education, urbanism, social action and tourism, among others.

These gatherings, which have brought together people from all the islands in the Autonomous Region and Azoreans living outside the archipelago, are meant to help prepare the Azores 2027 bidbook. The Open Door - a face-to-face and online activity - opens up the project to the entire community, i.e. to all those who want to know more about it.

In addition to these initiatives, Azores 2027 will carry out more consultation and participatory actions across the archipelago until the end of June, including school visits and meetings with players in various sectors and the local population.

From regional to European dimension

The candidacy of Ponta Delgada | Azores to European Capital of Culture 2027 intends to be a mirror of the European Union, creating a new centrality based on cultural democracy, dialogue, artistic experimentation and unity through diversity.

In this sense, Azores 2027 is committed to presenting an archipelagic cultural experience involving different communities - including emigrant communities - taking the islands as its stage through a cooperative cultural programme that is open to all and has a European dimension.

The candidacy will highlight the geography, history and heritage of the Azores - a European region where culture stems from a direct relationship with nature.