Category: Notícia

On 27 October, Centro Cultural de Belém hosted Falas & Afetos, a performance by Aníbal Raposo, as part of the Ponta Delgada – Portuguese Capital of Culture 2026 programme, a project that celebrates the richness of Azorean culture and brings together different geographical regions and artistic expressions from across the Portuguese-speaking world.

 

As the only cultural venue in mainland Portugal to host two performances from this programme, CCB reinforces its commitment to cooperation and the country’s cultural diversity.

 

This initiative also forms part of the territorial cohesion priority defined in CCB’s “Revisitar” Strategic Plan, which seeks to strengthen connections between different regions, encourage the circulation of cultural projects and highlight the diversity of artistic expression across the country.

 

Photo: CCB / Rita Carmo

The Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) marked its 30th anniversary with the conference CPLP 30 Years – A Community of Language and a Shared Future, held at Centro Cultural de Belém on 8 October.

 

Organised by Portugal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the event was attended by the President of Portugal, António José Seguro; the Executive Secretary of the CPLP, Maria de Fátima Jardim; and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Timor-Leste, Bendito dos Santos Freitas, representing the organisation’s current presidency. Portugal’s Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel, presided over the closing session.

 

Under the theme “Unity in Diversity, A Community for its Peoples”, the celebrations highlighted the institutional, cultural, social and human ties that bring Portuguese-speaking countries closer together.

 

The programme included discussions on the organisation’s political and diplomatic history, the Portuguese language as a global asset and current geopolitical challenges. The event was concluded with the launch of a commemorative postal stationery item marking the CPLP’s 30th anniversary.

 

Founded in 1996, the organisation brings together nine member States and promotes cooperation in areas such as culture, education and development, strengthening ties between the peoples of the Lusophone world.

Centro Cultural de Belém has joined the Portuguese Climate Refuge Network | Stay Cool, an initiative by Turismo de Portugal aimed at strengthening the protection of residents and visitors during periods of extreme heat by providing welcoming spaces that offer thermal comfort.

 

By joining the initiative, CCB becomes part of a national network of spaces that contribute to climate change adaptation, offering people places where to find shelter and greater comfort on particularly hot days.

 

Participation in this initiative reinforces CCB’s commitment to hospitality, accessibility and the well-being of its audiences, reaffirming its role as a cultural venue open to the city, attentive to the needs of its visitors and mindful of today’s environmental challenges.

 

The Climate Refuge Network | Stay Cool already has 95 registered venues across the country, bringing together different organisations in a joint effort to protect communities and to promote more sustainable and resilient tourism.

 

Participating venues can be found on the initiative’s official platform at refugiosclimaticos.turismodeportugal.pt/index-en.

Centro Cultural de Belém hosted a public information session, organised by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, on the new Cultural Patronage framework and Residence Permits for Investment in Culture (ARI).

 

Minister Margarida Balseiro Lopes opened the session, which brought together representatives from a range of cultural institutions and venues across the country.

 

The programme included a presentation of the new Cultural Patronage scheme and a panel dedicated to ARI, which outlined the key aspects of this instrument and its contribution to the implementation of projects in the field of culture.

 

Rita Romão, member of CCB’s Board of Directors, took part in the panel, sharing Centro Cultural de Belém’s experience in developing cultural projects with private investment.

 

 

Over three days, more than 7,000 people visited Centro Cultural de Belém to take part in the Season Opening Party, which marked the start of the 2026_2027 Performing Arts Season from 11 to 13 September.

Shows, performances, talks, music, exhibitions and the CCB Market took over different spaces across CCB, with a programme that extended beyond its venues and auditoriums to CCB Plaza, the Jardim das Oliveiras, the José Saramago Path and MAC/CCB – Museum of Contemporary Art.

Throughout the three days, artists and audiences came together in a programme designed for different generations and different ways of experiencing culture, reinforcing CCB as a place for encounter, discovery and sharing.

The Season Opening Party brought to life the CCB we are committed to building: an open, vibrant and welcoming home, where culture invites participation, promotes knowledge and creates space for encounter and freedom.

Centro Cultural de Belém will host a public information session on 28 September at 2:30 pm, organised by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, about the new Cultural Patronage scheme and Residence Permits for Investment in Culture (ARI).

 

The session will be opened by the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Margarida Balseiro Lopes. The programme includes a presentation of the new Cultural Patronage scheme, a panel discussion and a session dedicated to ARI, providing information on the relevant framework and procedures.

 

Rita Romão, member of CCB’s Board of Directors, will take part in the panel dedicated to ARI, which will also present experiences and results of private investment in the cultural sector, highlighting the contribution of this instrument to the implementation of projects in the field of culture.

 

The initiative will also take place on 2 October at 2:30 pm, at the Serralves Foundation in Porto.

CCB hosted the fourth edition of BOOK 2.0 – The Future of Reading, organised by the Portuguese Publishers and Booksellers Association (APEL). Books, literacy, education, democracy and the challenges of technological transformation were at the heart of an event that brought together authors, publishers, policymakers, academics and cultural professionals from several countries.

 

Under the theme “Back to Basics. Back to Books.”, the two-day programme brought together different geographies, generations and fields of knowledge. Sanna Marin, former Prime Minister of Finland, reflected on reading and democracy; Markus Dohle, former CEO of Penguin Random House, addressed the enduring power of books; David Hayman, responsible for the UK’s National Year of Reading 2026, spoke about the need to make reading a national priority; and Luísa Sobral explored the relationship between music, writing and creativity.

 

Other guests at CCB included Nuno Crato, Adolfo Mesquita Nunes, Luís Portela, Alessandra Carra, Joan Tarrida, Emma House, Erin Cox, Joel Halldorf, Mafalda Ribeiro and Daniela Pierre.

 

In her address, the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Margarida Balseiro Lopes, recalled that reading continues to mean engaging with a different perspective from our own and remaining with it for long enough to understand it.

Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, Prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education, focused his address on one of the challenges of our time: in a world shaped by artificial intelligence, the risk lies not only in what machines are capable of doing, but also in the possibility that we may forget the value of the human experience from which stories originate.

 

At the close of the morning session on the second day, the President of Portugal, António José Seguro, emphasized the need for more critical and informed readers, calling for a new impetus in reading policies and for the Portuguese language to be safeguarded as an essential part of life in society. The idea of “good books against the algorithm of banality” was a central theme of his address.

 

Digital transformation was also discussed in a conversation with the Minister in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister and for State Reform, Gonçalo Saraiva Matias, while other sessions explored topics such as the attention crisis, new ways of reaching readers and the challenges of making books visible in today’s digital ecosystem.

 

The event was also attended by the Board of Directors of the Centro Cultural de Belém Foundation.

 

By hosting an initiative that brings culture, knowledge, technology and major contemporary challenges into dialogue, CCB reinforces one of the ambitions of its RE-VISITAR 2026–2030 Strategic Plan: to establish itself as a meeting place for art, thought and society, open to the exchange of ideas, debate and different audiences and generations.

 

In a world of algorithms and increasingly fragmented attention, BOOK 2.0 left CCB with one essential idea: to keep reading is also to keep thinking.

MAC/CCB – Museum of Contemporary Art and Architecture Centre is now part of Centro Cultural de Belém’s portfolio of event spaces, expanding the range of options available for corporate and institutional events at CCB.

 

To mark this new addition, on 10 September CCB’s Commercial and Events Department hosted a select group of clients and partners for an exclusive guided tour of José Pedro Croft’s exhibition Reflections, Enclaves, Deviations, led by the artist himself. Held to coincide with the closing of the exhibition, which welcomed more than 30,000 visitors during its run, the initiative offered an opportunity to strengthen relationships and thank clients and partners of the Congress and Meeting Centre for their trust, combining institutional engagement with a cultural experience at CCB.

 

The tour also provided an opportunity to discover the exhibition through José Pedro Croft’s perspective and gain a deeper understanding of some of the ideas and processes that run through his work. Afterwards, guests gathered for a cocktail reception in MAC/CCB’s Grand Hall.

 

With the addition of MAC/CCB, CCB’s Congress and Meeting Centre is expanding its portfolio of event spaces, offering an even broader range of solutions for different formats and contexts.