Huambo – The minister of Culture, Filipe Zau, on Wednesday, in Huambo City, highlighted the commitment of the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, to national culture.

He was speaking before the Angolan Statesman during the central act of the National Culture Day celebrations, marked on Wednesday as part of the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of National Independence, proclaimed on November 11, 1975.

At the time, the minister thanked President João Lourenço for authorizing the implementation of projects related to the recovery and construction of different types of equipment linked to the development of culture.

He recalled that in January 2024 the Head of State, inaugurated the “Manuel Rui Monteiro” Cultural Center, in the presence of his patron, the writer Manuel Rui, who was born in the Huambo city and his the composer of the lyrics of the National Anthem.

Filipe Zau pointed out that, this year, in the context of the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Independence, the Head of State not only authorized the celebration of National Culture Day at the mentioned Cultural Center, but also accepted the invitation to be present at the event.

Meanwhile, he said that the concerns consist, among others, in the professionalization of artists, through the necessary valorization of cultural and creative industries, given their contribution to employability, to the social support and the diversification of the economy, above all, through the entrepreneurial action of cultural producers.

He considered the teaching of the arts, in the context of multifaceted education that contributes to the inclusion of aesthetic, ethical and coexistence values, looking at cultural diplomacy, as a strategy for promoting Culture abroad.

The minister stated that without culture there is no development, due to the fact that people are necessarily inserted in a specific cultural context, alongside their work activity, as education for citizenship is one of the purposes for comprehensive training.

“In an era of knowledge and rapid mutations that, nowadays, are operating at a thunderous speed, culture will also, in our understanding, be seen as a factor of economic and social progress and not as a mere update”, he highlighted.

He emphasized that, through the defence of heritage, culture becomes the foundation of identity and awareness, therefore, it cannot be separated from all levels of the educational system.

The government official stressed that in the context of cultural and creative industries, culture becomes a factor of economic progress or contributes to employability and the product's internal product, a fact that makes it inseparable from cultural tourism and the environment, through the concept of sustainability of cultural and natural assets.

Challenges

According to the minister, the re-registration of traditional authorities will soon begin.

He pointed out that the inauguration of the Huambo Provincial Archive constitutes another cultural added value for this region and for the country in general, at a time when works on the Palace of Music and Theater and the House of the Artist, with the opening scheduled for approximately 20 months.

According to the minister of Culture, still this year, the national cinematheque, resulting from the restoration of Cine Alfa 1 and Cine Alfa 2, is also continuing at a good pace and its presentation is scheduled for the end of this year, as well as the implementation of the conservation and preservation restoration project for the country's cinematographic heritage, located in the National Archives of Angola.

He explained that the redevelopment of the National Theater Cinema has also begun, as has the future National Liberation Museum, and is expected to be completed at the end of this year.

Filipe Zau informed that the projects for the new National Library of Angola, the Museum of Resistance and the Museum of Contemporary Art will be part of the future cultural dance of the former Roque Santeiro space, while for the Cine Teatro Tropical, completely degraded, the sector is being search for financing.

He said that the province of Zaire will have the bank of the Kingdom of Congo, accompanied by the process of recovery and conservation of all the historico-cultural sites in that region, by the way the first Material Heritage of Humanity, while Soyo, a place that marks the Arrival of the Portuguese in 1482, it will be the target of a rehabilitation project due to its non-historical interest, but tourism and environmental interest.

Regarding the province of Malanje, he informed, the construction of royal residences for the sovereigns of Muhongo and Matamba were approved, in addition to the Teka-dya-Kinda memorial, among other projects, in the provinces of Cunene, Namibe and Cuanza-Sul.

The program included an eclectic demonstration of cultural disciplines, from musical instruments to vocal performances by prestigious artists, as well as performances by comedians.

The anniversary was approved in decree-law nº 21 and published in Official Gazette nº 87, I series, of November 1986, in homage to the speech on National Culture by the first President of Angola, António Agostinho Neto, given in 1979, during the inauguration of the management bodies of the Angolan Writers Association, in Luanda.

At the time, António Agostinho Neto, who is also considered the greatest poet, also addressed National Culture, which since then has become a fundamental reference in all discussions on the topic of Angolan Culture.

ALH/MRA/jmc