Lobito – Nine years later, the Provincial Government of Benguela is planning to host once again the Culture and Arts Award and it is scheduled to be launched in October this year, ANGOP learned on Wednesday.
The last edition of the Provincial Culture and Arts Award was held in the city of Benguela, in 2015.
According to the director of the Provincial Office of Culture, Tourism, Youth and Sports, Pascoal Luís, the decision aims to promote the arts, motivate artists to work increasingly better so that their products are recognized nationally and internationally.
“During the visit of the Portuguese Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, to the province, the Provincial Government presented him with a quality handicraft piece, produced by a local artist, to the pride of us all”, the official said.
The National Prize for Culture and Arts was established in 2000, with the purpose of rewarding the disciplines of literature, cinema and audiovisual, visual arts, performing arts, scientific research and social and human sciences.
In a meeting with local artists, the director recalled that the Provincial Government is working to ensure that artists can present their work with dignity, referring to the rehabilitation of the Flamingo cinema in municipality of Lobito and the Monumental in Benguela, as part of the province's emergency works.
Many artists took the opportunity to express their concerns regarding the lack of sponsorship to acquire work equipment.
Regarding this aspect, the director informed that artists cannot wait for the Government to solve their problems, because it does not have the capacity to meet everyone's needs.
“Within the scope of institutional support, the Provincial Office for Culture, Tourism, Youth and Sports can help by facilitating contacts with businesspeople, artists or associations that are organized”, he explained.
To achieve this goal, he pointed out some requirements, such as being registered in the Cultural department, having a bank account in the group’s name, or a personal one if it is an individual, having organized accounting and having paid the fees.
“Currently, some group leaders ask for sponsorship and if it is in monetary terms, it is transferred to their personal account and then used for their own benefit. This does not dignify the class”, stated the leader.
The delegation of the Provincial Office of Culture, Tourism, Youth and Sports is listening to artists in the province with the aim to learn about their problems and seek solutions to promote and value the class. TC/CRB/MRA/DOJ
