9 de noviembre de 2015
Consejería de Cultura, Turismo y Deportes
The Junta de Castilla y León attended the 3rd Heritage Fair of Portugal, showcasing projects such as the international AR&PA Fair and the European EVoCH Platform
During his speech at the international conference on the ‘Internationalisation of Heritage', the General Director of Cultural Heritage, Enrique Saiz, described the AR&PA Fair’s 20-year journey of internationalisation, as well as various other international cultural heritage programs set up by the Department of Culture. He noted that a partnership agreement had been signed in 2013 by the AR&PA fair, an initiative of the Junta de Castilla y León, and the Patrimonio.pt Millennium Bcp Fair, to carry out joint actions, including the launch of an Iberian Fair, which could be held annually in Portugal and in Spain, consecutively. This agreement has increased and encouraged possibilities for mutual collaboration between entities from these two countries. For example, Spanish and Portuguese exhibitors benefitted from favourable participation terms. Some exhibitors from AR&PA, for example the cultural management company Ego Communication, were present at Coimbra.
Representatives from the Portuguese fair were also present at the latest edition of AR&PA 2014 in Valladolid, where they unveiled the Portuguese initiative and encouraged several Portuguese heritage companies to come and take part too. AR&PA was also present at this third edition of the Coimbra event with a stand showcasing AR&PA 2016, the European EVoCH Platform (Economic Value of Cultural Heritage) and other public-private partnership initiatives, such as the Duero Douro project, promoted by the AEICE Cluster in collaboration with the Junta de Castilla y León.Since its establishment three years ago at the European Parliament headquarters, the European EVoCH Platform has pursued the aim of developing a comprehensive European cultural heritage network to provide widespread information and increase awareness of the economic value of cultural heritage. This network now comprises more than 60 members from 15 countries. The aim of the Duero Douro project is to regenerate and boost the socio-economic development of the Duero Douro region by enhancing its cultural heritage. The project involves more than 20 public-private entities under the umbrella of the habitat and efficient construction cluster AEICE.
Ever since it was set up in 1998, and as part of its quest for continuous improvement, AR&PA has signed several collaboration agreements with other European fairs. In 2008, it signed a cooperation protocol with the Italian RESTAURO Fair and the Salon du Patrimoine Culturel from Paris, sealing an agreement between the three leading Heritage Fairs in Europe at that time. Later, a second agreement was signed with Germany’s Denkmal Fair in 2010, and another with the Heritage Fair in Portugal in 2013, following its first edition.
The Patrimonio.pt Millennium bcp Fair was held at the Santa Clara-a-Velha Monastery in Coimbra, seeing a 90% increase in the number of exhibitors and a large number of visitors. The event’s director Catarina Valença, said: "AR&PA inspired many of the ideas we put in place at this year’s event". AR&PA will be celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2016 and will have 10 fairs under its belt. Just as India was AR&PA’s guest country in 2014, the Portuguese fair also welcomed a guest country for the first time. This was the United Arab Emirates, whose large delegation in Coimbra made it possible to boost partnerships between the countries taking part in the fair.