Museu Popular reopens on December 14

The museum was closed for two years and is now reopening with an exhibition: Portugal throughout the XX century

After two years with the doors closed, the Museum of Popular Art (MAP), located in Belém, will receive its viewers from Wednesday, at 18h30, with the running exhibition "From Photography to Azulejo", about Portugal in the early twentieth century from 14th December 2016. The reopening will be attended by the Minister of Culture, Castro Mendes.

This museum has not been updated for decades, being connected to the Estado Novo regime. It began as one of the pavilions of the Portuguese World Exhibition of 1940 and opened as a museum in 1948, with the objective of re-creating the interior of the various regions of Portugal or an archaic idea of these regions.

Paulo Costa, who is in charge of the National Museum of Ethnology and a director of the MP, believes that this "is a new cycle to be opened" in a new context, which will bring new exhibition programs, in which "the building, which is a architectural piece of great value, with strong symbolism, is of value again".

Some information on the reopening of the Museum of Popular Art:

• The opening exhibition "From Photography to Tile" features an "innovative perspective on tile", according to the museum's director. It will be displayed until 1 October 2017, being firstly exposed in Porto and going through Spain.

• The exhibition allows for better understanding of Portugal in the early twentieth century, as well as the need to highlight each region which was considered the most emblematic. It consists of photographs with tiles that Mingote Calderón found throughout the country, a research work that took several years to complete.

• The MAP has six permanent exhibition rooms, which retain the designation of the former Portuguese provinces: Trás-os-Montes, Entre Douro and Minho, Beiras, Estremadura, Alentejo and Algarve. For now, only two exhibition rooms are open, as well as the inner courtyard.

• The 12,000 pieces of the MAP collection will remain in the reserves of the Museum of Ethnology. The museum underwent extensive refurbishment works in 2010, and in recent months detailed works have been carried out, such as: fake walls, display panel stands, shop windows and furniture.

Source: Observador