According to the statement from the Council of Ministers today, released in the early afternoon, "the decree-law was approved that creates the support program within the scope of the Portuguese Contemporary Art Network, seeking to encourage the creation, production, dissemination and enjoyment public interest in contemporary art, and contribute to the dissemination of existing art spaces throughout the country".
In February, DGArtes had announced that "predictably in April" it would open the first competition for financial support for cultural facilities accredited by RPAC, which this year has an allocation of two million euros.
The Government diploma that created RPAC, published on May 11, 2021 in Diário da República, defines it as a dynamization platform that will promote the interaction of 120 institutions spread across the country, already identified.
This network project began with the installation of the Coimbra Contemporary Art Center, based on the set of works belonging to the collection of the former Banco Português de Negócios (BPN), at the same time that the Government launched a mapping of the spaces dedicated to for contemporary art in the national territory.
The first phase of joining RPAC took place between September 15th and November 18th last year, with 78 membership applications submitted.
After that, the accession process began "to be open on a permanent basis, without interruptions, for other entities that wish to submit their requests in the future", according to DGArtes, in a statement released in February this year.
Initially, 66 equipment and spaces joined RPAC, from 36 municipalities in mainland Portugal and autonomous regions, namely six in Alentejo, three in Algarve, 16 in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, 14 in the Central Region, 24 in the North -- 14 in Porto Metropolitan Area --, two in Madeira and one in the Azores.
Among the accredited facilities are Appleton, Galeria Zé dos Bois, the Arpad Szenes Museum Vieira da Silva, the National Museum of Contemporary Art - Museu do Chiado and Culturgest, in Lisbon, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Madeira, in Calheta (Madeira Island), the Casa do Design de Matosinhos, the Serralves Foundation and Casa São Roque , in Porto, the Oliva Art Center, in São João da Madeira, the gnration, in Braga, the Jorge Vieira Museum - Casa das Artes, in Beja, the Elvas Contemporary Art Museum, the LAC, in Lagos, the Arquipélago - Center for Contemporary Arts, in Ribeira Grande (São Miguel island), the Old Slaughterhouse of Évora and the Solar - Cinematic Art Gallery, in Vila do Conde.