“We are concerned about the cultural depletion of the city center of Lisbon in terms of culture made, learned, and taught in the center of Lisbon. Unfortunately, for various reasons, people have come to believe that cities can empty their centers, and the center ends up occupied by luxury real estate and tourism, and that is bad,” stated Rui Tavares.
The spokesman for Livre was speaking to Lusa at the end of a meeting with the president of the Music Academy Amateurs (AAM), Pedro Barata, to follow up on the situation the music education institution is facing, as it will have to leave its current location at No. 18 Rua Nova do Trindade, in Chiado, following a rent increase from 542 to 3,728 euros.
The current option being considered is the purchase of a building on Avenida de Berna by the Lisbon City Council. “It’s not the ideal solution for the Academy,” remarked Rui Tavares.
Rui Tavares mentioned that Livre will “seek the best possible outcome from this solution for the city and for culture in the city of Lisbon.”
Although he believes the ideal solution would be to move the Music Academy Amateurs to the building of the Tribunal da Boa Hora, which closed in 2009, the Livre leader noted that the building on Avenida de Berna “has some potential.”
In addition to its proximity to the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, this new building “can become a creative house, a new type of cultural entity,” argued Rui Tavares.
During the visit by the Livre leaders, Pedro Barata explained that a tripartite negotiation is currently underway between the Lisbon City Council, Estamo [owner of the Avenida de Berna building], and the Academy.
“The council commits to acquiring the building so we can occupy it as tenants. While the entire process is not completed, and until the final sale deed, the idea is for the Academy to sign a very temporary lease with Estamo, allowing us to occupy the space,” explained the president of the academy.
Pedro Barata also highlighted the need for funding to carry out works on the new building, which is currently not suitable for hosting a music academy.
The Academy, founded in 1884, has been attended by renowned musicians such as Carlos Bica, Pedro Ayres Magalhães, and Teresa Salgueiro, as well as classical figures like Fernando Lopes Graça, a former director, Luís Freitas Branco, and Emanuel Nunes.
