The call for suggestions will be conducted on the CCB’s official website (www.ccb.pt) until May 21, as stated by the official to Lusa news agency regarding the first initiative since taking office in January this year.
Entitled “What Can CCB Do for You,” this open call invites the public to express what role they believe the center should play in the country’s cultural life and what “cultural experiences” they expect to find at this facility in the capital.
“Our main motivation is to build a leadership practice that values the institution and prioritizes the interests of the public and the nation,” explained the official in an emailed response to Lusa’s inquiries.
According to Vassalo e Silva, the objective is to “consolidate and strengthen the ongoing strategic reflection” to “integrate the diversity of the audiences and partners,” including those who frequent the cultural center and “those who are more distant.”
“We value the multiplicity of viewpoints,” he added, referring to the initiative, which he claims to have successfully implemented throughout his career as head of the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage (formerly DGPC).
Nuno Vassallo e Silva was appointed in November 2024 by Culture Minister Dalila Rodrigues to head the board of the Centro Cultural de Belém (CCB) Foundation, succeeding Francisca Carneiro Fernandes, who held the position for a year.
The dismissal of the cultural manager led to protests, notably from the CCB Workers’ Commission, and sparked a petition demanding explanations from the Culture Minister. At the time, she justified the decision in a statement citing the “need to provide new direction to the CCB management to ensure a national-level service, participating in a new cycle of Portuguese cultural life.”
Regarding the public participation call in the future of the center’s programming, Vassallo e Silva noted that there are “strong precedents” within the CCB: “An initial initiative during Vasco Graça Moura’s presidency [1942-2014] in 2012, which took the form of an ‘Invite for Proposals,’ and in 2023, the ‘Study on Cultural Consumption'” during Elísio Summavielle’s presidency, he recalled.
“These are important moments in the life of institutions where all public members are called to actively participate, sharing their opinions and contributions,” summarized the official, highlighting that the open call is not exclusively for arts professionals or cultural agents but is open to anyone interested in offering “diverse opinions.”
When asked what type of contributions he expects to receive, the CCB president said, “since this is a very free and relatively informal listening process, the most important thing is the spontaneity and sincerity of the contributions, coming from those with an interest, knowledge, or just a civic and cultural curiosity about the institution.”
“They can be opinions, suggestions for improvements, accounts of experiences at CCB, and if someone feels motivated, they can also send concrete proposals for activities,” indicated the former deputy director of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, who directed the Paris delegation of that foundation until the end of 2024.
Regarding the funding for implementing the suggestions, Vassallo e Silva responded that “the institution’s budget accommodates and supports everything included in the Activity Plan, so ideas and suggestions integrated into the strategy will receive normal funding, especially since CCB works well in advance and has that flexibility.”
On the other hand, he will “seek additional funding sources as is already the case with larger projects,” he added, admitting that “there is openness and interest in expanding the number and type of partnerships, with funding sources.”
“Moreover, it is part of the strategy for this triennium to propose a review of the Foundation’s Statutes. It is something that has been continuously discussed and will be essential to CCB’s life, not only to extend to civil society and the business sector, engaging other organizations such as the Lisbon City Council, for example,” stated the new president.
The collection and analysis of suggestions and proposals from the public participation call will be made through the completion of a form on the CCB website, and its content “will be relevant and considered in CCB’s new strategic orientation,” he assured.
“The process is underway, involving staff, the Board of Directors, and other agents, and undoubtedly good ideas will emerge that can expand the possibilities of action,” estimates the art historian who served as Secretary of State for Culture in the 20th Government.
When questioned about the presidency’s guidelines for future programming, the CCB president stated: “The strategic definition is underway, and naturally we are developing some structuring axes that we will share in due course in a more operational logic.”
Regarding communicating the results of this public invitation, he indicated that “in September, with the start of the new performance season, there will certainly be a public note of what we have gathered and integrated into the strategy.”
Nuno Vassallo e Silva maintains that “it is important to know and listen to the audiences, the communities” and that “this is the work intended to be intensified,” making the CCB “a meeting point with many intersections that functions as a network to continue developing.”
CCB aims to measure obtained results and the impact of actions to be implemented: “We are currently in the process of adhering to the Social Impact Commitment of Cultural Organizations, a project of the National Arts Plan,” he said.
Regarding attendance figures, according to the official, in 2023, CCB attracted 139,231 viewers, and in 2024, this increased by almost 25,000, reaching 164,071 viewers.
Regarding visitors to the CCB’s Contemporary Art Museum (MAC/CCB), which replaced the former Berardo Collection Museum while maintaining that collection in deposit along with others acquired by the state, such as the Ellipse Collection, numbers indicate 171,092 visitors in 2023 and 179,890 in 2024.
