O lume ARTfel continues the mission of the Art Encounters Foundation to create a platform for collaborations with long-term effects on the local cultural context. It encourages dialogue and experimentation, supports the local cultural ecosystem, and promotes culture within the national and international circuit.
The project O lume ARTfel continues, amplifies, and consolidates the most important vectors of the Art Encounters program, which is based on dialogue, access to culture, diversity, and artistic excellence.
The general objective of this multidisciplinary project highlights the need for the continuity of the cultural rhythm to which the local audience has become accustomed. In the year of being the European Capital of Culture in 2023, the public discovered and fulfilled their need for participation and access to culture through events that bring together artists, curators, cultural specialists, children, youth, writers, and educators.
O lume ARTfel supports the development of local and national artistic capacity, closely linked with curatorial research and the creation of a platform for international collaborations with long-term effects on the local cultural context. This is achieved through organizing an exhibition, a new edition of the Autumn Curatorial School focusing on the development and professionalization of human resources involved in cultural management, a publication documenting best practices in mentor-artist-institution collaboration—a true legacy of the TM2023 year—and specialized mediation activities such as guided tours and introductory courses in contemporary art.