Manuel Costa Júnior, a known museum director, musician, and cultural activist, is the new coordinator of the Network of Museums and Visitable Collections of the Azores (RMCVA), according to an announcement made by theRegional Government.

Created by Regional Legislative Decree n.º 25/2016/A, of November 22nd,the RMCVA now has a new coordinator.Manuel Costa Júnior, the current Directorof a Museum in Pico island, will be joined by Silvia Sousa, senior technician of the Museum Carlos Machado and Sónia Moniz representating the Association of Municipalities of the Autonomous Region of the Azores (AMRAA).

The Executive Commission of the Network of Museums and Visitable Collections of the Azores performs its duties for a period of three years. At the inaugural meeting, Manuel Costa Júnior expressed his gratitude for the appointment but stressed that this must be a joint effort: “I have no subordinates. I have some aversion to leadership. I am part of this team and more of a collaborator of this body. I make it a point to work as an equal, eye to eye, with the two colleagues who are part of this project with me. This is the only way I can accept this great challenge, he stated.

The Network of Museums and Visitable Collections of the Azores (RMCVA) now has new coordination and Francisco Maduro Dias (former coordinator) and Maria Manuel Velásquez have taken on the role of consultants.

The Network, whose coordination structure is ensured by the Regional Directorate for Cultural Affairs is an organized system based on based on voluntary participation, configured in a progressive way and which aims at decentralization, mediation, qualification, and cooperation between museums with diverse objectives: the valorization of the mobile heritage of the Azores as an identity resource, cultural and technological resource; valorization and qualification of the museological reality in the Autonomous Region of the Azores; institutional cooperation and articulation between museums; optimization and sharing of resources; planning and rationalization ofof investments in museums; qualification and dissemination of information on museums; promotion of rigor andand professionalism of museological practices and museographic techniques; fostering innovative partnerships that contribute to the dynamization and cultural affirmation of the Region and the cooperation between museums and entities that detain of visitable collections. Currently, the RMCVA integrates 17 museums in the Region, 3 visitable collections and currently has 2 museum spaces  in the integration phase: theCunha da Silveira Museum Home, in São Jorge and the Lagoa Museum in São Miguel.

Translated by PBBI-Fresno State, from a news report in Diário dos Açores, Osvaldo Cabral, director.