Praia da Vitória City Council has just reopened the Vitorino Nemésio House Museum after renovating the building and displaying the exhibition there. How important is this museum to the city? Is it one of the most visited buildings in the municipality?

The inauguration of the renovation of the Vitorino Nemésio House Museum took place on Thursday, January 9, also launching this year’s celebration of the 75th anniversary of the publication of the book Festa Redonda. The Vitorino Nemésio House Museum is currently one of the museums in the municipality and the only one in the city. It is one of the most visited spaces in Praia da Vitória and, above all, the center of appreciation and promotion of the life and work of the writer from Praia da Vitória, who was a major figure in 20th-century Portuguese literature. More than two hundred people, mainly tourists, visit the house every month. With the changes, we believe the offer will be strengthened and gain greater notoriety and attractiveness.

What new features does the exhibition at the Vitorino Nemésio House Museum have?

The refurbishment of the exhibition includes updating the content and making more information available digitally, which complements the physical exhibition. In addition, in the garden of Casa das Tias, where the Silvestre Ribeiro Municipal Library is located, several panels will explain the concept of Azoreanity, which Vitorino Nemésio conceptualized in various writings. In fact, within the scope of this exhibition, these texts are available in a book at Casa Vitorino Nemésio, which brings together the author’s various writings between 1928 and 1975, in which he theorizes this concept. Then, in the garden of Casa Vitorino Nemésio, we have a structure that will be the center of the children’s activities that we intend to hold regularly there, showing the youngest the life and work of the writer and, at the same time, promoting a taste for reading and books. In short, visiting the exhibition will let you know Nemésio’s life and work in all its different aspects. The information can also be deepened with the support of the municipal technicians in the house who guide the visits if the visitor wishes. Our main goal, above all, is for the Vitorino Nemésio House Museum to be a living, dynamic space and not just a repository of information. That’s why our medium-term goal is to offer a regular program of activities for students, the community, and visitors.

Can the Vitorino Nemésio trail be a tourist attraction for the municipality?

Nemésio’s life and work are an important tourist asset for the city and county. As you can see from the traffic circle by the courthouse – one of the gates to Praia – this is Nemésio’s City. We want to deepen this vision, offering those who visit our knowledge of the writer’s work and, through it, a glimpse – however faint – of our identity, history, and experiences. Knowing Nemésio also helps us understand what particularly marks our history as a community. Because the writer from Praia wrote a lot about this and included this ‘genetics’ in many of his works.

The Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores has created a literary prize named after Vitorino Nemésio. Is this also a way of giving more visibility and recognition to the writer from Praia?

We had the honor of presenting the Vitorino Nemésio Literary Prize at the opening of the 2024 edition of the Outono Vivo literary festival in the presence of the President of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores. I believe this prize is, and will be, a great motivator for study and interest in the work of Vitorino Nemésio.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the publication of the book Festa Redonda. How will the municipality of Praia da Vitória mark this anniversary?

The inauguration of the refurbishment of the Vitorino Nemésio House Museum was, to a certain extent, the start of this year’s celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the publication of Festa Redonda. This book sings about the Azores, Terceira, and Praia da Vitória like perhaps no other. As part of this, we are finalizing a traveling exhibition that will tour the municipality’s schools, introducing young people to the book and the writer; during the year, we intend to organize various activities and meetings about the work, and, in the Autumn Alive 2025, we want to make Festa Redonda a highlight of the program. Our aim with this celebration is to create the habit of marking Nemésio’s works every year while also contributing to their study and knowledge among locals and visitors.

In Diário Insular-José Lourenço, director

We thank the Luso-American Education Foundation for their support.