102-100 Galeria de Arte

An art gallery in Castelo Branco?

The question is right, and it is especially important when we know that the production and dissemination of contemporary art is a phenomenon markedly urban and too circumscribed to the coastal regions. Nonetheless, some evolution has been occurring in recent years that can be seen as paradigmatic of a new cultural reality that aims to transform the interior landscape of the country. This is the case of some initiatives that, although arising from private motivations, are based on the autarchic public power as a political support for a regional strategy determined by reasons of near survival: job creation, tourism, valorization and regional competition, etc.

It is in this sense that we can understand the creation of the António Prates Foundation in Ponte Sor or the newly inaugurated Museum of Contemporary Art of Elvas or, if we want to take a cross-border perspective, the case of the MEIAC Extremadura and Iberoamerican Art Museum of Badajoz and the recently founded the Helga de Alvear Foundation in Cáceres, which will host, in the near future, one of the best collections of contemporary art in the neighboring country.

From a political point of view, it is mainly a question of changes in the socio-economic landscape of the regions, the establishment of new poles of local development or the play between areas of influence. From a cultural point of view, it is important to take advantage of the creation of a cultural circuit of the interior which is urgent to boost, expand and disseminate. This is the challenge that we have taken up with the creation of the 102-100 Art Gallery in Castelo Branco.