Access Culture Awards recognize nine projects for good practices, one of them in Brazil

This year, the Access Culture Awards distinguished nine projects - with four awards and five honorable mentions - for their "exemplary policies" and "good practices" in promoting improvements in cultural accessibility conditions, the organization announced today in Lisbon. The Access Culture Award – Mickaella Dantas 2025 was awarded to Get Art – Regional Association for Cultural Promotion and Management, in the Azores, the Association of Friends of the Coliseu do Porto and the director André Murraças, while the Access Culture Award – Linguagem Clara was awarded to LU.CA – Teatro Luís de Camões, in Lisbon, with an honorable mention for the Ipiranga Museum, in Brazil. The announcement of the awards took place at a ceremony held late in the afternoon at the National Coach Museum in Lisbon. The Acesso Cultura Award – Mickaella Dantas 2025 went to Get Art - Regional Association for Cultural Promotion and Management, for the ATITUDE #ArtForChange Artistic Residency Program, a project developed in the Azores that promotes social inclusion through art. "We hope that the awarding of this prize can contribute to the continuation of [Get Art's] work, so that they can soon reach the remaining Azorean islands, for the benefit of marginalized people and society in general", the jury points out in the justification. The Associação de Amigos do Coliseu do Porto was another of the winners, for the “ELO” project, started in 2023, with the Educational Service and the Irmandade dos Clérigos, with the aim of “uniting different artistic disciplines (music, theater, dance and storytelling) with different people, often excluded”. The initiative brought together artists and very diverse audiences, such as institutionalized seniors and people with disabilities, students and teachers from the Pêro Vaz de Caminha School Group, and also inmates, guards and technicians from the Porto Prison. André Murraças was also distinguished in this category for the project “The Museum Outside the Closet”, by reinterpreting works of art, putting into discussion issues of gender and sexuality “revealing meanings previously hidden by social taboos”, namely the word 'queer', which a part of society still considers “offensive in any and all contexts”. The jury considered André Murraças' project “a symptomatic initiative of a progressive, healthy and plural society” by revealing “important stories of people whose lives were not lived to the fullest, of struggle and activism for an equitable and free society, and of artistic objects lost in museum reserves”. In this category, an honorable mention was given to the Gato Escaldado Theater Company, for the project “DIVA: Diversity, Inclusion and Visibility in the Arts” for people with disabilities, and a special reference to the inclusion of audiences and artists from different social backgrounds and gender identities. Other aspects considered relevant by the jury were the inclusion of artists with disabilities and their presentation on the international tour, the ability to involve a relevant consortium (Portugal, Greece and Poland) and the production of presentations that allow reaching other audiences, through the inclusion of sign language and audio description. Another honourable mention went to the Museu da Chapelaria, in São João da Madeira, for its Accessible Changing Room, open to babies whose parents wanted to enjoy cultural spaces, but also to all people, regardless of their age or gender, who need it. “It is a simple, direct and necessary defense of equity. It is a silent and fair manifesto for the right to parenthood and for dignified access to changing tables — with no age limit, no specific gender — and for the full enjoyment of culture”, justified the jury, considering the initiative “innovative”. The company Óscar Pedrosa Unipessoal, owner of Desmuro Editora, created in 2024, also received an honorable mention for an initiative considered “a political gesture of justice”. The publisher promotes “a clear and courageous policy: 20% of the cover price is paid to the author, another 20% to the visual artist, and everyone involved in the production is paid fairly. The books are distributed exclusively in independent bookstores, with consignment conditions and ethical margins”, indicated the organization. Another honorable mention went to Tita Maravilha for Precarias: a Performance Festival created for “trans, queer, transvestite, non-binary, non-white, womanly and immigrant” artists interested in questioning power structures, creating new languages ​​and giving visibility to marginalized stories and bodies. “Precarias challenges the institutional paradigm, exposing systemic precariousness, not as a subterfuge or victimization, but as a driving force for the creation of structures of political, financial and care support for these repressed, dissident and diasporic bodies – bodies that program their survival, that invent safe spaces for artistic exploration, that dare to be happy”, justified the jury. As for the Access Culture Award – Clear Language, it was awarded to LU.CA – Teatro Luís de Camões, in Lisbon, for the “Guide to thinking about an assembly of Assemblies”, prepared for the exhibition “An assembly of Assemblies”, encouraging exploration and reflection on the works exhibited in that cultural space. This guide is made up of recreations made by national illustrators from the hemicycle of the Palácio de São Bento, integrating the “Mission: Democracy” book collection of the Assembly of the Republic. In this category, there was an honorable mention given to the Ipiranga Museum, in Brazil – closed for nine years for restoration and expansion work – for the text “Things to work on and things to decorate”. This is the first time that Acesso Cultura has received an application from another country, executive director Maria Vlachou told Lusa: "Next year we will extend the regulations in this category to all Portuguese-speaking countries." The project “Things to work with and things to decorate” from the Ipiranga Museum earned this distinction “for the way it combined textual clarity and sensory accessibility, with visitors being invited to touch the objects — irons, delicate trinkets — and to think with their hands about the weight of work and the symbolic lightness of luxury”. The awards jury was composed of anthropologist and researcher Cristina Santinho, Isabel Bastos, art historian and museologist, and Joana Reais, singer and artistic researcher, member of the board of directors of Acesso Cultura. The 11th edition of Access Culture Week runs until Sunday to reflect on what access, inclusion and equity are with meetings, debates and opening doors behind the scenes of several participating entities. On Tuesday, a meeting will be held at the Alcântara Library in Lisbon on how the media shape cultural values, in collaboration with the Association for Media Literacy and Journalism, and on Sunday, in Portalegre, a debate on children's cultural rights is planned, organized in collaboration with UMCOLETIVO, moderated by the artist Ricardo Guerreiro Campos. Acesso Cultura is a non-profit cultural association of public utility that promotes access - physical, social, intellectual - to cultural participation.

Founded in 2013, it currently has 156 active members, including cultural professionals and cultural organizations, and seeks to fulfill its mission through training courses and seminars, an annual conference, public debates, consultancy in the area of ​​accessibility, good practice awards, studies and publications.

This year, the Access Culture Awards distinguished nine projects - with four awards and five honorable mentions - for their "exemplary policies" and "good practices" in promoting improvements in cultural accessibility conditions, the organization announced today in Lisbon. The Access Culture Award – Mickaella Dantas 2025 was awarded to Get Art – Regional Association for Cultural Promotion and Management, in the Azores, the Association of Friends of the Coliseu do Porto and the director André Murraças, while the Access Culture Award – Linguagem Clara was awarded to LU.CA – Teatro Luís de Camões, in Lisbon, with an honorable mention for the Ipiranga Museum, in Brazil. The announcement of the awards took place at a ceremony held late in the afternoon at the National Coach Museum in Lisbon. The Acesso Cultura Award – Mickaella Dantas 2025 went to Get Art - Regional Association for Cultural Promotion and Management, for the ATITUDE #ArtForChange Artistic Residency Program, a project developed in the Azores that promotes social inclusion through art. "We hope that the awarding of this prize can contribute to the continuation of [Get Art's] work, so that they can soon reach the remaining Azorean islands, for the benefit of marginalized people and society in general", the jury points out in the justification. The Associação de Amigos do Coliseu do Porto was another of the winners, for the “ELO” project, started in 2023, with the Educational Service and the Irmandade dos Clérigos, with the aim of “uniting different artistic disciplines (music, theater, dance and storytelling) with different people, often excluded”. The initiative brought together artists and very diverse audiences, such as institutionalized seniors and people with disabilities, students and teachers from the Pêro Vaz de Caminha School Group, and also inmates, guards and technicians from the Porto Prison. André Murraças was also distinguished in this category for the project “The Museum Outside the Closet”, by reinterpreting works of art, putting into discussion issues of gender and sexuality “revealing meanings previously hidden by social taboos”, namely the word 'queer', which a part of society still considers “offensive in any and all contexts”. The jury considered André Murraças' project “a symptomatic initiative of a progressive, healthy and plural society” by revealing “important stories of people whose lives were not lived to the fullest, of struggle and activism for an equitable and free society, and of artistic objects lost in museum reserves”. In this category, an honorable mention was given to the Gato Escaldado Theater Company, for the project “DIVA: Diversity, Inclusion and Visibility in the Arts” for people with disabilities, and a special reference to the inclusion of audiences and artists from different social backgrounds and gender identities. Other aspects considered relevant by the jury were the inclusion of artists with disabilities and their presentation on the international tour, the ability to involve a relevant consortium (Portugal, Greece and Poland) and the production of presentations that allow reaching other audiences, through the inclusion of sign language and audio description. Another honourable mention went to the Museu da Chapelaria, in São João da Madeira, for its Accessible Changing Room, open to babies whose parents wanted to enjoy cultural spaces, but also to all people, regardless of their age or gender, who need it. “It is a simple, direct and necessary defense of equity. It is a silent and fair manifesto for the right to parenthood and for dignified access to changing tables — with no age limit, no specific gender — and for the full enjoyment of culture”, justified the jury, considering the initiative “innovative”. The company Óscar Pedrosa Unipessoal, owner of Desmuro Editora, created in 2024, also received an honorable mention for an initiative considered “a political gesture of justice”. The publisher promotes “a clear and courageous policy: 20% of the cover price is paid to the author, another 20% to the visual artist, and everyone involved in the production is paid fairly. The books are distributed exclusively in independent bookstores, with consignment conditions and ethical margins”, indicated the organization. Another honorable mention went to Tita Maravilha for Precarias: a Performance Festival created for “trans, queer, transvestite, non-binary, non-white, womanly and immigrant” artists interested in questioning power structures, creating new languages ​​and giving visibility to marginalized stories and bodies. “Precarias challenges the institutional paradigm, exposing systemic precariousness, not as a subterfuge or victimization, but as a driving force for the creation of structures of political, financial and care support for these repressed, dissident and diasporic bodies – bodies that program their survival, that invent safe spaces for artistic exploration, that dare to be happy”, justified the jury. As for the Access Culture Award – Clear Language, it was awarded to LU.CA – Teatro Luís de Camões, in Lisbon, for the “Guide to thinking about an assembly of Assemblies”, prepared for the exhibition “An assembly of Assemblies”, encouraging exploration and reflection on the works exhibited in that cultural space. This guide is made up of recreations made by national illustrators from the hemicycle of the Palácio de São Bento, integrating the “Mission: Democracy” book collection of the Assembly of the Republic. In this category, there was an honorable mention given to the Ipiranga Museum, in Brazil – closed for nine years for restoration and expansion work – for the text “Things to work on and things to decorate”. This is the first time that Acesso Cultura has received an application from another country, executive director Maria Vlachou told Lusa: "Next year we will extend the regulations in this category to all Portuguese-speaking countries." The project “Things to work with and things to decorate” from the Ipiranga Museum earned this distinction “for the way it combined textual clarity and sensory accessibility, with visitors being invited to touch the objects — irons, delicate trinkets — and to think with their hands about the weight of work and the symbolic lightness of luxury”. The awards jury was composed of anthropologist and researcher Cristina Santinho, Isabel Bastos, art historian and museologist, and Joana Reais, singer and artistic researcher, member of the board of directors of Acesso Cultura. The 11th edition of Access Culture Week runs until Sunday to reflect on what access, inclusion and equity are with meetings, debates and opening doors behind the scenes of several participating entities. On Tuesday, a meeting will be held at the Alcântara Library in Lisbon on how the media shape cultural values, in collaboration with the Association for Media Literacy and Journalism, and on Sunday, in Portalegre, a debate on children's cultural rights is planned, organized in collaboration with UMCOLETIVO, moderated by the artist Ricardo Guerreiro Campos. Acesso Cultura is a non-profit cultural association of public utility that promotes access - physical, social, intellectual - to cultural participation.

Founded in 2013, it currently has 156 active members, including cultural professionals and cultural organizations, and seeks to fulfill its mission through training courses and seminars, an annual conference, public debates, consultancy in the area of ​​accessibility, good practice awards, studies and publications.

This year, the Access Culture Awards distinguished nine projects - with four awards and five honorable mentions - for their "exemplary policies" and "good practices" in promoting improvements in cultural accessibility conditions, the organization announced today in Lisbon. The Access Culture Award – Mickaella Dantas 2025 was awarded to Get Art – Regional Association for Cultural Promotion and Management, in the Azores, the Association of Friends of the Coliseu do Porto and the director André Murraças, while the Access Culture Award – Linguagem Clara was awarded to LU.CA – Teatro Luís de Camões, in Lisbon, with an honorable mention for the Ipiranga Museum, in Brazil. The announcement of the awards took place at a ceremony held late in the afternoon at the National Coach Museum in Lisbon. The Acesso Cultura Award – Mickaella Dantas 2025 went to Get Art - Regional Association for Cultural Promotion and Management, for the ATITUDE #ArtForChange Artistic Residency Program, a project developed in the Azores that promotes social inclusion through art. "We hope that the awarding of this prize can contribute to the continuation of [Get Art's] work, so that they can soon reach the remaining Azorean islands, for the benefit of marginalized people and society in general", the jury points out in the justification. The Associação de Amigos do Coliseu do Porto was another of the winners, for the “ELO” project, started in 2023, with the Educational Service and the Irmandade dos Clérigos, with the aim of “uniting different artistic disciplines (music, theater, dance and storytelling) with different people, often excluded”. The initiative brought together artists and very diverse audiences, such as institutionalized seniors and people with disabilities, students and teachers from the Pêro Vaz de Caminha School Group, and also inmates, guards and technicians from the Porto Prison. André Murraças was also distinguished in this category for the project “The Museum Outside the Closet”, by reinterpreting works of art, putting into discussion issues of gender and sexuality “revealing meanings previously hidden by social taboos”, namely the word 'queer', which a part of society still considers “offensive in any and all contexts”. The jury considered André Murraças' project “a symptomatic initiative of a progressive, healthy and plural society” by revealing “important stories of people whose lives were not lived to the fullest, of struggle and activism for an equitable and free society, and of artistic objects lost in museum reserves”. In this category, an honorable mention was given to the Gato Escaldado Theater Company, for the project “DIVA: Diversity, Inclusion and Visibility in the Arts” for people with disabilities, and a special reference to the inclusion of audiences and artists from different social backgrounds and gender identities. Other aspects considered relevant by the jury were the inclusion of artists with disabilities and their presentation on the international tour, the ability to involve a relevant consortium (Portugal, Greece and Poland) and the production of presentations that allow reaching other audiences, through the inclusion of sign language and audio description. Another honourable mention went to the Museu da Chapelaria, in São João da Madeira, for its Accessible Changing Room, open to babies whose parents wanted to enjoy cultural spaces, but also to all people, regardless of their age or gender, who need it. “It is a simple, direct and necessary defense of equity. It is a silent and fair manifesto for the right to parenthood and for dignified access to changing tables — with no age limit, no specific gender — and for the full enjoyment of culture”, justified the jury, considering the initiative “innovative”. The company Óscar Pedrosa Unipessoal, owner of Desmuro Editora, created in 2024, also received an honorable mention for an initiative considered “a political gesture of justice”. The publisher promotes “a clear and courageous policy: 20% of the cover price is paid to the author, another 20% to the visual artist, and everyone involved in the production is paid fairly. The books are distributed exclusively in independent bookstores, with consignment conditions and ethical margins”, indicated the organization. Another honorable mention went to Tita Maravilha for Precarias: a Performance Festival created for “trans, queer, transvestite, non-binary, non-white, womanly and immigrant” artists interested in questioning power structures, creating new languages ​​and giving visibility to marginalized stories and bodies. “Precarias challenges the institutional paradigm, exposing systemic precariousness, not as a subterfuge or victimization, but as a driving force for the creation of structures of political, financial and care support for these repressed, dissident and diasporic bodies – bodies that program their survival, that invent safe spaces for artistic exploration, that dare to be happy”, justified the jury. As for the Access Culture Award – Clear Language, it was awarded to LU.CA – Teatro Luís de Camões, in Lisbon, for the “Guide to thinking about an assembly of Assemblies”, prepared for the exhibition “An assembly of Assemblies”, encouraging exploration and reflection on the works exhibited in that cultural space. This guide is made up of recreations made by national illustrators from the hemicycle of the Palácio de São Bento, integrating the “Mission: Democracy” book collection of the Assembly of the Republic. In this category, there was an honorable mention given to the Ipiranga Museum, in Brazil – closed for nine years for restoration and expansion work – for the text “Things to work on and things to decorate”. This is the first time that Acesso Cultura has received an application from another country, executive director Maria Vlachou told Lusa: "Next year we will extend the regulations in this category to all Portuguese-speaking countries." The project “Things to work with and things to decorate” from the Ipiranga Museum earned this distinction “for the way it combined textual clarity and sensory accessibility, with visitors being invited to touch the objects — irons, delicate trinkets — and to think with their hands about the weight of work and the symbolic lightness of luxury”. The awards jury was composed of anthropologist and researcher Cristina Santinho, Isabel Bastos, art historian and museologist, and Joana Reais, singer and artistic researcher, member of the board of directors of Acesso Cultura. The 11th edition of Access Culture Week runs until Sunday to reflect on what access, inclusion and equity are with meetings, debates and opening doors behind the scenes of several participating entities. On Tuesday, a meeting will be held at the Alcântara Library in Lisbon on how the media shape cultural values, in collaboration with the Association for Media Literacy and Journalism, and on Sunday, in Portalegre, a debate on children's cultural rights is planned, organized in collaboration with UMCOLETIVO, moderated by the artist Ricardo Guerreiro Campos. Acesso Cultura is a non-profit cultural association of public utility that promotes access - physical, social, intellectual - to cultural participation.

Founded in 2013, it currently has 156 active members, including cultural professionals and cultural organizations, and seeks to fulfill its mission through training courses and seminars, an annual conference, public debates, consultancy in the area of ​​accessibility, good practice awards, studies and publications.