Maria Eugénia Gomes Alves
Biographical note
Expert Technician, Level II of the Institute of Cultural Heritage (IPC), Ministry of Culture and Creative Industries;
PhD student in Museology at the Lusophone University of Humanities and Technologies, through the ULHT Scholarship Programme, under the UNESCO Chair “Education, Citizenship and Cultural Diversity” for the triennium 2019-2022.
Director of Museology and Museum (IPC) from 2016 – 2017;
Master’s Degree in Heritage and Development, from the University of Cape Verde;
Degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology, from the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities – UNL;
Coordinator of the Ethnographic Museum of Praia from 2001/2010, she also coordinated the work for the reopening of that same Museum in 2016; she also coordinated from 2005/2010 the Museological Nucleus of Praia, later, in 2008, transformed into the Museum of Archaeology;
He coordinated the work of renovation of the exhibition, in 2008, of the Museum of Tabanca in Assomada, Municipality of Santa Catarina – Santiago and also coordinated the work of transfer and installation of the Museum of Tabanca in Chã-de-Tanque, in 2010;
He also coordinated the mounting of a temporary exhibition at the inauguration of the restoration of the building of the Cultural Centre of Sal Rei, on the island of Boa Vista, in 2010;
Coordinated the publication of the catalogue and leaflet of the Ethnographic Museum of Praia; the Museological Nucleus of Praia and the Archaeology Museum;
Participated in various programming and setting up temporary exhibitions carried out under partnerships between the IPC and various educational establishments and others, for example: commemorative exhibition of the International Day of Water, with the National Institute of Water Resource Management, in 2006; with the University of Cape Verde), in 2008; with the Liceu Cónego Jacinto Peregrino da Costa and Miraflores Educational Centre, in 2010. And permanent exhibition, as is the case of the Norberto Tavares Museum in Assomada, in 2014, among others;
She collaborated with the University of Cape Verde, as Assistant Professor, in the area of museology from the academic year 2007/2008 until the year 2018/2019;
And is part of the group of IPC researchers, in the “Concha Project – History and Heritage of the Oceans”, of the Humanities Centre of the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences of the New University of Lisbon, since 20018.
Areas of academic and scientific interest
- Social and Cultural Anthropology
- Cultural Heritage and Museology
- Museology and Sociomuseology
PhD project
- Museology in Cape Verde – challenges, advances and perspectives. Case Studies: Ethnographic Museum of Praia and Museological Site of Lajedos
- Title
- Doctorate Professor Maristela Simão
- Advisor
Abstract
With this research project, it is proposed to know, describe and analyze the actions linked to the museology’s area in Cape Verde, in the post-national independence period. That is, based on two museological experiences or processes (Ethnographic Museum of Praia and Museological Site of Lajedos), this study seeks to understand the Cape Verdean museological context – its state of the art and future perspectives – under the lens of Sociomuseology. Because, taking into account that it was only after 1991 that museum infrastructures began to appear in the country, at a very slow pace and with a markedly normative typology (traditional museums), with this investigation it is intended to observe and verify to what extent one can speak of a Social Museology in Cape Verde, within the framework of the guidelines of Sociomuseology, as a School of Thought.
Some specific objectives to be achieved with this study were listed, among which the following stand out: identify and map the existing museological infrastructures on each island of the Cape Verde Archipelago and seek to know its structure and functioning; seek to understand what are the impacts of these museums on their territories, based on the assumption that they are useful tools at the service of social, cultural, environmental, economic development, etc. taking into account the line of research that “guides” this work, Sociomuseology, Heritage and Development; analyze the Programs of the successive Governments, regarding the preservation of the country’s cultural heritage, to understand the advances and setbacks, in terms of public policies for the sector; try to understand the reason for the almost total absence of community initiatives in the museology sector; trying to understand the changes that have taken place in the field of Cape Verdean museology, which have given rise to new ways of making museums. From traditional (normative), urban museums to museums such as Sitio Museológico de Lajedos, in which the focus is placed not on the collection, but on the search for improvements in people’s living conditions, in the well-being of individuals in this rural community. An “out of the box” museum typology considering the general context of the country.