Culture

The Foundation intends to promote Culture as a tool for social transformation and as a way of preserving and promoting the communities that are close to us. Investment in culture, in artistic or intellectual demonstrations, and in the preservation of heritage rises up as a support for growth, for memory, for tradition and for the future.

IMC - Institute of Museums and Conservation

The Galp Foundation drew up a protocol with the IMC - Institute of Museums and Conservation, within the scope of the preservation of National Heritage, which contemplated the complete restoration and historical reconstruction of the D. João VI Room, in the Ajuda National Palace, as part of Celebrations to mark the 200th Anniversary of the Royal Family’s Journey to Brazil. It was in fact in this space that, in October 2009, the Galp Energia Foundation was officially unveiled to the public.

After the full restoration of mural paintings, in 2012 an intervention was carried out to restore the ceiling. In 2013, the three large chandeliers that adorn the room were restored, during an exhibition by acclaimed artist Joana Vasconcelos.

Casa da Música Music Hall

After two years of patronage of the Galp Jazz Cycle, in 2012 the Galp Foundation took on the role of Partner of the Casa da Música Music Hall’s Educational Service. This broader project of support for musical culture focuses on the didactic component of conviviality with musical art.

With a program of national and international acclaim, the Educational Service provides, to all audiences, experiences that lead to the discovery of music as a universe of pleasure and knowledge, of personal fulfilment and communication with others.

Art on Chairs Charity Auction

As part of the Duets / Art on Chairs initiative, promoted by Paredes Council at the end of 2012, eleven national artists were challenged to design unique chairs for eleven persons of proven merit in various areas of society.

The Galp Foundation participated in this event by tendering the chair created by designer Paulo Lobo, which was inspired by Professor Aníbal Cavaco Silva.

This action enabled the Foundation to collaborate in an innovative initiative that explored synergies between the arts / design and solidarity, while endorsing the work of the United Nations High Commissariat for Refugees (UNHCR), which received the funds that were raised.

In 2013, the Galp Foundation donated the tendered chair to the Museum of the Presidency of the Republic in a simple ceremony attended by the President of the Republic, the Mayor of Paredes Council and members of the Board of Directors of the Galp Energia Foundation.

Galp's History Books Collection

To spread the Galp Energia Group’s story and the most important milestones of its activity that influenced the country, at the end of 2011 the Galp Foundation launched the first in a collection of company history books. Titled Our Time, it portrays the entire history of Galp Energia, dating back to its origins in 1846, with the constitution of the Companhia Lisbonense d’Iluminação a Gaz company.

The collection comprises 6 editions:

Galp Lives

Launched in 2004, the main objective of the Galp Lives project is to retrieve company history through the recollections of its protagonists – its employees. “Galp Lives" is, since 2009, backed by the Galp Foundation.

Efforts to record audio and video testimonies and the collecting of photographs, old documents, institutional and advertising videos and brochures continues to enrich the existing historical archive. Part of this collection can be seen in the Virtual Museum on the electronic platform http://vidas.galpenergia.com, allowing the wider community to know more about the identity, culture and history of Galp Energia.

Aware of the importance of preserving and disseminating historical memory within the energy sector, the Foundation is dedicated not only to the collection, cataloguing and retrieving of documental and photographic paraphernalia, but also of historical items and objects.

Art Gallery

The promotion and conservation of historic and artistic heritage is one of the most important of the Galp Energia Foundation’s areas of intervention. See gallery

History

This multiannual partnership with the ABAE (European Blue Flag Association), which ran from 2009 to 2011, aimed to contribute towards the environmental education of children and youths.

The project involved creating an internet portal especially dedicated to the school community - the "Galp Energia School" and the launching of competitions for school work on topics such as energy usage, energy efficiency, sustainable mobility and climate change, always with a view to promoting changes in behaviour.

The Universidade Portuguesa originated in Lisbon in 1288-1290, and was only definitively transferred to Coimbra in 1537.

The present University of Lisbon was created by decree on 22 March 1911, bringing together the several higher studies courses that reappeared in the capital during the 19th century.

The Galp Foundation helped with the commemorations of the University of Lisbon’s first centenary, celebrated in 2011, supporting, to this end, initiatives developed throughout the year.

2011 signalled the anniversary of the University of Porto’s first centenary. Officially, March 22, 1911 is the date that History books and archives give as the University of Porto’s very first day of life. However, the roots of the institution date back to the eighteenth century and to a combination of formative experiences that came to shape the future University.

The first seed of Higher Education in Porto dates from 1762. Since its planting there have been many moments that marked the life of the University, not least the creation of the 14 colleges that co-habit the campus today.

Given the vitality and importance of the historical University of Porto in Portuguese society, the Galp Foundation backed the celebrations of its first centenary.

The Galp Foundation backed and promoted the photography exhibition by Francisco Calado, titled "The Looks of Nature".

The exhibition featured thirty photographs that depict Francisco Calado's personal perspective on nature through his lens.

With photographs of rare beauty and extraordinary quality, the exhibition was held in Lisbon, in the multipurpose room of tower A, between May 16 and 27, 2011.

Patronage of the IASI - International Institute for Asian Studies and Interchange, with a view to promoting and financially supporting the project "Archive and Library of East Timor".

This project, which took place between 2009 and 2011, consisted in organising, cataloguing, digitalising and updating different materials, as well as diverse documentation on East Timor, Indonesia and the Region, in order to, within 10 years, be transferred to East Timor.

Patronage of the Douro Museum between 2009 and 2010, with a view to preserving the Duriense cultural and natural heritage, to play an active role in the socio-cultural development of the Douro Demarcated Region and to the development of research on the Region and its heritage.

A partnership was created with the Mário Soares Foundation – Library and Archives for the recovery of Galp's documental assets through their inventory, description, cataloguing and processing. The objective was to use documental evidence of the Galp Group’s industrial and commercial heritage for museum purposes.

In 2004 we began the long process of collecting the memories of the protagonists in the company's development, that is, the employees (retired or active).

In this space we aim to share the experiences, opinions and feelings recorded in audio and video, contextualized by significant historical investigation.

From September 17 to October 17, 2010, Quintela Palace, in Chiado (Lisbon), hosted the exhibition Bridges For A More Positive Future: 54 proposals for a pedestrian and cycling bridge over Lisbon’s 2ª Circular ring-road.

These projects resulted from the International Ideas Contest launched in July 2009 by the Galp Foundation in partnership with EXD'09 - Experimenta Design 2009 - which challenged architects and engineers to design new equipment for the city.

Enabling the crossing of the 2ª Circular by bicycle, this bridge will be a stimulus to sustainable urban mobility, as well as a legacy for Lisbon and its inhabitants. Reflecting environmental concerns relating to energy efficiency, the projects had to be sustainable at implementation and maintenance level, and involve the use of innovative materials as well as urban insertion and landscaping.

The exhibition Bridges for a More Positive Future showcases, through models and boards, most of the projects submitted by architects and workshops from various countries, including Bangladesh, Brazil, Belgium, Spain, India, Italy, Israel, Jordan, Macau, Portugal, United Kingdom and Tunisia.

Under the slogan "It's about time", the guiding theme of the biennial, the Galp Foundation decided to invest in long-lasting actions and not centred solely on an expositive and institutional intervention.

"It's about time to be positive" was the concept created by the Galp Foundation to promote on Experimenta Design two initiatives that reinforce the Galp Foundation's link to the world of arts and design, while also contributing towards promoting energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.

The goal was achieved through the provision of bicycles - Bikeshare and the launch of the competition for the project titled "Bridges for a more positive future". Find more information about this contest below.

The "Bridges for a more positive future" competition was launched during Experimenta Design 09 - aimed at Portuguese and foreign architecture and engineering professionals to design a new piece of sustainable mobility equipment in Lisbon.

The development of this competition had as its objective the future construction of a pedestrian and cycling bridge on Lisbon’s 2ª Circular ring-road, in order to facilitate the crossing of bicycles and pedestrians and, at the same time, to promote urban circulation of reduced environmental impact. Furthermore, the project would constitute a new legacy for the Portuguese capital and its inhabitants.

In addition to the creativity and ingenuity shown in the proposals, the evaluation of the projects also focused on the candidates' ability to incorporate energy efficiency solutions as well as the sustainability of the materials selected.