MARBLE
summary of a proposal for Évora_27
 
Ludger van der Eerden (Foundation OBRAS)
Luis Lopes & Ruben Martins (Évora University, Geoscience Department),
Luis Afonso (Évora University, Visual Arts & Design Department),
 
Draft 17 October 2024
Note: This draft is in progress and incomplete

Summary
 
Marble is everywhere in and around Évora: in sculptures, buildings and pavement, but also in the landscape. Évora_27 is a great opportunity to highlight this quality of the region.
The region between Estremoz and Alandroal has 500 marble quarries, and multiple deposits of marble waste up to thirty meters high. 450 quarries are abandoned; some have a fascinating beauty and are ecological hot spots. Marble quarrying is also an important industrial activity and is mesmerizing to watch. The region is in the global top 5 of marble suppliers and its quality is highly valued.
 
We propose a thematic program on “marble” as related to art, architecture, history, landscape, geology and economy, covering the whole year of 2027. The program will highlight some unique, but rather unknown qualities of the region.
 
We believe that our program creates new cultural, ecological and geological highlights for the region. It will also contribute to the societal integration of an industrial sector in the region and to a sustainable balance between industrial and rural landscapes.
 
The program consists of some twenty-five projects with marble as a common denominator:   

• Some ten exhibitions on marble:
  • Sculptures and other art disciplines
  • Applications in architecture and design
  • On specific themes (such as about quarry workers)
• Site specific performances:
  • Creating a marble sculpture in a public space (two events)
  • Some eight performances in abandoned marble quarries (three with audience and five recorded and screened elsewhere)
• Excursions (both in small groups and individual app-guided):
  • In industrial zones in Bencatel and Estremoz
  • In cities (Évora, Estremoz and Vila Viçosa)
• Ecopista: a cycling path on the former railway line between Évora, Estremoz and Vila Viçosa, known as linha de marmóre, will get information for the users on culture, geology and landscape.
• Two symposia on marble as related to: 

• cultural history and arts (with exhibitions as side activity)
• sustainable development (including a contest with exhibition, on possible use of marble waste and of abandoned marble quarries)

 
Chapter 1 gives detailed information on the planned activities.
 
The program will be managed by a four-persons direction, assisted by a direction assistant. An advisory board will provide feedback, adds specific expertise and supports in communication.
Chapter 2 has more details.
 
In the preparation phase of this proposal, we experienced a lot of interest in participation. Some have already decided to participate (University of Évora, Museum of Évora, CM Vila Viçosa, Solubema and ETMA). A meeting with the president of Estremoz is scheduled and will certainly result in collaboration. Ciência Viva offered to participate where it overlaps its own regular program. Some organisations that are already selected for participation in Evora_27 are invited by us to collaborate (see Annex 2).
 
We decided to go for a thematic program, rather than for 25 individual projects. This has several reasons:  the overlap in logistic requirements, essential networks and communication on social media and other PR is obvious. But above all it allows us to contract a full-time direction assistant, who will be the centre point of the program. This efficiency gain makes our projects are relatively cheap (we less than € 20.000 per project this is an estimated 70% cheaper than comparable Évora_27 projects).
 
Chapter 3 gives a detailed overview of the budget. It is deleted from this version of the draft as some agreements have still to be set. Information is available on request.
 
Annex 1 gives some illustrative examples of marble works and quarries.
Annex 2 shows the relations with goals, principles, themes, programs and selected projects of Evora_27.