As part of the History in the Public Sphere Programme, the IHC has prepared a set of five activities for Science and Technology Week, which will run from 18 to 24 November. The IHC has thus joined a group of around 80 national institutions that, in collaboration with the Ciência Viva agency, will ‘showcase our scientists, their research and their contributions to the advancement of knowledge and the well-being of society’.

On the afternoon of 20 November, Victor Pereira will lead two guided tours of the exhibition ‘Olhares franceses sobre a Revolução dos Cravos’ [French Views on the Carnation Revolution], of which he was one of the curators. The exhibition, on display at the French Embassy in Portugal, reveals unpublished documents, covers of the main French newspapers, articles, photographs, and audiovisual archives about the founding period of democratic Portugal, demonstrating the enormous interest that the events that took place in Portugal aroused in France. This will be the last opportunity for the public to visit the exhibition.

On 21 November, at the Lisbon Geographical Society, António Marques and Cristina Nozes will present the project ‘Lisboa Romana | Felicitas Iulia Olisipo’ [Roman Lisbon | Felicitas Iulia Olisipo], the main aim of which is to promote and publicise the Roman archaeological heritage in Lisbon. On the same day, from 6pm, the book ‘Crepúsculo do Império – Portugal e as Guerras de Descolonização’ [Twilight of the Empire – Portugal and the Wars of Decolonisation], coordinated by Pedro Aires Oliveira and João Vieira Borges, will be launched at the Torre do Tombo. The book aims to familiarise ‘the public with some of the most innovative research on Portugal’s colonial wars, in a way that seeks to integrate lesser-known facets of these conflicts (…), as well as the perspective of African nationalist movements.’

The following day, 22 November, we propose heading north to Peniche for a ‘dialogued tour’ with Sofia Lisboa of the National Museum of Resistance and Freedom, under the motto ‘What are memories for?’. Through the visit and discussion among the participants, the mediator will try to answer various questions, such as: Through what eyes is a memory represented and under what circumstances is it preserved? What is lost when a place of memory is destroyed? What role can museums play when they are no longer just a place to protect and preserve ‘valuable objects’?

Finally, on 23 November, an exhibition of Camões ex-libris, organised by Segismundo Ramires Pinto, will be inaugurated at the Portuguese Academy of Ex-Líbris, followed by a Manuel Ferro lecture on manifestations and languages that refer to Camões, to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the famous poet. Both this initiative and the conference on the 21st are organised by Ana Cristina Martins.

All activities are free to attend, but the tours require registration and have limited places. If you would like to visit the French Embassy, you must register at this link; if you would like to visit the National Museum of Resistance and Freedom, you must register at this link.