BACKGROUND

• What is Confluences & Frontiers?

It is a project aimed at promoting and enriching the culture and heritage of territories in Europe and around the world, in a spirit of sharing and solidarity between individuals and between communities.

The initiative is primarily coordinated by INTER+VALUE, while other organisations and territories involved may act as commissioning partners, associates, or provide logistical and/or financial support, particularly within the framework of partnership agreements.

Confluences & Frontiers takes shape through local activities and events, as well as a wide range of creative and cultural productions, particularly in the arts.

This project provides INTER+VALUE and its partners with an opportunity to pursue shared goals rooted in their core values and to seek collaborative responses to today’s pressing societal challenges.

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• First steps, collaborations and partnerships

It all began in Vimioso, Portugal: INTER+VALUE is the main coordinator of the project, which was initiated at the request of the mayor of Vimioso, a rural municipality in the far northeast of Portugal. The first events were held there, beginning with a photo exhibition, followed by a major eight-day intercultural event in autumn 2023: the 1st Intercultural, Cross-border and European Biennial of Vimioso. This event gave rise to several high-quality productions and inspired further initiatives in both France and Spain.

Soon after, Ribadavia (Galicia, Spain) joined in: the project was enriched with a new artistic dimension at the beginning of 2023 through the creation of a large mural in Ribadavia.

Then came Bruz (Brittany, France): the street art element, developed in Ribadavia and Vimioso in 2023, continued in Bruz in 2024 with four large-scale murals commissioned from INTER+VALUE.

Other potential partners are emerging in Brittany and Portugal: the photo exhibition first shown in Vimioso in 2022 was later hosted by the Maison Internationale de Rennes (International House of Rennes) in 2023, and then in 2024 in Ploumagouar, a town in Côtes-d’Armor (Brittany) whose mayor has expressed interest in developing Confluences & Frontiers locally.

Timilin, an association based in Côtes-d’Armor and a partner of INTER+VALUE, wishes to link Confluences & Frontiers with a regional event entitled Paysages. Inspired by the 1st Intercultural Biennial of Vimioso, Ribadavia (Galicia) is preparing to host its first Biennial in June 2025. In Portugal, another town in the northeast, Vila Flor, also seems ready to take up the torch from Vimioso.

Please note: The website is already accessible, but still under construction. It is expected to be finalised by February 2025. In the meantime, some information may be inaccurate (pending correction), and certain articles may be placeholders (awaiting replacement with actual content).

ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS

Street Art

From September 27 to October 4, 2023, the 1st Intercultural, Cross-border and European Biennial of Vimioso served as a pilot project, an event designed to be both replicable and transferable. It fostered rich intercultural exchange and brought together a wide range of activities:

• a three-day international and multilingual conference exploring themes related to culture, heritage, confluences and frontiers, across several disciplines (economics, history, literature, health, etc.) and topics (the European context, languages, migration, wine production, thermalism, railways, etc.);

• art exhibitions and creative works, including murals, painted portraits, and locally inspired jewellery;

• a craft market and opportunities to discover local cultural heritage through visits;

• film screenings and live music performances.

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First Major Intercultural Event: A Biennial in Portugal

The project’s contribution to enriching local heritage expanded through a street art component commissioned to INTER+VALUE and created by two Chilean mural artists. It began in 2023 in Ribadavia (one mural), spread to Vimioso the same year (seven murals), and continued in 2024 in Bruz (Brittany) with four large-scale murals.

Please note: The website is already accessible, but still under construction. It is expected to be finalised by February 2025. In the meantime, some information may be inaccurate (pending correction), and certain articles may be placeholders (awaiting replacement with actual content).

New Travelling Exhibition

The exhibition of painted portraits of Portuguese poets, created for the Vimioso Biennial, continues to enjoy sustained success. After several months on display in the two neighbouring municipalities of Miranda do Douro and Mogadouro (from January to September 2024), the exhibition is now continuing its journey through northeastern Portugal, with a stop in Vila Flor from October to December. It has already been requested by two other municipalities for 2025.

First production and art exhibition

The first event undertaken by INTER+VALUE was the organisation of a photo exhibition in Vimioso (Portugal) in the summer of 2022, which was then shown in Rennes (France) in 2023, and in Ploumagouar (Côtes-d’Armor, Brittany) in 2024.

TRÁS-OS-MONTES photo exhibition by Eduardo Perez Sanchez

Exhibition at the MIR (Maison Internationale de Rennes) in September 2023

Next intercultural days: a Biennial in Galicia (Spain)

Strongly committed to the 2023 Biennial in Vimioso, Ribadavia has decided to host its own intercultural, cross-border, and European Biennial at home in early summer 2025.

Productions

A Photo Collection from the Upper Trás-os-Montes region

The first tangible productions of the INTER+VALUE initiative emerged within the framework of the Confluences & Frontiers project, and as part of an agreement with the municipality of Vimioso (Portugal) for its implementation. They were developed from a striking collection of black-and-white photographs taken in the 1980s in the far north of Portugal, in the Trás-os-Montes region, by a talented amateur photographer, Eduardo Perez. This collection led to the reissue of a photo book entitled Trás-os-Montes, and to the framing of a selection of 40 photographs for exhibition purposes.

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A Series of Murals from Galicia to Portugal and Brittany

Still within the framework of Confluences & Frontiers, INTER+VALUE embarked on the production of large-scale murals by two internationally renowned Chilean muralists: Jotapé and Allan Halley. The first mural, painted by Jotapé, was completed in Ribadavia (Galicia, Spain), between February and March 2023. This was followed by eight additional works of varying size in Vimioso (Portugal), created jointly or individually by the two artists between March and September 2023. Finally, the town of Bruz (Brittany, France) saw the creation of four large-scale murals, all painted by Allan Halley between June and October 2024.

These murals represent a striking artistic expression of Confluences & Frontiers, a program that seeks to enhance and celebrate the heritage of committed local territories. As public artworks, freely accessible to all citizens, Street Art plays a key role in promoting the spirit of sharing and solidarity at the heart of Confluences & Frontiers.

For the first Intercultural, Cross-Border and European Biennial of Vimioso (September 27-October 4, 2023), an artist from Porto, Manuela Ferraz, was invited to design a jewellery collection inspired by the local culture and heritage. Following a research visit to the municipality of Vimioso, she created 21 gold-plated silver pieces with a contemporary design, drawing on traditional architecture, local wildlife and plant life for inspiration.

After its unveiling in Vimioso, the collection was exhibited in the neighbouring municipality of Miranda do Douro. On that occasion, it was expanded to include new pieces inspired by elements unique to that region’s cultural identity.

An original jewellery collection