Pedro Machado (AD), Pedro Delgado Alves (PS), Catarina Graveto (IL), Miguel Cardina (BE), Daniel Nunes (CDU), João Fontes da Costa (PAN) and André Carvalho (Free) are confirmed to participate in the debate organized by Anozero — Coimbra Biennial, on Thursday, May 15, at 6:30pm, at the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Nova.

Of all the “capital” titles that Coimbra has ever held or tried to have, Culture is one of those that stands out. Although for some time the phrases “nothing happens in Coimbra” or “when it happens, everything happens on the same day” had been common, today the city shows that, in fact, a lot happens.

According to data from INE (National Institute of Statistics) provided by Pordata for 2023, after Lisbon and Porto, Coimbra is the municipality with the most spaces for live shows in Portugal. But it's not just about having equipment — it's actually used: according to the same source and for the same year, Coimbra maintains the 3rd position in the number of live show sessions. 1728 sessions were counted. In Aveiro, the same indicator shows 500 shows, 491 in Braga and 355 in Guimarães.

In addition to live shows, Coimbra presents several singularities in the national cultural scene — for example, it has a large urban space classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, organizes the largest contemporary art biennial in the Iberian Peninsula and houses one of the most important collections of contemporary photography. In fact, the city houses 10% of the facilities of the Portuguese Contemporary Art Network, including the three spaces of the CAPC (Coimbra Plastic Arts Circle), the oldest institution dedicated to contemporary art in the country, founded in 1958.

In the performing arts, from the seminars TEUC (Student Theater of the University of Coimbra) and CITAC (Theater Initiation Circle of the Academy of Coimbra) to the continuing work of A Escola da Noite e do Teatrão. Also in dance, more and more projects are emerging to gain space for creators and audiences.

The interconnection between Education and Culture is present in several projects and at various levels of education, from the Coimbra Conservatory of Music to the College of the Arts and the University of Coimbra (UC).

The city has a total of nearly three dozen museum spaces, including a national museum, art centers, and heritage spaces with collections that can be visited. There are also almost 30 choirs, both professional and amateur, to prove the vitality of the city, which in music has always been the cradle of avant-gardes, from jazz to rock. The role of Jazz at the Centro Club in the promotion and dissemination of music, anchored in the emblematic Salão Brazil, stands out.

Coimbra has two libraries with legal storage, which only happens in another city: Lisbon. There are six other libraries with this status (Porto, Braga, Évora, Funchal, Angra do Heroismo and Rio de Janeiro). The Paths of Portuguese Cinema is the longest-running festival dedicated to domestic production in the 7th art.

In architecture, the city presents itself as an urban route that crosses a time arc that begins even before the Roman foundations of the Cryptoportico of the Machado de Castro National Museum and involves the arrangement of the banks of the Mondego connected by the highly awarded Pedro and Inês pedestrian bridge.

The city's umbilical relationship with the UC (and its vast ramifications) is fundamental in this relationship with culture, including scientific culture, which finds fertile ground here.

As culture is not limited to these numbers, on Thursday, May 15, the candidates for the Coimbra circle meet to present some of their ideas for the next four years. It is moderated by Francisco Sena Santos and Filipa Queiroz. Chega's application was contacted but, so far, no response has been received.