Brava will host the Morna Research Center – announces the Cultural Heritage Institute

The island of Brava, more precisely the House of Eugénio Tavares, will host the Morna Research Centre, within the framework of the Requalification, Rehabilitation and Accessibility Program (PRRA), the president of the Cultural Heritage Institute (IPC) informed today.

Hamilton Jair Fernandes spoke in statements to the press at the end of the opening of a round table on “Life and Work of B.Leza (Francisco Xavier da Cruz), patron of the National Day of Morna, held by the IPC and the Cabo Verdean Society of Authors (SOCA), at the University of Cape Verde, in the city of Praia.

“There is work to be done in the space where the Eugénio Tavares Museum is located, which will be transformed into the Eugénio Tavares House Museum, somewhat linked to the memory of the figure and patron of the National Day of Culture and in that same space will house the Research Center linked to lukewarm”, he advanced.

The rehabilitation of the building, he informed, already has funding and, at the moment, they are waiting to process the consignment contract and proceed with the rehabilitation of the building.

Since the morna is part of the identity of the Cape Verdean people and to do justice to the islands that had a weight in the framework of the candidacy of the morna, he informed that, later, other islands such as Santiago, São Vicente, São Nicolau (Tarrafal) and Boa Vista will also host research centers on the morna, which will involve researchers, academics and civil society.

“We don't want to centralize this process or this core on just one island, this will also have its advantages. We are talking about a process that complies with the Safeguard Plan, a commitment assumed with Unesco and taking into account, above all, the issue of insularity, that is, the morna will not be exclusive to one island”, he stressed.

The Safeguard Plan, which will be implemented in January 2020, includes four axes, namely research, dissemination and training, cultural tourism and the branding of the territory based on the morna.

He made it known that the State Budget for 2020 includes an amount of 10 million escudos for the implementation of the Safeguard Plan.

Jair Fernandes once again demonstrated his firm conviction that on the 12th the morna will be proclaimed Cultural and Intangible Heritage of Humanity and that after that day it is necessary to prepare to deliver the morna to the world.