More than 400 artists in defense of Portuguese Teaching in Foreign

Dthe literature to music, from cinema to plastic arts, names such as those of Lídia Jorge, Teolinda Gersão or José Luís Peixoto, Graça Morais, Sérgio Godinho or Maria de Medeiros, including four winners of the Camões Award - Hélia Correia, João Barrento, Silviano Santiago and Ana Paula Tavares -, sign the “Manifesto em Defesa da Rede EPE: the first line of Portuguese diplomacy”.

For signatories, it is “urgent and necessary to reject the precariousness” of the EPE network, as well as “to provide stability, recognition and solidity to the careers of the agents of this network”, which dignify professionals who perform their work “often in conditions of unsustainable vulnerability”.

Affirming the EPE network as “the most solid space for dialogues, circulations, transits and dissemination of Portuguese literature, art and culture around the world”, Manifesto subscribers underline the “decisive” role of Readers and Teachers who work every day to disseminate Portuguese-speaking authors and authors in various places in the world.

“ The Portuguese Teaching in Foreign not only creates and ensures visibility to the letters and culture produced in Portuguese on a global scale: this network creates bridges, every day, between writers, communities, countries and the most diverse audiences”, reads the text of Manifesto.

“ Every day, somewhere on the planet, there is a Reader or an EPE Reader organizing a conference, a seminar, a colloquium, a debate, with artists and authors of Portuguese language. Thanks to them and to them, every day they speak Portuguese at some point on the planet”, they add, highlighting what they consider to be a “minutive” and “constant” work, which, over the years, has built “one of the most solid pillars of internationalization” of culture in Portuguese.

“ Although, every year, the number of Readers is smaller and the professional situation of those who work in them more vulnerable, it is they and they who, every day, carry out an infinite and thorough task of coordinating trips, artistic residences, translations and festivals ", underline.

And they continue in praise to Readers and Teachers who operate as artisans who “have daily this powerful and at the same time fragile web of contacts, connections, collaborations and bridges that make cultures in Portuguese the most studied in the world”.

There is also the contribution of the EPE network to the Portuguese communities in the diaspora, which they consider to be a key link to “reconnection with roots”.

“It is the EPE network that ensures that the daughters, grandchildren and descendants of Portuguese scattered around the world find our novels, poetry, music, cinema and other arts in Portuguese; also through this way our language is continuously inscribed in multiple, diverse and innovative environments of production, reflection and enjoyment worldwide”.

For all this, they consider all the spaces of the EPE network as “the most valuable asset of Portuguese cultural diplomacy around the world” and ask the government to recognize this truth, with “serious investment”, “valuation” and “work stability”.

“ When we go through a historic moment marked by unknowns, humanitarian crises and uncertainties about the future, the importance of recognizing humanistic work, promoting dialogue, reading and the arts that the EPE network carries out, every day, is more pressing than ever”, they argue.

“ In order for them to continue to do this work, it is essential that their merit be recognised, but also that the legal structures in force cherish all these professionals, guaranteeing them the indispensable stability, solid careers and strong employment links”, they add.

They end with the appeal to the Government to “reconsider” the proposed law for the Portuguese Legal System of Foreign Education, rejecting the precariousness and lack of “serious performance” in investing in the EPE network and its professionals.

“ Doing so is of the most indispensable respect for the language that unites us ", conclude.

The “Manifest in Defense of the EPE Network: the first line of Portuguese diplomacy” has so far been signed by 441 personalities of the arts and universities around the world, linked to Portuguese culture and language.

The representative unions of teachers and the government started, on 28 May, the meetings of the negotiating process concerning the RPEPE review, whose portfolio is protected by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE).

After this first meeting, the proposals put forward by the government have been challenged by teachers and their respective unions. Today a new meeting was held, yet another meeting was scheduled for July 13.