Inaugurated on 16 December 2023, the Alvor Lifeguard Interpretive Centre (Salva-Vidas de Alvor) has been nominated for the European Museum of the Year Awards 2025 (EMYA), the most important award in European museology.
This cultural facility, which represented a joint effort between the Portimão Museum and the fishing community of Alvor, is on the list of 42 nominated museums from 18 member states of the Council of Europe, as decided by the EMYA jury, which met in Portimão between the 7th and 9th of this month, after analysing the applications for the next edition of the awards.
The EMYAs recognise, support, showcase, and reward museum innovation and excellence, always with an eye on values such as citizenship, human rights, democracy, and sustainability, among museums that have opened or renovated in the last four years in Europe. The winners will be revealed at a ceremony scheduled for 24 May next year during the annual conference, which will be held from 21 to 25 May in the Polish city of Bialystok.
Rehabilitating collective memory
The Alvor Lifeboat Interpretive Centre is a cultural facility resulting from the refurbishment of the emblematic building of the Alvor Shipwreck Relief Institute Station. Its aim is to rehabilitate the experiences and knowledge of the local fishing community.
This project by Portimão City Council, through the City Museum, has the collaboration of the Alvor Parish Council. It is a museum dedicated to the history of the ‘Alvor’ lifeboat, which has also been restored with the support of CRESC Algarve 2020—the Algarve Regional Operational Programme—through PADRE—the Endogenous Resources Development Action Plan.
In addition to the local aspect aimed at residents and honouring the men of the sea who are so important in the Alvor community, the infrastructure also makes tourists aware of a social, environmental and cultural heritage that they are unaware of.
