ESC: Art & Ceramics and Land Architecture

Oficinas do Convento are a non-profit organization, based in Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal, working in the areas of culture, art and communication. It has NGO status since 2009 and is a UNESCO Centre since 2010. Its activity focuses primarily on Visual Arts and Sound Art, Design and Heritage through artistic promotion, educational and training activities and community intervention. The mission and objectives of the OC are: 1) Store and remodel of the Convento de S. Francisco (the OC headquarters space), by creating spaces that welcome research activities, dissemination, education and training in the area of heritage and art. 2) Support and development of actions that contribute to the development, as a process of improving access to culture and goods, in collaboration with other authorities and local entities, private or public, national and international. 3) Promotion, support and monitoring of artistic training and professional activities that enable the pursuit of these goals. The target audience of the actions is the wider community, from children to seniors. However, some actions have a more restricted public such as artists, and sound potters, designers and architects. Training and educational initiatives are currently in the field of ceramics, sound arts, digital and traditional products for architecture. Annually OC manages a small production unit of architecture earth products, develops 2 major art conferences, 1 month festival (with concerts, exhibitions and workshops), at least 8 art and/or technology workshops (more or less 20 hours each) and hosts not less than 6 artistic residencies, along with other smaller initiatives.