International meeting of the creative industries presented in Coimbra
The international project MATE | Music, Arts, Technology, and Education, will take place in Coimbra on the 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, and 24th of October.
The project will also have extensions to Thessaloniki, in Greece, and Santiago de Compostela, in Spain.
MATE | Music, Arts, Technology, and Education is the result of cooperation between four partners from three countries, inaugurating, in 2023, a project with a European dimension and a global spirit, designed to foster inter-knowledge, training, mentoring, and the establishment of businesses within the scope of Cultural and Creative Industries (ICC), with special emphasis on the Music sub-sector.
Having music as its main focus, it intends to be an international meeting of professionals, creatives, entrepreneurs, artists, brands, and services, from the ICC, having music as its main focus, being transversal and intrinsic to inclusion, diversity, and equality of gender, preservation of the environment and awareness of climate change.
MATE Europe has its own dynamics, through various initiatives such as the exchange of experiences, contacts, information, and the establishment of synergies between the various agents of the European cultural and creative industries, namely, the partner countries of this project: Portugal (Region of Coimbra ), Spain (Galicia) and Greece (Thessaloniki).
This dynamic intends to provoke and stimulate reflections, present and develop innovative projects, and promote dialogue, visions, and experiences in the cultural and creative industries, mainly in the Music sub-sector. From this dynamic, it is hoped that a network and a platform of new business opportunities will emerge for those wishing to buy, sell, design, and promote their project, business, or venture in the music field.
The event will include Talks, Lectures, Pitching, Conferences, Book Launches, Workshops, Mentorships, and Concerts/Showcases.
Co-financed by the Creative Europe Programme, MATE Europe is led by the Intermunicipal Community of the Region of Coimbra (CIM-RC), an associative entity with a territorial scope of which 19 municipalities are part, with the Associação Cultural Sem Fins Lucrativos as partners Jazz ao Centro Clube (based in Coimbra, Portugal), and the companies Nordesía (based in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain) and Principal Pro (from Thessaloniki, Greece).
An event that aims to unite points in the world
MATE Europe was especially structured to reinforce artistic and cultural cooperation, especially in Europe and Latin America. With the main focus on Southern Europe, from West to East, the project aims to create connections in this European area, promoting training and business establishment for all professionals who are part of the so-called creative economy, namely the music sector.
According to Emílio Torrão, President of CIM Coimbra Region, “a project like MATE Europe with a European dimension and a global spirit, designed to promote inter-knowledge, training, mentoring and the establishment of businesses within the scope of the cultural and creative industries is a vital opportunity to promote the Region of Coimbra, and the city of Coimbra, as the first edition will take place in this city, with greater strategic action aimed at creating and consolidating a true sector of cultural and creative industries in the region. Therefore, a project like this obviously has a set of impacts, also with influence on quantitative economic variables (income and job creation) and also on qualitative ones (social and environmental).
It is intended that this project grows in sustainable ways for future editions, integrating more European partners and from different countries, always with the primary objectives of involving the community in the event, transforming a competitive economy, and providing cultural and creative experiences.
Since CIM RC has started to walk the path of cultural and heritage appreciation in the Region since 2017, with network cultural programming projects, among others, it is now intended with this new cycle, which coincides with a new Community Framework, which the strategy of valuing culture and cultural tourism have a continuous and sustained growth, through the diversification of segments, which make the Region a more competitive destination at national and international level. In the last decade, in the Region of Coimbra, and in particular in the city of Coimbra, we have witnessed a continuous dynamic of tourist development, both in public and private investment. It is, therefore, in a dynamic of leveraging not only cultural tourism but also the cultural and creative industry, that a project like MATE Europe is instrumental.”
The mentor and creator of MATE, Eron Quintiliano, says that “we have deep layers involved converging on different levels and languages, encompassing cultural and creative territories of 3 countries from West to East of Southern Europe.
In addition to education, art, and music as a focus, this great collaborative meeting is contemplated with values, and common purposes in favor of the development and potential of the so-called Creative Economy.
For José Miguel Pereira, president of the JACC association, “the collaborative work dynamics initiated with the partners in Santiago de Compostela and Thessaloniki, with the institutional support of the CIM-RC, allows us to articulate themes that are at the center of our work and reinforce the European dimension of the JACC’s intervention. We are certain that, through the program of activities that we have designed, the transforming role of Arts, Culture, and Creativity in the development of the territories where the project will take place will be clearly evident.”
According to Vitor Belho, from Nordesia (Santiago de Compostela), “For a project like Maré that promotes Atlantic cultures, cultural diversity and for a city like Santiago de Compostela, which is a destination for walkers and pilgrims, it is a privilege to be part of do MATE, which connects us with places that are essential in Mediterranean cultures, such as Thessaloniki. with Latin America is also very interesting. We are eager to show that the countries that make up southern Europe are, in reality, elements of disruption and of a new perspective on the relationship between culture, the arts, music, technology, and education.”
Juanjo Corrales from Principal Pro (Thessaloniki) mentions that “the possibility of collaborating with organizations, at the other end of Europe, that work with objectives similar to those of Principal Pro, will allow an exchange with the experiences that are being carried out in the musical field, be it from promotion and creation of a more professional profile of emerging musicians and the type of music we work with the most, in this case, world music.
MATE Europe is a project that will allow us to create a relationship between us, create a common protocol on how to think about the needs of the emerging music industry, allowing them to have a vision of what is happening elsewhere in Europe.”
The MATE herb
The acronym is inspired by yerba mate, with which the leaves and branches of the Ilex Paraguariensis plant are infused. In this way, the very name of the event links this project to Latin America (namely to Brazil, where the initiative was launched, created by a team of creatives led by Eron Quintiliano, in the city of Porto Alegre). With the use of this acronym, it is intended to praise some of the properties of yerba mate: increase energy, mental focus, and improve physical and intellectual performance.
Ancestrally, sharing the yerba mate from the traditional gourd is considered a sign of friendship, sharing, union, and cooperation, a ritual that MATE (event) intends to have as a basis.
MATE Brazil
Created in 2016 in Brazil by Eron Quintiliano, producer and manager of the music and creative industry, MATE Brasil had 4 editions until its current internationalization.
It passed through cities like Porto Alegre and São Paulo and had thousands of participants.
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