Long live the EPM!

Renata Motta*

POR | ESP

It is very instigating to see the Encontro Paulista de Museus reaching its tenth edition. SISEM-SP team’s commitment in the realization of this annual action made the EPM one of the most important reunions in the museological section in Brazil, staying behind only of the National Forum of Museums (Fórum Nacional de Museus). Executing ten continuous editions, with great mobilization, is not a banal result in our Brazilian cultural scenario and it should be celebrated!

EPM’s history starts in 2009, in the wake of the Brazilian museological sector’s institutionalization, after the creation of Brazilian Institute of Museums (IBRAM) and the publication of the Museum’s Statute (Estatuto de Museus). Since the beginning, a profile was built: the event would present themes and technical discussions that concerned the museological community, as a place for rendezvous and rapport for professionals from Sao Paulo (which has changed and is now extended for colleagues from other states).

My first challenge in the Secretary of Culture in 2011 was to promote the 3^rd EPM. I started working at the Secretary in February and, due to a change of board, the Encontro’s organization, which was going to happen in June, hadn’t started yet. Needless to say that the effort of keeping the schedule was worth and it was a great learning process making that first delivery in the Simon Bolívar Auditorium, for those leaders and professionals, initiating a relationship of exchanges that are still going on between many of them.

Six more EPM’s came. There would be a lot to remember, but I will focus on three moments which occurred me promptly: the creation of a new visual identity and the record audience of 1,400 registrations for the 5th edition; the presence, on the 6^th edition of the, by the time, director of the National Museums Liverpool, David Flemming, provoking us with his delivery about social justice and museums; and the launch of the State’s Museums Register (Cadastro Estadual de Museus) and the celebration for SISEM-SP’s 30 years.

It was a great opportunity to be able to take part in these many editions, that were only possible through the SISEM’s and ACAM Portinari’s staff commitment, and also through a net of partners that grew bigger after each edition – ICOM Brazil, the Regional Council of Museology (COREM), the Inter-unities Program for Post-Graduation in Museology of the University of Sao Paulo (PPGMUS/USP), the British Council, the Center for Research and Formation of SESC (CPF/SESC), the Fórum Permanente, among others. Many partners partake in the event’s Advisory Committee (Comissão Consultativa) and help build collectively a significative and diverse museums’ gathering. Long live the EPM!

Renata Motta is an Architect and Urbanist (1998), with Masters (2003) and doctorate (2009) from the Architecture and Urbanism College of the University of Sao Paulo (FAU–USP). Specialist in Public Administration from the Public Leadership Center (CLP). From 2011 to 2016 she was the Technical Director of the Sao Paulo State Museums System (SISEM-SP) and Coordinator of the Unit for Museological Patrimony’s Preservation (UPPM), from Sao Paulo’s Secretary of Culture. Presently she is the President of the ICOM’s Brazilian Committee and will remain in office from 2018 to 2021.

Versão em inglês feita por Carol Romão – professora de inglês, revisora e tradutora. Contato: carolinasromao@gmail.com