A guide to the export and import of cultural goods between Russia ...

Chapter 3: European Union Member States
Portugal
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Fully aware of the importance of cooperation with Russia, Portuguese cultural authorities
are committed to the encouragement and development of projects that contribute to the
dissemination of cultural heritage between both countries, as well as the understanding of
heritage as a pillar of common identity.
As an expression of this commitment, a significant part of the collection of The State
Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg) was presented in Lisbon in the temporary exhibition
‘From Peter the Great to Nicholas II: Art and Culture of the Russian Empire in the Hermitage
Collection’. Portuguese treasures were also presented in the Tretyakov Gallery in
Moscow in May 2007, representing Portuguese National Museums in the exhibition ‘Europe
– Russia – Europe’. A fruitful cooperation with Russian museums was demonstrated
by the exhibition ‘Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso: Avant-garde dialogues’, presented in the
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon in 2006.
In recent years, Portugal has been developing different projects in cooperation with Russian
institutions. Two major exhibitions were inaugurated in Russia: ‘Mirror, Mirror – Portugal
as seen by Magnum photographers’, in the Central Hall of Exhibitions Manège,
Moscow in 2005 and ‘De dentro – V glubinu’, a show of six prestigious contemporary Portuguese
artists, presented in the National Centre for Contemporary Arts – NCCA, Moscow
and Nizhny Novgorod in 2006.
In the framework of the 2005 NET – International Theatre Festival in Moscow, the production
Flatland, with Patricia Portela Group, was presented. More initiatives are scheduled for 2007,
including: an exhibition on the lifework of the architect Álvaro Siza Vieira in the Schusev
State Museum of Architecture in Moscow; the presentation of the dance production Pedro
and Inês by the Portuguese National Ballet Company in the Stanislavsky Music Theatre, as
part of the DanceInversion Festival; and a concert of the Shostakovich-Ensemble (DSCH) in
the Tchaikovsky Conservatory, with works by Portuguese and Russian composers.
By promoting the mobility of works of art between the two countries, Portugal and Russia
face the challenging task in the creation of conditions for exhibiting and safeguarding the
diversity of our cultural heritage. Sharing knowledge, values, good practice and procedures
plays a key role in this joint work.
WHAT LEGISLATION APPLIES TO THE IMPORT/EXPORT OF CULTURAL GOODS
BETWEEN PORTUGAL AND RUSSIA?
NATIONAL
National Law nr. 107/2001: establishes the basis of the cultural heritage policy and the regime
for the protection and valorisation of Portuguese cultural heritage.
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