Madeira Island Magazine - November / December 2020

TURISMO TEMÁTICO | THEMed TOURISM
Neste novo formato, o museu
apresenta para além da reconstituição
do atelier, uma apresentação da
história dos processos fotográficos, do
daguerreótipo às primeiras fotografias
a cores, passando pelos dispositivos de
lanterna mágica e pela estereoscopia.
Disponibiliza agora um espaço de
exposição permanente representativa
dos vários autores incluídos no
acervo, de que faz parte o espólio de
praticamente todas as grandes casas
madeirenses de fotografia dos séculos
XIX e XX, assim como um outro de
exposição temporária, que irá exibir
novidades numa base regular.
O Museu possui nas suas coleções
cerca de 800.000 negativos datáveis
entre 1870 e 1978, constituindo uma
riquíssima fonte histórica da Madeira
no século XIX e XX.
he “Atelier Vicente’s” was the
T first photographic studio
to open in Portugal. The
founder of the photographic studios,
Vicente Gomes da Silva, initiated
his photographic activity in the
middle of the 19th century when he
started to dabble with daguerreotype
photographic experiments in
1848. Four years later in 1852 he
began practise as a professional
photographer. The studios remain
where they had first been started:
in the quaint and picturesque open
patio salon at the start of the Rua da
Carreira in central Funchal.
The interesting array of
photographs is a precious reminder
and recollection of what may have
been forgotten in Madeira’s rich past
such as the arrival of the first water
plane in Madeira, the holiday snaps of
Churchill, or George Bernard Shaw, or
the photos of the last few years of the
life of the last Emperor of the Austro-
Hungarian Empire.
The “Atelier Vicente’s” is controlled
by the Regional Government of
Madeira, who has since restored
it to the character of the old
studio. Besides the wide range of
photographic equipment on display
there are also thousands of negatives
and glass plates.
In 2014, the museum closed for
requalification works and reopened
on July, 2019, now renamed as the
“Museu de Fotografia da Madeira”. In
addition to maintaining the memory of
the original Atelier, it is now asserting
itself as the only national museum
entirely dedicated to photography,
revealing Madeira’s photographic
heritage and many of its unknown
authors and works.
In this new format, the
museum presents, in addition to
the reconstitution of the studio,
a presentation of the history of
photographic processes, from the
daguerreotype to the first color
photographs, including the magic
lantern devices and stereoscopy. It
now offers a permanent exhibition
space representative of the various
authors included in the collection,
which includes the collection of
practically all the great Madeiran
photography houses of the 19th and
20th centuries, as well as another
temporary exhibition, which will
display news on a regular basis.
Being the oldest photographic
museum of the Iberian Peninsula, it is a
unique and definite must for all lovers
of the art of photography and for those
who are simply fascinated by history of
days gone by.
Madeira Island Magazine | November - December 2020
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