Huambo – The population of the province of Huambo has since today, Friday, a modern multidisciplinary cultural center for the promotion and dissemination of the country's cultural diversity, inaugurated by the President of the Republic, João Lourenço.
After the official handover to the beneficiaries, the Head of State toured the premises of the infrastructure at length, located in an area of three hectares, at the confluence between Norton de Matos and Granja avenues and the street that descends towards Deolinda Rodrigues Square, in the Upper City.
The cultural centre, considered the 'Cathedral of Angolan Arts', was named after the writer, poet and politician Manuel Rui Monteiro, born on November 4, 1941, in the province of Huambo.
Rui Monteiro, author of short stories, poems, novels and plays, is co-author of the lyrics (music by Rui Vieira Dias Mingas) that make up the national anthem Angola Avante.
As a student, he was a cultural activist at the Casa dos Estudantes do Império, participated in literary and political events, and was imprisoned for two months in Portugal.
He has published, among others, the works 'O Regresso Adiado', 'Memória de Mar', 'Sim, Camarada!', 'Quem me Dera ser Onda', 'Crónica de um Mujimbo', '1 Morto & Os Vivos', 'Rio Seco' and 'Da Palma da Mão'.
The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, greeted, on the occasion, the honoree (Manuel Rui Monteiro), who was moved by the gesture.
The cultural center has three cine-theaters, with 500, 150 and 100 seats, respectively, two conference rooms, a space for the presentation of works of art, literature and music, two rooms for fine arts and crafts and one for exhibitions.
It also has two dance rooms, where teachers will have the opportunity to teach the main ancestral styles of the country, such as olundongo, okatita, elissemba, semba and tchianda.
It also has 11 shops selling artistic and cultural specialties, two top-of-the-range restaurants, one of which is on its 2nd floor, overlooking the upper part of the city, two cafes facing the lower part of the city, support areas for actors and musicians during their exhibitions on stage and two rooms for singing lessons. with the execution of ancestral musical instruments, with emphasis on the quissange, marimba, dicanza and puita.
The Centre has a bar, police station, an ice cream parlor, children's playground, liquor store, two multifunction rooms, an open courtyard with a stage for musical performances, with a capacity for more than six thousand spectators, supported by an open-air restaurant and a covered pedestrian area, which will connect the infrastructure to the Garden of Culture.
The part of the old Glass Palace that is within the perimeter has maintained and now serves as an administrative area.
The roof of the centre is configured as smoke coming out of the chimney of a locomotive, painted with the colours of the National Flag, in recognition of the contribution of the Benguela Railway (CFB) in promoting social, economic and cultural development.
Provincial Archive of Huambo, along with the old Glass Palace, the 'Constantino Camõli' Public Library, inside the Cultural Centre, was transformed into a Provincial Archive, with the provision of archival documents, which portray the social and economic life of the province of Huambo.
First Cacimba
The cultural center preserved the historical facts of the province and the area, with the requalification of the first Cacimba do Huambo, 25 meters deep, erected in colonial times.
The first water tank, framed within the new structure, whose water contributed to the construction of this imposing work, will support the various water mirrors scattered inside and outside the center and feed the consumption of a part of the institution, as a way to keep the history of the city of Huambo firm.
Space management
The space will have the status of a Public Institute, with an independent management, subordinated to the office of Culture, Tourism, Youth and Sports, with an appointed administration, with its own staff and with four departments.
Access to the rooms will be paid, culture makers will have access to those rooms to carry out various activities, but paying.
They will participate, obeying the rules of the institution's management team. ALH/DC/VIC/DOJ
