The Archaeological Museum of the Diputación de Alicante (Alicante Provincial Council) today brought together leading scholars and experts to take part in the conference "The Atlantic Warrior: Symbols of power? in which the latest findings and studies on the archaeology and material culture of the castreña will be presented. The scientific and informative initiative, inaugurated by the vice-president and deputy for Culture, Julia Parratogether with the Director General for Cultural Heritage of PortugalJoao Carlos do SantosThe programme was supported by the Government and the Portuguese scientific community, which was represented in the programme of lectures.
Julia Parra remarked that "MARQ's vocation for international cooperation also extends to our neighbouring country and, as a sign of this collaboration and mutual admiration, I am proud to inaugurate this day of Spanish-Portuguese conferences dedicated to delving into an exceptional exhibition, 'The Atlantic Warriorwhich has already been visited by more than 60,000 people.
For his part, Do Santos expressed his hope that the collaboration between the museums of the two countries will continue in the future. with new projects supported by the Portuguese Government as a sign of closeness and understanding through culture. The Portuguese official thanked the MARQ and the Provincial Council for their interest in showing three pieces that make up a unique exhibition and for their dissemination work with these conferences.
At the opening of the conference "The Atlantic Warrior: Symbols of Power", the director of the MARQ participated, Manuel Olcinaand the head of the MARQ Foundation, José Alberto Cortéswho welcomed the attendees and speakers. Among them, the presence for the first time in the museum of Alicante of António CarvalhoDirector of the National Museum of Archaeology of Portugal.
The programme was completed with a conference given by the director general of Portuguese Cultural Heritage and researchers such as Thomas Schattnerfrom the German Archaeological Institute in Lisbon, Armando CoelhoUniversity of Porto, Virgilio Correiafrom the Museum of Conimbriga, and Fernando Quesadaof the Autonomous University of Madrid. The meeting will close this afternoon with a debate on the issues presented by the speakers.
Since 2020, MARQ has strengthened its relationship with Portugal with exhibitions such as the one that gave prominence to the bronze hand of the Roman city of Lucentum in the National Museum of Archaeology of Portugal (MNA), the exhibition 'Idols. Miradas milenarias", awarded with four prizes by the Associação Portuguesa de Museologia (APOM), and 'The Atlantic Warrior', which is on display at the MARQ Library from 18 May until 26 October.
Julia Parra thanked "the work carried out in recent years by our museum professionals, but also by the Portuguese Ministry of Culture and its Directorate General for Cultural Heritage, because without their support none of this would have been possible, especially in a context of pandemic".
The exhibition 'The Atlantic Warrior' brings together for the first time at MARQ three of the pieces catalogued as national treasures of Portugal. The exhibition consists of two granite sculptures, the Lezenho Warrior and of the Verraco de Olival dos Berrôesand the goldsmith's work on the Golden torques by Vilas Boasconsidered a reference in the peninsular protohistoric art.
