Between November 5 and December 7, Anda&Fala - Associação Cultural held the open call for the 8th edition of PARES - Programa de Apoio à Atividade Artística nos Açores, with the aim of supporting artists/collectives/agents who develop their work in the region. Of the 29 applications received, 10 were selected by the Appraisal Committee, at levels of €250, €500 and €750, allocating the total amount of €7,500 established in the Program's regulation.
The list of 10 applications supported by PARES 2026 includes: Coro Pactis, Tricot’Aveiro, Largo dos Artistas, Filipa Gomes, JP Vasques & Gonçalo Valério, Símbolo Simbólico, Cristóvão Maçarico, Orquestra do Festival Internacional de Folclore do Porto Formoso, Sara Massa, Tomás Sampaio, Sara Sinaí, and Leonor Fernandes.
The selected applications, in the €250, €500 and €750 brackets, must carry out their activities/projects between January 1 and December 31, 2026.
In assessing all the applications received, the Appraisal Committee composed of Jesse James (Artistic Director of Anda&Fala), Rubén Monfort (Program Coordinator of Anda&Fala), Catarina Dias da Rosa (Cultural Mediator) and Vânia Chagas (Cultural Agent), considered it important to ensure diversity in the support given, from a geographical point of view (projects supported on several islands) and disciplinary point of view (activities in the field of training and capacity building, music, visual arts and research). Priority was given to applications that were relevant to the PARES framework, that demonstrated a significant contribution to the Azorean cultural ecosystem and local impact.
PARES – Programa de Apoio à Atividade Artística nos Açores, promoted by Anda&Fala - Associação Cultural since 2019, annually allocates a total of €7,500 to support artists/collectives/agents who develop their work in the region, by awarding micro grants at levels of €250, €500 or €750.
The program is open to applications in all areas of contemporary artistic expression, as long as they involve activities in the fields of creation and/or presentation, circulation of artists/projects (inside or outside the Azores region) and training. PARES supports artists/collectives/agents born and/or based in the Azores, and is also open to people from other countries who choose the archipelago to develop their projects, with no age limit. By sharing resources, PARES aims to encourage the work of actors and agents, and the establishment of new artists/activities, whose work is fundamental to strengthening artistic activity and ensuring the sustainability of the Azorean cultural ecosystem.