Contemporary societies have to be in permanent reflection given the constant changes that people face at the political, geopolitical, economic, financial, social, cultural and technological levels, and we cannot help but think of the consequences of these changes. We currently live in a global world, where admittedly the word that best defines and characterizes it is Circulation. Circulation of people, information, ideas, knowledge, culture, goods, services and means, in short, an increasingly constant and consistent exchange and circulation.

For that reason, there are inescapable words that characterize contemporary life and society, and these are the words that the Arquipélago – Contemporary Art Center considers to be the pillars of cultural facilities, and they include: citizen, space, time, circulation, place(s), network(s), partnership(s), fluctuation, movement, sharing, traffic, criticism, communication, agitation, multiculturalism, community(ies), universality, diversity, Identity(ies), strategy, context(s), ideology(ies), market(s), development, respect, right(s), duty(ies), technology, mutability, dynamic, interconnections, crossing(s), interrelationship, multidisciplinarity, consumption, look, feel, observe, analyse, stage(s), landscape, record(s), reference(s), archive(s), and history.

In this sense, social responsibility, other(s), ‘statesmanship’, place/territory – the Azores Archipelago, space – Arquipélago – Contemporary Art Center, time, Art, Contemporary Architecture and Culture, multiculturalism, training, internationalization, and circulation are the vectors by which this cultural and artistic facility is governed. We want the Arquipélago – Contemporary Art Center to be a landmark space for reflection and knowledge concerning the different artistic areas.

We intend, therefore, to create a variety of audiences that feel and are interested in contemporary art and culture, according to the permanent changeability that characterizes modern society.