The idea initiated in February, is finally addressed both for tourists and local Madeiran residents in order to better understand the heritage of the island.
On the day of June 25, 2016, during the IX Monumental Serenata Académica after the fado concerts and just before the tasting of regional products, at the Colégio dos Jesuítas in Funchal a new project was presented, prepared by the University of Madeira Students’ Union (Associação Académica da Universidade da Madeira): Cultural Passport – Exploring Madeira. The idea initiated in February is finally addressed both for tourists and local Madeiran residents in order to better understand the heritage of the island.
AAUMa, acting at the University of Madeira brings together both local student volunteers and also European volunteers staying here for a few months for their projects. I am one of them and I take part in something completely new. I’ve never been till now a tour guide, but I support photographic and graphic projects. With the Cultural Passport, I discovered a knack for computer graphic designing. And although I feel much more confident in the field of photography, I am committed to working with Adobe Illustrator, which I had previously only known the basics, I spent an adequate amount of time learning the program as well as sometimes lose my patience with it. But above all, I really learned a lot.
Along with the main graphic designer? of AAUMa – Pedro Pessoa, I was responsible for graphic design and preparation for the production of stamps – symbolizing selected places and attractions associated with the cultural, historical and tourist heritage of Madeira, such as Carreiros do Monte, Casas de Santana, Fajã dos Padres, Grutas de São Vicente, Igreja da Sé, Mercado dos Lavradores, Nau Santa Maria, Palácio de São Lourenço, Piscinas to Porto Moniz, Taberna da Poncha da Serra de Água, Teleférico das Achadas da Cruz and many others. The passport is a kind of travel diary. The aim of the project is to better distribute places and attractions to visit amongst arriving and the native inhabitants of the island. Any visitor equipped with a cultural passport (looked as a classic, but having the logo and fragment of the pattern symbolizing the colours of the traditional Madeiran women’s costume) can by going to various places, collect memorial stamps. Which provide special promotions/discounts for visitors. Above all, this is a unique souvenir.
For tourists – a collection of memories from special places and attractions unique to Madeira island, and for the local residents an opportunity to have a better understanding of their homeland. The first Cultural Passport edition has a production run of 10 thousand copies which can be bought, among others, in special AAUMa’s stores – Gaudeamus: in History Tellers (area of Armazém do Mercado), Colégio dos Jesuítas and in the University of Madeira for a nominal fee of 3 euros. The number of places is expected to be continually expanded and updated.
Justyna Skiba
Students’ Union Polish Volunteer
Projecto financed by ERASMUS+.
