Luanda — Luanda's new cultural centre will be built on the site of the former Roque Santeiro informal market, disclosed on Monday, in this city, the minister of Culture and Tourism, Filipe Zau.

According to him, in an interview with the public Jornal de Angola newspaper, the "Resistance Museum" will also be built on the same site, so that it can play an important role in promoting the cultural circuit.

The minister said that Angola is a multicultural country whose cultures should, in principle, be promoted horizontally.

Filipe Zau said that the aim is to give space to all artists, emphasising that it is necessary to dissolve the idea that artists that stand out are only those based in Luanda, the country's capital.

He revealed that one of this year's challenges will be to register Angola's Semba music style on the World Heritage list.

To this end, he said that a representative from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), had been in Angola and had worked with musicians Carlos Lamartine, Dionísio Rocha, Marito Furtado a member of the Maravilha band, plus the Cultural Heritage Institute.

The minister also spoke about the recovery of around 100 artefacts of Angolan culture and a chair from the 17th or 18th century, which had left the country illegally, adding that the recovered items will be placed in a museum.

According to the minister, the process of requesting the return of other local artefacts that are in museums abroad is underway, as recommended by the United Nations, namely UNESCO.

National Culture Day was established in 1986 in honour of the speech given by the first Angolan President and founder of the nation, António Agostinho Neto, on the occasion of the inauguration of the governing bodies of the Union of Angolan Writers (UEA).

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