The Museo da Limia between 2016 and 2023: Advisory Council, Conversas na Taberna and Library

The Museo Etnográfico da Limia, in Vilar de Santos, has changed a great deal since it turned twenty years old in the former rectory. This page summarises, as told by the Museum’s own notes, the lasting facts of that period; exhibitions and tributes are in exhibitions and activities and the description of the rooms in rooms, Board and Library.

2016: twenty years in the rectory

On the twentieth anniversary of the move of the single-teacher school to the former Rectory, the mayor Xan Jardón stressed in an interview that the space had received over 23,000 visits and held more than 600 pieces. The installation in the rectory was directed by the Ourense architect Henrique Rodríguez Peña and there are seven permanent rooms (four on the first floor, one in the adjoining yard and two on the second), a library and a lecture room, plus the "Xaquín Lourenzo" room for temporary exhibitions ^[1]. The Museum has occupied the rectory since 1996, after four years in a provisional venue, the single-teacher school; in 2017 the mayor asked the president of the Xunta for maintenance work on the building ^[2].

2017: new Board and Advisory Council

On 30 September 2017 the Museum’s Board was renewed with the formula of an Advisory Council (24 people, later 35), chaired by Delfín Caseiro, professor of Galician language and literature; one of its first decisions was to create the Pedra Alta Prize ^[3]. See Pedra Alta Prize. That year, with the Centro de Cultura Popular do Limia and the Carlos Casares Foundation, the Museum joined the Día das Letras Galegas dedicated to Carlos Casares with the 2nd "Carlos Casares" Competition (the first edition was in 2012, with 12 schools and some 200 works) and a forum of Limia writers on 29 April, with a literary route through Xinzo, Sabucedo, Lamas and Trandeiras ^[4][5]. It also attended the seminar for the 40th anniversary of the Museo do Pobo Galego ^[6].

Conversas na Taberna

Since November 2016, inspired by the Cafés da Memoria of the Museo do Pobo Galego, the "Á Conversa na Taberna" meetings seek dialogue rather than lecture:

• November 2016: starting a business in the countryside, with Carabuñas (elderflower) and Faragullas (cereals and bread) ^[7].
• 8 July 2017: environmental struggles: the platform against the asphalt plant at Parada de Ribeira, the Corno do Monte association against the feldspar mine, the Cualedro group against wildfires, the one for the trees of Avenida de Celanova and cyanobacteria pollution in the As Conchas reservoir ^[8].
• April 2018: the potato, and on 29 September 2018, "Agrogandeiría e biodiversidade na Limia", as part of the events for the 60th anniversary of the start of the draining of the Lagoa de Antela ^[9][10].
• 30 March 2019: educational experiences in the comarca ^[11].

2018: Biblioteca da Limia and debates

On 4 May 2018 the Biblioteca da Limia opened, on the second floor, to gather the artistic, literary and essay output of the Upper and Lower Limia ^[9][12]. The Advisory Council also proposed reviving the neighbourhood guides and urging the revival of the "Antón Tovar" poetry prize in Rairiz de Veiga. The Museum took part in the Consello Galego de Museos (36 sites) and on 9 November hosted the "Rural Imaxinado" meeting of the REVOLTA Network on farming innovation ^[13][14]. On 13 October 2018 a Rutas da Historia route joined the monastery of Bon Xesús de Trandeiras and the Torre da Pena, guided by the archaeologist Miguel Losada, who led the excavations at the castle, and visited the church of San Tomé de Soutelo, which disappeared in the 19th century ^[15].

The magazine Lethes

The Museum hosts the presentation of the magazine Lethes. Cadernos Culturais do Limia, founded in 1999 and published with the Centro de Cultura Popular do Limia. Issue 12 (2016) published ten unpublished poems by Antón Tovar and a study on the Via Nova; issue 13, a monograph on Carlos Casares; issue 14 (25 October 2019), centred on the Lagoa de Antela, with the president of the Consello da Cultura Galega, Rosario Álvarez Blanco ^[16][17][18]. See Lethes.

2019-2023

On 5 October 2019 the Advisory Council met to decide the 2019 Pedra Alta Prize and review the agenda: a new edition of Conversas na Taberna, the training proposal from the company that runs the Museum day to day and the promotion of the Via Nova ^[24]. In 2019 the Museum mourned the death of the anti-Franco guerrilla Camilo de Dios (see his entry) and of the teacher Carlos Cid Arregui, a member of the Advisory Council, whose name is borne by the CEIP of Rairiz de Veiga, and supported the Provincial Council honouring Isaac Alonso Estraviz with the Gold Medal ^[19][20][21]. In 2022 the craftspeople’s association Limiar moved into the Museum, where it gives workshops and guides visits, and the Board agreed with a Secretaría Xeral de Política Lingüística to update the Museum’s information ^[22]. On 4 May 2023 it delivered to the Real Academia Galega the request to dedicate the 2024 Día das Letras Galegas to Antón Tovar, with a file of over 250 signatures, support from the mayors of Rairiz de Veiga, Vilar de Santos, Xinzo and Trasmiras and the Antoloxía poética (Xerais, 2023), with 67 poems and illustrations by Xosé Lois Carreira ^[23]. See Antón Tovar.

Links

• Museums of A Limia
• Exhibitions and activities of the Museo da Limia
• Rooms, Board and Library
• Pedra Alta Prize
• Museo Etnográfico da Limia

Sources

1. «La Voz entrevistou o alcalde de Vilar de Santos con motivo do aniversario do Museo», Museo da Limia. https://museodalimia.com/la-voz-entrevistou-o-alcalde-de-vilar-de-santos-con-motivo-do-aniversario-do-museo/
2. «Xan Jardón falou co presidente da Xunta sobre a necesidade de actuacións no Museo», Museo da Limia. https://museodalimia.com/xan-jardon-falou-co-presidente-da-xunta-sobre-a-necesidade-de-actuacions-no-museo/
3. «O día en que celebramos don Elixio Rivas Quintas», Museo da Limia. https://museodalimia.com/o-dia-en-que-celebramos-don-elixio-rivas-quintas/
4. «Museo da Limia tamén vai conmemorar Carlos Casares», Museo da Limia. https://museodalimia.com/museo-da-limia-tamen-vai-conmemorar-carlos-casares/
5. «Foro-encontro de escritores limiaos homenaxea a figura de Carlos Casares», Museo da Limia. https://museodalimia.com/foro-encontro-de-escritores-limiaos-homenaxea-a-figura-de-carlos-casares/
6. «O Museo da Limia presente nos actos polo 40º aniversario do Museo do Pobo Galego», Museo da Limia. https://museodalimia.com/o-museo-da-limia-presente-nos-actos-polo-40o-aniversario-do-museo-do-pobo-galego/
7. ««Non cremos que termos como emprendemento consigan reflectir todo o que pretendemos ser»», Museo da Limia. https://museodalimia.com/non-cremos-que-termos-como-emprendemento-consigan-reflectir-todo-o-que-pretendemos-ser/
8. «Novas loitas ambientais na Limia, en foco na xornada «Á Conversa na Taberna»», Museo da Limia. https://museodalimia.com/novas-loitas-ambientais-na-limia-en-foco-na-xornada-a-conversa-na-taberna/
9. «A Biblioteca da Limia, entre os temas tratados polo Consello Asesor do Museo», Museo da Limia. https://museodalimia.com/a-biblioteca-da-limia-entre-os-temas-tratados-polo-consello-asesor-do-museo/
10. ««É posible compatibilizar agrogandeiría e medio ambiente»», Museo da Limia. https://museodalimia.com/e-posible-compatibilizar-agrogandeiria-e-medio-ambiente/
11. ««É preciso que eduquemos desde o afecto»», Museo da Limia. https://museodalimia.com/e-preciso-que-eduquemos-desde-o-afecto/
12. «Discurso do Presidente do Padroado, Delfín Caseiro, no acto de inauguración da Biblioteca da Limia», Museo da Limia. https://museodalimia.com/discurso-do-presidente-do-padroado-delfin-caseiro-no-acto-de-inauguracion-da-biblioteca-da-limia/
13. «O Consello Galego de Museos elixiu novo representante perante o Consello da Cultura Galega», Museo da Limia. https://museodalimia.com/o-consello-galego-de-museos-elixiu-novo-representante-perante-o-consello-da-cultura-galega/
14. «O Museo Etnográfico da Limia abre as portas ao debate sobre a innovación agraria», Museo da Limia. https://museodalimia.com/o-museo-etnografico-da-limia-abre-as-portas-ao-debate-sobre-a-innovacion-agraria/
15. «Portal historiadegalicia.gal organizou roteiro pola Limia», Museo da Limia. https://museodalimia.com/portal-historiadegalicia-gal-organizou-roteiro-pola-limia/
16. «O Museo Etnográfico da Limia recibe a presentación do nº 12 da revista Lethes», Museo da Limia. https://museodalimia.com/o-museo-etnografico-da-limia-recibe-a-presentacion-do-no-12-da-revista-lethes/
17. «27 de decembro ás 17h30 cita coa cultura en Vilar de Santos», Museo da Limia. https://museodalimia.com/27-de-novembro-as-17h30-cita-coa-cultura-en-vilar-de-santos/
18. «“Estamos nun lugar onde hai moita xente a facer o que hai que facer”», Museo da Limia. https://museodalimia.com/estamos-nun-lugar-onde-hai-moita-xente-a-facer-o-que-hai-que-facer/
19. «Nota de pesar polo falecemento de Camilo de Dios», Museo da Limia. https://museodalimia.com/nota-de-pesar-polo-falecemento-de-camilo-de-dios/
20. «Nota de pesar polo falecemento de D. Carlos Cid Arregui.», Museo da Limia. https://museodalimia.com/nota-de-pesar-polo-falecemento-de-d-carlos-cid-arregui/
21. «O Museo da Limia apoia a concesión a Isaac Alonso Estraviz da Medalla de Ouro da provincia», Museo da Limia. https://museodalimia.com/o-museo-da-limia-apoia-a-concesion-a-isaac-alonso-estraviz-da-medalla-de-ouro-da-provincia/
22. «Entrevista a Mercedes Veites, presidenta da asociación Limiar», Museo da Limia. https://museodalimia.com/entrevista-a-mercedes-veites-presidenta-da-asociacion-limiar/
23. «Solicitude da dedicación do Día das Letras Galegas 2024 a Antón Tovar», Museo da Limia. https://museodalimia.com/solicitude-da-dedicacion-do-dia-das-letras-galegas-2024-a-anton-tovar/
24. «O Consello Asesor do Museo da Limia definirá esta fin de semana o premio Pedra Alta 2019», Museo da Limia. https://museodalimia.com/o-consello-asesor-do-museo-da-limia-definira-esta-fin-de-semana-o-premio-pedra-alta-2019/