Since its founding in 2005, APCA Madeira has developed its activities around a strategy structured along four fundamental pillars: sustained programming and the promotion of artistic creation in the fields of New Media and Digital Arts; the promotion of a multidisciplinary approach, positioning itself as an organisation that brings together artists, researchers and organisations from different territories and conceptual frameworks; the creation and enhancement of employment in the cultural sector, contributing to its sustainability and professionalisation; and a commitment to artistic innovation, initially within the context of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, but always in dialogue with other geographies, critically reflecting on island cultural identity in the face of global dynamics.

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With the support of DGArtes, the association has developed flagship projects such as MADEIRADiG, as well as a wide range of initiatives dedicated to Digital Art, carried out in partnership with external organisations, including Transgression Media, Funchal Digital Art, Sonarwave.AI and Funchal City Sessions, which succeeded the previous format of the MADEIRADiG Festival. These projects consolidate an approach that prioritises the integration of digital technologies into the creative process itself, encouraging artists whose practices have traditionally been analogue to explore new tools, methodologies and forms of interaction. In this context, creators from traditional and classical music, visual arts, theatre, literature, performance and other fields have been involved.

In 2026, the centenary of Raúl Brandão’s As Ilhas Desconhecidas will be celebrated, marking an important milestone in Portuguese literature that portrays the social and economic realities of the populations of the Atlantic islands. To mark this anniversary, APCA Madeira, in partnership with various organisations from the Autonomous Region of the Azores, will develop an extensive co-produced programme including the creation of a theatre production with a national tour; a touring theatre and digital performance project aimed at secondary schools and auditoriums in all municipalities across Madeira and the Azores; artistic residencies bringing together creators from the two archipelagos in the field of digital art; as well as a programme of cultural mediation and audience development, featuring conferences dedicated to Culture and the Autonomy of the Autonomous Regions.

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This programme of initiatives will be complemented by exhibitions, digital art installations and concerts, creating opportunities for artists and communities from the two archipelagos to meet and collaborate. The project seeks to strengthen mutual understanding, foster joint creative practices and inaugurate a new cycle of active cultural cooperation between the so-called “Unknown Islands”.