Proposed by the current owner of the SUCLA canning factory, in a technical and scientific partnership with the M_EIA, the University Institute of Art, Technology and Culture and the Tarrafal Municipal Council, the project has the institutional support of the Ministry of Culture, through the Institute of Research and Cultural Heritage - IIPC.

 

The history of the building-house dates back to the beginning of the 20th century, the period when Mr. Cadório, a Portuguese businessman, settled in and founded the SUCLA factory in 1933. An exceptional material and immaterial heritage in Cape Verde that reveals, through the sea and the factory unit, the island's social and commercial relations up to the present day. An immense collection that has been preserved over the years and is now at the disposal of the Ministry to work on the Museum linked to the history of fishing in Cape Verde, in particular its links to the island of São Nicolau, which fundamentally goes through the history of the Cannery where the Museum is being set up.

 

The first phase of intervention of the Fishing Museum, presented here, focuses on the area of the block of the Factory where the old residence of Mr. Cadório is located, an annex in the back of the residence, the old factory shop and the surrounding outdoor spaces. 

 

As a rehabilitation project, the process inevitably involved interpreting the existing spaces and consequently adapting the Museum's program to them, responding to the new programmatic requirements. Thus, on the lower floor of the main building, works the fundamental exhibition and interpretive program, about the History of Fishing in São Nicolau, being also complemented by a service space, to support the terrace and a small warehouse.

 

On the upper floor is where the main program is organised. The visiting circuit begins at the reception and passes through the Memory Room of the SUCLA Factory, the Fishing History Room, the Memory Room of the "Tarrafal Residence" and an Audiovisual Room. In the annex building, the Directorate, the Administrative Services and the Fisheries Museum Laboratory are located. Here we can also find the Sanitary Installations to support the Museum and the spaces mentioned above. 

 

The shop functions in the space of the old Factory shop, a space that we intend to rescue in the current perspective of the Museum. Here different products are sold, among which are books, brochures, DVDs, canned and other processed products, and handicrafts from the island. 

 

In the outdoor spaces around the buildings, there are exhibits of museological interest linked to the memory of the machines and the canning activity, panels, texts and enlarged photographs illustrating the historical fishing and memory (of whale, blackfish, tuna, swordfish, mackerel, melva...). In the front area of the main building (the former residence of Mr. Cadório), two spaces are planned for the Museum's terrace/bar, protected with pergolas for shade, where various museum, leisure and educational activities can be developed.

 

​

 

​

Location. Tarrafal de São Nicolau, Cape Verde

Date. 2014

Museology. Leão Lopes

Architecture. Ângelo Lopes

Collaboration. Jeanne Adam

Construction Direction. Leonel Brito

Photography. Ângelo Lopes