The Museum of Light Village (Mourão, Near the Tagus River Region) stands out as a unique venue of culture and identity. Erected between singular village of Luz and the lakeside of Alqueva, it is the interpretative space of the profound changes in this territory, from the occurrence of the dam and submerging of the village. The building itself, several times awarded, is of a striking architecture and perfectly integrated in the landscape.
Its exhibitions – temporary and varied – have as axis approach the thematic background of the museum: the identity, the history, the landscape of this place. Multiple and diverse artistic interpretations that reactivate memories and meanings for the particular notion of placement that the Luz village embodies.
The idea for creating a museum to preserve the memory and identity of the local community, creating a link between the past, present and future of the territory of Luz and Alqueva originated in the 1980s, when measures were drawn up to provide compensation for the impact of the implementation of the Alqueva project. After opening in 2003, the museum received an honourable mention from the Portuguese Museology Association in the category of ‘Best Museum in the Country’ (2005). In May 2010, Luz Museum joined the Portuguese Museum Network (RPM), a national cultural agency dedicated to licensing of museums.
