Subject: Invitation - Babell Opening - Culture, Territory and European Dialogue (Porto, 24 June 2026)
From: "Patricia Reis" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>, "min - KUM" <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>
Cc: "Rui Couceiro" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2026 17:33:22 +0200

Tähelepanu! Tegemist on välisvõrgust saabunud kirjaga.
Tundmatu saatja korral palume linke ja faile mitte avada.

Dear Minister

I am writing on behalf of the Livraria Lello Foundation to invite you to
attend the opening of BABELL on 24 June 2026, in Porto, Portugal.

BABELL is an international cultural initiative taking place in Porto,
throughout June 2026, aligned with the European understanding of culture
as a driver of territorial cohesion, democratic life, and social
development.

The opening will coincide with the inauguration of a new public garden
offered to the city by the Livraria Lello Foundation, the largest public
garden of private initiative created in Portugal in the last 100 years.

The space is designed by Álvaro Siza Vieira, Pritzker Prize–winning
architect, with landscape architecture by Sidónio Pardal, and will be
inaugurated with a keynote conference by the internationally renowned
philosopher Byung-Chul Han.

This opening will take place on St. John’s Day (São João), the most
important civic celebration in Porto, in a symbolic location between a
major business hub and the Monastery of Leça do Balio, a classified
national monument and headquarters of the Livraria Lello Foundation.

BABELL unfolds entirely in public space, across streets and squares of the
city, all within a 15-minute walking distance, with free public transport
for audiences.

The event brings together leading international writers and thinkers, such
as Nobel Prize laureate Olga Tokarczuk, alongside Salman Rushdie and
Margaret Atwood, all confirmed, and has a distinctive feature: access to
the programme is ensured through the purchase of books at Porto’s
independent and second-hand bookshops, reinforcing reading as a civic and
territorial act.

Promoted by Livraria Lello, through its Foundation, with the support of
the Porto City Council, BABELL is an expression of cultural responsibility
grounded in the belief that investing in culture and reading is one of the
most effective ways to strengthen territories and democracy, especially in
times marked by war, polarisation, and division.

Your presence at the opening of BABELL would represent a strong and
meaningful European signal in support of culture as a strategic public
good.

We would be pleased to provide further information and adapt the programme
to your availability.

With kind regards,

Patrícia Reis

Programme of Special Projects

FUNDAÇÃO LIVRARIA LELLO

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