Applications for this support, on an annual basis, are aimed at national and foreign artists who have been permanently resident in Portugal for at least two years, or at private non-profit artistic production institutions.

Contacted by Lusa News Agency, about the results of the competitions, which took place between March and April this year, a source from Gulbenkian indicated that "in a particularly difficult year for the cultural sector" in the country, the entity registered "a record number of applications".

For this reason, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation decided to strengthen its support, awarding a total of 93 grants for the artistic creation of original works in the areas of visual arts, cinema, dance and theatre, in the amount of around 500 thousand €, and 31 grants training abroad in visual arts, performing arts and music, worth around one million €.

As part of the support for holding exhibitions in France, through the foundation's delegation in Paris, support was also given to 12 exhibition projects, involving 70 Portuguese artists and "several relevant institutions in the French cultural world".

According to the foundation, the delegation in Paris will announce the list of these supports in early September.

The reinforcement of these supports represented an increase of more than half a million € compared to the amount initially budgeted by Gulbenkian.

At the same time, the foundation's president, Isabel Mota, had highlighted, in a statement, that this support was "a commitment to the continuity of the work and the capacity of artists to create, in difficult times", as well as "an incentive to the training of young people abroad through the granting of scholarships".

Gulbenkian reiterates that "it intends to continue to play a leading role in contemporary creation, following the critical moment that the sector is going through, and seeking to reach a greater number of artistic agents, in its multiple dimensions and subjects".