ACAMFE (Association of Writers' House-Museums and Foundations)

ACAMFE (also known as ACMFE, the Asociación de Casas-Museo y Fundaciones de Escritores / Asociación de Casas-Museo e Fundacións de Escritores) is a Spanish association and foundation created in 1993 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands. Its purpose is to energise, promote and strengthen the houses of notable writers by turning them into museums and by supporting the foundations that manage them. By 2016 the network counted more than 50 associated houses across Spain. The organisation operates as an umbrella body for writers' house-museums and literary foundations. Its members include institutions dedicated to major Spanish and Galician authors, such as the Fundación Carlos Casares in Vigo, the Casa Museo Ramón Cabanillas in Cambados, the Ramón del Valle-Inclán houses in Vilanova de Arousa, A Pobra do Caramiñal and Santiago de Compostela, the Casa Museo Rosalía de Castro in Padrón, the Casa Museo de Emilia Pardo Bazán in A Coruña, the Casa Museo de Vicente Risco in Allariz, the Casa Museo de Ramón Otero Pedrayo in Amoeiro, and the Casa Museo de Ramón Curros Enríquez in Celanova. These examples illustrate the association's reach across Galicia and the rest of Spain. ACAMFE's public mission is to bring the activity of these institutions closer to society. According to its official website, the traditional image of house-museums as antiquated, self-absorbed museums has changed: houses and foundations have dusted off their collections, modernised their museum facilities, updated the management of their libraries and archives, and professionalised. The house opens itself to scholars so they can advance the interpretation of the writer's life and work, and to society so it can approach their cultural meanings. They reach out to society through literary routes that extend the museum space and turn these houses into cultural reference points and centres of cultural irradiation in their social environments. The association has published guides and literary routes, including the Guía de la Asociación de Casas Museo y Fundaciones de Escritores (Madrid, 2001) and Rutas literarias de la Asociación de Casas Museo y Fundaciones de Escritores (A Coruña, 2006), as well as the magazine Poliédrica palabra. Its website, museosdeescritores.com, serves as a communication channel among members and with the public, offering access to the rich heritage that constitutes the legacy of the associated authors.

ACAMFE (also referred to as ACMFE) was created in 1993 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, as an association and foundation. Its founding objective was to dynamise, promote and strengthen the houses of notable writers by turning them into museums. Over the following decades it grew into a national network of writers' house-museums and literary foundations. By 2016 it had more than 50 associated houses. The association's membership reflects the breadth of Spain's literary heritage. In Galicia alone, nine house-museums belong to the foundation: three in the province of Pontevedra, three in Ourense and three in A Coruña. These include the Fundación Carlos Casares in Vigo; the Casa Museo Ramón Cabanillas in Cambados; the Ramón del Valle-Inclán houses in Vilanova de Arousa, A Pobra do Caramiñal and Santiago de Compostela; the Casa Museo Rosalía de Castro in Padrón; the Casa Museo de Emilia Pardo Bazán in A Coruña; the Casa Museo de Vicente Risco in Allariz; the Casa Museo de Ramón Otero Pedrayo in Amoeiro; and the Casa Museo de Ramón Curros Enríquez in Celanova. From its early years, one of ACAMFE's main concerns was to make the activity of these institutions available to society. It first did so through a printed guide summarising the personality of each titular author and the services and activities of each house and foundation. Later it developed its website, museosdeescritores.com, to use the agility and freshness of the internet to keep member information up to date and to establish communication channels between members and the society they serve, offering the rich heritage that constitutes the legacy of the associated authors. The association has also published works that support its mission, including the Guía de la Asociación de Casas Museo y Fundaciones de Escritores (Madrid, 2001) and Rutas literarias de la Asociación de Casas Museo y Fundaciones de Escritores (A Coruña, 2006), as well as the magazine Poliédrica palabra. According to its official website, the traditional image of house-museums as antiquated and self-absorbed has changed: houses and foundations have dusted off their collections, modernised their museum facilities, updated the management of their libraries and archives, and professionalised. The house opens to scholars so they can advance the interpretation of the writer's life and work, and to society so it can approach their cultural meanings. They reach out to society through literary routes that extend the museum space and turn these houses into cultural reference points and centres of cultural irradiation in their social environments.

• 2016

  The association has more than 50 associated houses.

• 2006

  Publication of Rutas literarias de la Asociación de Casas Museo y Fundaciones de Escritores in A Coruña.

• 2001

  Publication of the Guía de la Asociación de Casas Museo y Fundaciones de Escritores in Madrid.

• 1993

  ACAMFE (ACMFE) is created in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, as an association and foundation to promote writers' house-museums.

An umbrella association and foundation that modernises and professionalises writers' house-museums, opening them to scholars and society through literary routes and cultural outreach.

• Guía de la Asociación de Casas Museo y Fundaciones de Escritores (2001, Madrid)

• Rutas literarias de la Asociación de Casas Museo y Fundaciones de Escritores (2006, A Coruña)

• Magazine Poliédrica palabra

• Website museosdeescritores.com

1. 1ACAMFE – Asociación de Casas-Museo y Fundaciones de Escritoresmuseosdeescritores.com
2. 2ACMFE – Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Asociación de Casas-Museo e Fundacións de Escritores – Wikipedia (Galician)gl.wikipedia.org