Light everywhere

The exhibition Light everywhere takes as its title a quote from promotional material published between the 1920s and 1950s by one of the companies that historically preceded EDP. The EDP Foundation Documentation Centre is the faithful custodian of this vast legacy (graphic models, flyers, printed leaflets, and posters, among other media) of both advertising and educational nature. Displaying it to the museum’s public means showing an important moment in Portuguese society: the period when domestic electrification became widespread in towns and cities, and companies needed to attract an increasing number of consumers by extolling the advantages of the new source of energy and light while also teaching them how to use and consume it rationally. But there are more layers underlying the texts and drawings shown here: the reinforcement of social division (clearly separating the roles of each class, namely at a domestic level) and of gender hierarchy (reserving active and intellectual roles such as reading and working outside the home to men, and the carrying out or leading of domestic chores such as cooking or sewing to women). The appropriation of design solutions already developed abroad in highly industrialised and urbanised societies (such as the USA or France), where consumption was much more widespread and similar campaigns had already taken place, is also worth noting. Thus, through contracts for the acquisition of rights, illustrations and slogans are wholly or partially adapted, the most notable example being that of the originally American Reddy Kilowatt (or Ready Kilowatt – “Faísca” was the name adopted in Portuguese) mascot, which will play an important part in the narrative of the said publications and merit further study as it has become a global icon that has endured over time. 

Some equipment related to the transformation, distribution, and consumption of energy that is found in the EDP Foundation Energy Heritage Collection will also be on display as a complement.