Loving Heritage Through Immersion

«Exploring Heritage,» a summer children’s workshop sponsored by the Office of the City Historian of Matanzas in conjunction with other organizations, enhances the curiosity of the little ones about the relics of our territory.

Likewise, this novel idea fosters greater contact of children with institutions that dedicate their resources to the care and preservation of said heritage.

Tamara Hernández Manso, coordinator of this initiative, explained that it arose from a cooperation plan called «Creative Zones Matanzas,» the result of an alliance between the Cuban institution and an Italian non-governmental organization.

The project’s main leader defined as a key objective the development of children’s creative and entrepreneurial capacities through the management of Yumurino heritage.

«In each session, participants learned a different skill that they put into practice through observation and restoration of these cultural heritages or identity elements of the city.»

Visual arts constituted the artistic modality through which this activity was channeled, highlighting the use of recyclable and recovered materials for more educational and practical purposes.

During the teaching of this workshop, students were provided with creative and interpretation techniques linked to the general topic.

On the other hand, some of the most suggestive modules of the program were the restoration of objects recovered in excavations and paleontology combined with drawing.

Although the direction of the cultural house is dedicated to training the community as a whole, on this occasion its focus is on children and young people so they can make better use of the summer.

Instructors with pedagogical training from this and other centers in Matanzas work with the enthusiasts on the final task of creating manual books containing their impressions of the project.

These sessions began in the first week of July and classes ended on the penultimate day of that month, maintaining the Tuesday and Thursday morning schedule.

However, the official closing of the program is estimated to take place on August 9 with the assembly of the works assigned to the learners.

The design of these summer workshops offers another example that the most fruitful cultural proposals are those that promote the personal and professional growth of individuals.