12 de febrero de 2025

Radio 26 – Matanzas, Cuba

Emisora provincial de Matanzas, Cuba, La Radio de tu Corazón

Culture in Matanzas under debate in provincial balance .

Matanzas artists raised important issues for the development of culture during the provincial balance of the sector. At the beginning of the meeting in the White Hall, a video report gave an account of the activities and main achievements of the last year, as well as some of the deficiencies of the stage.

Matanzas artists raised important issues for the development of culture during the provincial balance of the sector. At the beginning of the meeting in the White Room, a video report gave an account of the activities and main achievements of the last year, as well as some of the shortcomings of the stage.

Artisan Luis Octavio Hernandez, coordinator of the Havana Biennial’s actions in Matanzas, opened the interventions with a systematization of the actions of the most important event of the Cuban visual arts in the Yumurian land, as well as the proposals that, in the short, medium or long term, will be inaugurated in the province.

Osmany Betancourt, «Lolo», thanked the Visual Arts Council and the authorities of the territory that allowed the transfer of his sculpture Equilibrio, a piece of approximately five and a half tons, to Havana where he is part of the project Behind the Wall and shared with those present the experience of the inclusion of four recent graduates of the School of Art in his workshop gallery, as an opportunity for training and development for young people who are starting in the visual arts.

Noslén González Sosa, deputy provincial director of Culture, highlighted the rich cultural life of the province in the period when more than 29 thousand cultural actions and 139 events were developed in Matanzas. He pointed out as a challenge to expand the options for teenagers and expressed dissatisfaction at not being able to reach all municipalities with subsidized talent due to existing difficulties in terms of transportation and fuel allocation.

He also referred to the high prices of technical services and pointed out that, on many occasions, Culture has to assume payments, for example, for audio, which are mounted in the budget of this sector.

Bielca Cantillo reiterated the need to know the Heritage Law, not only by heritage workers, but by the entire population because it has a direct impact on the conservation of cultural and material heritage. He stressed the importance of creating heritage commissions in the municipalities where they do not exist and ensuring their proper functioning where they do. He also warned that monuments in danger of collapse should be included as a priority in the economic plan.

Sara Blanco Pérez, an official of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, who is in charge of culture, stressed that the achievements of the territory are largely due to the unity that exists here. She also remarked the responsibility of the municipal governments in the protection, rescue and conservation of the patrimonial properties that exist in her demarcation and reflected on how complex it is due to the economic conditions of the country because everything falls in the same budget but, she said, it is necessary to guarantee the services for the well-being of the population without neglecting the historical sites, buildings and patrimonial objects.

Lázaro Suárez Navarro, vice-governor in Matanzas, pointed out that today in the province there is a high number of buildings with structural damages. He reiterated the responsibility to include these buildings in the economic plan and to look for financing alternatives, including international cooperation.

Jesús Llanes Barrios, Municipal Director of Culture in Colón, pointed out that cultural programming should not be sustained by amateur artists, that there should be a balance between their work and that of professional artists, who should assume the leading role that corresponds to them, often affected by budget problems.

Yudelkis Perdomo García, director of the Alfonso Perez Isaac Vocational School of Art, gave a detailed account of the results achieved by students and alumni of the school, who then expressed her concern about the development of the recruitment processes, organized since last October, because they have not yet been able to reach all municipalities due to transportation problems.

Although this issue has had some improvement in the first days of the year, it is a latent concern for the families of Matanzas the transfer of the students to the school, due to the non-existence of urban transportation and the high prices of a rental car to a place far from the historical center of the city, which translates into a decrease in the number of children who choose to enter the artistic education. He also spoke of the difficulties in obtaining musical instruments, the poor number of books in his library and that EVA is not always included in the programming of events such as the Book Fair and Rios Intermitentes.

Almost at the end of the meeting, Osvaldo Pérez, producer of the Failde Orchestra, commented that Matanzas lacks a movement of artistic critics to encourage creators and explained the urgency of filling important positions in the Municipal Direction of Culture which, for a year now, has seriously affected cultural development in the locality.

Marcia Brito, director of the Pharmaceutical Museum, reflected on the need for institutions to focus part of their programming on foreigners visiting the city and, likewise, tourist agencies should reprogram their routes with a cultural sense.

Lillitsy Hernández Oliva, Vice Minister of Culture, focused her speech on some of the main problems raised during the meeting. She said that Matanzas’ culture is not oriented to favor the country’s income. In the province that has the largest tourist pole of the country, there are strategies, but it is not systematized; it happens spontaneously, at the will of the guides.

He indicated that the situation of the Municipal Directorate of Culture and the search for an appropriate place to expand the seats and contribute to the recovery in the training of art instructors should be a priority and considered that it is essential to enforce the criterion of democratization as a principle of cultural policy in the process of attracting students to art schools.

Ramón Gómez, member of the Ideological Political Bureau of the Provincial Committee of the Party in Matanzas, concluded that although there are very good work results, there are still issues to be solved and thanked the artists for always being present.

The Municipal Departments of Culture of Los Arabos, Colón, Perico, Jagüey Grande, Martí and Calimete, as well as the Provincial Centers of Heritage, Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Books and Houses of Culture received recognition for their meritorious work during 2024.

 

 

Written by Jessica Mesa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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