Within the framework of this half century, it is important to strengthen the roots of this festival, sustain its roots and tradition so that it lasts and at the same time evolves. That in the next 50 years the audiences are expanded, the cultural offer is diversified, more strategic alliances are generated, with a free and dynamic governance model that is up to the times”.
Luis Felipe Guerrero, rector of the Autonomous University of Guanajuato.
Luis Villoro, father of the writer Juan Villoro, in the 1950s, during an academic stay, witnessed the Cervantine hors d’oeuvres, about which he wrote: “In Guanajuato a sleeping evocation has awakened, if the effort is prolonged and we believe that it will no longer be able to stop. , Mexico will owe much more to Guanajuato than the resurrection of classical theater, it will owe it the restoration of its faith in the creative force of its community.
“Undoubtedly, Luis Villoro’s prediction has come true,” said Luis Felipe Guerrero, rector of the Autonomous University of Guanajuato, during the presentation of the first part of the program of the Cervantino International Festival (FIC) in its gold edition. “The appetizers were the precedent for the Cervantino and now we are here to celebrate half a century of the FIC from Guanajuato”, he celebrated.
The festival today is a cultural benchmark in the world, it has overcome major financial crises, earthquakes, a pandemic and has gone through various ideological expressions, it is the most important cultural festival in Mexico and one of the five most relevant in Ibero-America, El Festival returns to its face-to-face modality from October 12 to 30, and will have South Korea and Mexico City as guests of honor.
“When master Enrique Ruelas turned the streets and squares of Guanajuato into the heart of Cervantes’ hors d’oeuvres, he knew that art had no meaning if it didn’t feed on the public that gave it life. The DNA of the festival is in people, when a society makes public space its own and turns those streets and squares into a mirror, it gives meaning to the human condition, what better example than this festival”, said Mariana Aymerich Ordoñez, director of the Cervantino Festival .
For this reason, he shared that around 50% of the artistic offer will be free admission and aimed at all types of audiences, with the idea of supporting the formation of new audiences. “This year’s programming was built with the nostalgic memory of the 50th anniversary, but also as a pause for reflection on the future of the festival”, peace, sustainability, inclusion, collective rights, recognition of diversity , decentralization and the defense of cultural heritage are the themes that animate this edition.
There will also be a reflection on Cervantes in America, “it is fair to reflect on what unites us, we will talk about the trip that the Manco de Lepanto proposed to make to America and that was denied him. We will talk about the importance of the language of Cervantes, but also about the original languages and the commitment to them. Nothing about us without us,” Aymerich said.
Welcome South Korea and Mexico City
“We are very honored to participate in this historic festival as a guest country,” said Jung Kilhwa, president of the Korea Institute for International Cultural Exchange. Being here has a lot of meaning as we celebrate 60 years of diplomatic relations between Korea and Mexico and the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Korean Cultural Center in Mexico.
In his speech he shared that “the world considers that Korea has achieved industrialization and democratization through hard work and effort (…) now we are attracting the attention of people from all over the world with a popular culture that includes K-pop like BTS and k-drama like The Squid Game.”
However, Korean culture is not only about the popular, it also has a tradition based on a long history of classical culture achieved through the hard work of artists. “With this Korean culture we want to accompany you at this year’s Cervantes festival”.
“Past and future, tradition and modernity, east and west”, this is the motto of the 50th Cervantes Festival and everything that will be presented is adapted to the theme of the festival and will include reflections and recreations of traditional art, will show the prosperity of culture and the convergence between various cultures, art and technology, Kilhwa detailed.
Guanajuato also welcomed the country’s capital, which for the first time is the guest of honor at this festival. “There could not be a better date than this 50th anniversary to receive the great Mexico City, the capital of our country where ancient and modern cultural expressions coexist,” said Alejandro Navarro Saldaña, municipal president of Guanajuato.
Claudia Curiel de Icaza, Secretary of Culture of Mexico City, announced that the capital’s cultural offer at the FIC will include theater performances, dance, concerts, filming, exhibitions and many other activities that nurture the spirit of citizens. “In this edition we are going to present old, classical, contemporary, experimental and rock music that nourishes our programming, we have from Tepito to the Sunday afternoon dream in the Alameda Central, to the Philharmonic Orchestra of Mexico City with the voices of the sopranos María Katzarava, Mexican, and Hera Hyesang Park, Korean; to Caifanes, who will be in charge of the opening and closing ceremony, respectively,” she explained.
The states of Tlaxcala, Colima, State of Mexico, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Morelos, Nayarit, among others, will also participate. “There will be two mythical groups in the theater for children, Seña y Verbo, which will stage the first dream of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz in sign language, the Orquesta Típica de la Ciudad de México, Héctor Infanzón, Cecilia Toussaint, Los de bajo , Hello Seahorse, sonideros, the Chulas Queens, Astrid Hadad, and the atmosphere of the Los Angeles Hall”, among others, announced Curiel de Icaza.
In addition, there will be wrestling shows, screenings of films such as Los Olvidados, Los Caifanes, Lagunilla mi Barrio, Amores perro and Roma, to name a few. Also sound, gastronomic and dance interventions, as well as cycles of conferences around muralism and a chilanga house. It was also reported that various activities of the Cervantino will be presented on the plate of the capital’s Zócalo.
The second part of the program will be presented at the Palacio de Bellas Artes this Wednesday, June 29.