This Monday, the federal Ministry of Culture convened a face-to-face conference at the Los Pinos Cultural Complex, after a closed period (in which the head of the agency, Alejandra Frausto Guerrero, received a warning from the INE for alleged violation) of face of citizen participation for the revocation of the mandate, which was finally unburdened on Sunday.
The initial reason for the meeting of federal Culture officials with the source media was the presentation of a series of calls for different disciplines as part of the programs of the Chapultepec project. However, there were several issues that were addressed during the two-hour meeting.
It was specified that the collection of the 1990 Nobel Prize for Literature, Octavio Paz, is now being consolidated, cataloged and inventoried by the staff of the National Center for Conservation and Registry of Movable Artistic Heritage (Cencropam), in a laboratory installed in the fourth section of the Bosque de Chapultepec, and, once this process is concluded, through a loan agreement, the archive will be delivered to the Colegio Nacional for its protection and not to the Bodega Nacional de Arte, as had been interpreted in the declarations of the head of the Government of Mexico City during the act of delivery-reception of the ashes of the poet and Marie José Tramini at the headquarters of San Ildefonso, last March.
“Since last year the issue of stabilization of these files began. They were scattered in different buildings and they have not stopped collecting (…) the stabilization is to allow their mobility, the rest is to allow their conservation and handling. All this must be inventoried and then it will be sent, as the poet wished, to El Colegio Nacional”, explained the undersecretary of Cultural Development, Marina Núñez Bespalova.
Later, the undersecretary expanded that, by agreement of the institutions involved, including the DIF, Federal Culture and the National College, it was agreed that the archive can only be opened 25 years after the death of Marie José Tramini and not of Paz himself. , as stipulated by the testator. This decision, she specified, “was an act of good will, the truth is that this agreement has not been completely closed, because they can change the terms along the way.”
Details about Chapultepec
Among other details about the Chapultepec project, Secretary Frausto Guerrero shared that it will be until next August when the reconversion of the former cartridge factory of the Ministry of National Defense to a National Art and Collections Warehouse begins, in the fourth section, so It will start operations next year. She announced that the warehouse will concentrate all the collections of the INBAL museums, as well as the selection of pieces that Cencropam is responsible for and some private collections that request preservation in the building.
On the reasons for the resignation of the Italian architect Renzo Piano who, at the time it was announced with great fanfare, would be in charge of designing the Contemporary Pavilion in the space of the Botanical Garden, in the first section, the official explained that “the office de Piano closed due to a pandemic and, due to agenda issues, it no longer gave the possibility of completing the project.
Other bits and pieces
On the other hand, the undersecretary of Cultural Development was asked if Federal Culture would finally take part in the activities of the city of Guadalajara as World Book Capital, a distinction valid from April 23 and until the same month of next year.
Nuñez Bespalova explained that it will not be with a budget but in another way: “they (the members of the advisory committee) asked us to collaborate in a program that has to do with libraries and with the promotion and encouragement of reading in these spaces. They are asking us to help with programming and to complete some collections in remote areas, especially in indigenous languages, which is what we are doing”.
For his part, Frausto Guerrero took advantage of the occasion to pronounce on the veto of Russian expressions in culture: “Mexico does not close the door to any artistic expression of any country, regardless of the geopolitical situation, of war, in which we let’s find (…) we exhort some private cultural projects or those of other institutions not to close the doors to the artistic expressions of any country”.
Likewise, the secretary was asked about her position in the face of the warnings from biologists, archaeologists, anthropologists and other scientists, about the risk in several heritage and natural areas in the Yucatan peninsula due to the construction of the Mayan Train. And Frausto Guerrero replied: “the heritage that is being safeguarded is immense with this project (…) it is important that all these doubts be clarified because the heritage is not at risk and it is an opportunity for its preservation,” assured the head of Culture .
The amounts of Profest:
The Culture authorities confirmed that the bag for this year’s call for Profest, which last week announced 44 beneficiary festivals, will be 35 million pesos, with maximum amounts of 2.8 million pesos for festivals with more than 15 years of experience. antiquity. Although the possibility of launching a second call this year is not ruled out. Some of the meetings benefited are the film festivals of Guanajuato, Morelia, Guadalajara, Monterrey and Los Cabos, as well as Ambulante, the FIL Oaxaca and Mextrópoli.
Federal Culture launched four Calls for Chapultepec:
- Root Music Mexico: to musicians and musical organizations / 38 million pesos
- Performing Arts Circuit: to groups and independent theater spaces / 38.6 million pesos
- Puppets and Objects: to creators and companies of this discipline / 14.5 million pesos
- Dance and Self-managed Spaces: through the National Dance Coordination / 13 million pesos