Of November 17 to 27 Loja will once again be the main epicenter for the seventh edition of the International Festival of Living Arts Loja 2022, which this year brings together artists from more than ten countries, such as FranceGermany, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, China, Uruguay, Ecuador, Spain, Dominican Republic, Brazil, USA (guest country of honor) and for the first time Turkey.
Ruth Cruz’s ‘Fourth Dimension’ exhibition runs until November 19 in Puerto Santa Ana
This 2022 edition returns with an extended program of eleven days of festival, which includes more than 100 activities, including workshops, more than 40 international and local works, and conferences.
In an interview with this newspaper Maria Elena Machuca, Minister of Culture and Heritage, indicates that this year the festival will open a space for dialogue between the present and the past. “For each festival we develop a concept so that the artists have an umbrella, where they can let their creativity fly”, holds Machuca.
This is how this year the curatorial concept is Spaces of Memory. “As a human being, you have a very clear memory and also spaces, for example, the first theater you visited in your life, the park or your grandfather’s house. All these are spaces that only each person recreates, revives, remembers in a different way. That is why we have chosen this concept so that the artists and the invited countries can develop stagings with this objective, since we are made of memories”Explain.
He also points out that this year “Almost 80% of the festival will be face-to-face”, since virtual rooms have also been assigned for people who wish to follow the cultural meeting online, both for some functions and workshops.
The venues for face-to-face programming are Benjamón Carrión Mora Theater, Bolívar Municipal Theater, Teatrino and University House, Alfredo Mora Reyes Cultural Center, stage tent (children’s programming), auditorium of the French Alliance, among others.
The ballet ‘Giselle’, a new proposal by the company En-Avant with the support of Corporación El Rosado
From October 30, tickets for each of the functions can be downloaded through the official website www. festivaldeloja.com. The inauguration will be on November 17 at 7:00 p.m. at the “Benjamín Carrión Mora” National Theater. The work that will open this great party is Frankenstein, From the Manual Cinema collective in the United States, the play combines shadow puppetry, film techniques, sound effects, and live music.
“We believe that cultural exchange opens borders, culture is unique in the world. We must always strive for culture and art to be a global public good.” Machuca manifests about the country of honor.
The minister indicates that the budget allocated for the festival, so far, is $900,000. “We have not closed the budget because we are also waiting for the collaboration of other private entities that invest in culture”, mentions.
In the tourism and economic reactivation sense, the Ministry of Culture is working with the Chamber of Commerce of Loja, the Foreign Ministry, the Prefecture, the Government and the Municipality. “So this is an inter-institutional party”, stands out.
“Loja is a spectacular place, but above all its people, that emotion with which they receive tourists, that generosity of all the spaces, the gastronomy of Loja is wonderful”Add.
art and health
As they did last year, this edition includes a cultural program aimed at vulnerable groups, which seeks to benefit their quality of life, meet the physical and mental health needs of people through art, among other objectives.
These activities have been carried out over the course of this year in conjunction with organizations such as the WHO, PAHO and the Embassy of Spain. Among the activities in this section is a workshop on the methodology of Theater of the Oppressed, a cinema forum for the film Mañana te no olvides, a dance workshop for people with disabilities, among others. The complete program can be consulted at https://festivaldeloja.com/events/categoria/salud-arte/.
“During the pandemic we realized that health and art have always been powerful tools for healing, but more so during the pandemic. We were forced to redirect, many artists did their works virtually, we were able to visit museums such as the Prado or Reina Sofía digitally, people also read a lot during the pandemic and approached art. Art is a unique expression of the human being.” expresses Minister Machuca. (YO)
Source: Eluniverso
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