This is how the DAL Native Footprints Center was born, in the Garza Roja Cultural Park, which pays tribute to the Daule Tejar culture

It all started with a pot that his elementary school teacher Lily Pilataxi de Arenas (founder and director of the Steiner International Educational Unit) gave the well-known radio broadcaster Ramon Sonnenholzner over a year ago. It is a piece of culture Daule Tejar dating back a thousand years.

Without having an appropriate place to display it, the also renowned cultural manager together with the couple of luthiers Schubert Ganchozo and Angela Zambrano they conceived the DAL Native Footprints Center. The idea came to fruition when Sonnenholzner received the donation of 300 pieces from different cultures of the coast from your friend Ernesto (Chicho) Ossaart dealer, recalls the director of the cultural park the red heron.

Ramón Sonnenholznner built his utopias in the Garza Roja park

“He asked me for a favor, to put them in one of our museums (La Garza Roja has the Museum of Dolls, PHI Museum and School of Sculptors, and Museum of Printing) and to name the exhibit site after his daughter. Because his daughter had died of cancer and he wanted her name to be immortalized in a powerful way, ”explains the manager who is also a writer.

That is why the center has the acronym DAL, which includes the first letter of the names of the women to whom it also pays tribute. The D is for Doménica Ossa; A refers to the archaeologist teacher Marie Antoinette Funes; and the L is in honor of pilataxi.

“In the end we don’t call it a museum, but a Center for Native Footprints, because it is a recognition of the archaeological, anthropological and paleontological footprints of the coastal people and the first citizens of the lower Guayas basin.”

Pre-Hispanic rock art is embodied in sculpture

The importance of the Daule Tejar culture for the people of Guayaquil is obvious, says the teacher Ganchozo. Because it is based in the territory where we live. Because at an archaeological level, he illustrates, it is the predecessor of the Milagro-Quevedo culture. “And because it is the evidence of our continuity. It is the root of the syncretism that was formed between the Spanish and other cultures that came later. But we want to emphasize that we recognize the hands of contemporary artisans who are the continuity of those traces”, clarifies the luthier.

Another aspect of the new cultural center that stands out is its design, which was proposed by the spouses Schubert Ganchoso and Ángela Zambrano. The design stems from an investigation by both of them into sound architecture, which comes from the time of Aristotle, says Zambrano.

Schuberth Ganchozo’s mate orchestra in the Garza Roja park (Nobol)

“In the past, we did not work with what we now know as the decimal metric system, but rather a value was assigned to musical notes,” explains the music. Depending on the length of a pipe, such as a panpipe or a rondador, a particular note sounds. This has made it possible to put together a measurement system in which the units are given by the dimensions of the tubes for each of the seven notes on the staff (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la si).

“As luthiers, it is like having built a musical instrument, and when you enter the center you are inside this instrument”, says Ángela. It is a way of “seeing” music in a physical space.

In this sense, the design has been harmonized with the minor musical note, a musical note considered feminine, in cohesion with the name of the site and the pieces it contains. It is a space dedicated to femininity, he points out. “The DAL Native Footprints Center was named after three women, in the front part on the outside there are two mythical guardians of the Valdivia culture from the lithic period and it is a museum dedicated to femininity, therefore it is also on the note”.

The straight shape of the space, which ends in a semicircle, was inspired by the ceremonial temples of the Manteño culture. “This semicircle also represents the womb, just like the vessel, they have this reminiscence that makes it a women’s museum.”

This new cultural center is integrated with the other museums in Garza Roja Cultural Park, thus forming an exhibition with different themes in one place in an environment surrounded by nature. (YO)