Students from the Antonio Neumane Conservatory held an artistic sit-in to demand restoration of the space; They assure that they receive lessons in “deplorable” conditions

On Wednesday afternoon, May 31, the exteriors of the Antonio Neumane Music Conservatory became the stage the first artistic sit-in, organized by parents and students of the artistic space.

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Esmeraldas street, towards the center of Guayaquil, shared its space with the protesters, who, in the middle of the song, we are the world –performed by the musicians in training – demanded the reopening of the conversation with the slogans “We want the building”, “They have no money for education”while in their hands they carried signs with phrases like “Children and young musicians need a decent place to study”, “Enough lies and false promises”, “We want actions, the children need them.”

The conservatory facade is unpainted, only plastered, some zinc plates replace the doors and windows, an old and faded sign with the name of the institution preserves the image of the composer Antonio Neumane. It was in November 2017 when a circuit forced students and teachers to be evicted from the place.

Government, fix the Neumane Conservatory now!

“When we were withdrawn, they told us we would return in a year. That means we should have returned to the repowered school in 2018, but It turns out that this work was paralyzed and we continue to host the schools”, says the mother of the family.

He assures that in 2022 they met with Gabriel Casañas, undersecretary of school administration for zone 8, from the Ministry of Education, who would have explained to them that they will be transferred to a new building. “He offered us that he would deliver the new building by 2024, because they had some studies that they had done. We ask him to show us those studies,’ he says. Diana Robino, mother of a family wearing a t-shirt with the phrase “Let’s save the conservatory.”

“The governments in charge do not help us, art is forgotten”, added another mother of the family.

Nearly six years have passed since the eviction, “during which the students wander in borrowed, improvised and anti-pedagogical classrooms”. Currently, lessons are being received at the school Vincent Rocafuerte.

Student Natalia Salazar Bayana describes the classrooms as small and makeshift. “This is really becoming a problem, not only for students and teachers, but also for instruments such as the piano and the guitar that have been moth-eaten It’s for one of these reasons we need a conservatory, where the instruments can be handled and maintained so they don’t get damaged… Let’s not forget that future generations will need these instruments to learn,” says the student after singing at the foot of the building The soul on the lips.

‘The art is in danger’, the phrase painted outside Antonio Neumane’s conservatory depicting five years of waiting and desperation. Students are taught in improvised spaces in the absence of a building

The sit-in was attended by actors, painters, cultural managers, parents of previous promotions, current students, the media and graduate musicians, such as the soprano Astrid Oh, which the conservatory describes as the Alma mater city ​​music. “The Conservatoire’s 900 students deserve the respect and opportunity we all had to study at our headquarters,” made known to this medium.

“The work must be finished and If they think the conservatory is not suitable because of the construction or because it has a crack, then we deserve a suitable building.”suggests.

The soprano indicates that they will be outside the building every Wednesday to hold the sit-in, also requesting an appointment with the governor of Guayas, francesco tabacchi, so that they in turn submit the matter to the Ministry of Education, the competent authority. “This can’t stop, it’s the beginning of a fight”, says the artist.