Bolivia in the Heart of the People of Holguín
- Written by Rosana Rivero Ricardo
- Published in Culture
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Photos: Carlos RafaelBolivia has become part of the Ibero-American Culture Festival taking place in Holguín from October 24 to 30.
The Art Gallery of this city hosts the exhibition “El mundo amazónico boliviano” (The Bolivian Amazonian World) that combines artisan pieces donated by different indigenous councils, which were made with wood, fibers, thread, feathers, seeds and other natural elements.
"The culture of each people becomes its shield of protection," said Juan Ramón Quintana Taborda, ambassador of the Plurinational State of Bolivia in Cuba, before cutting the ribbon to open the exhibit that includes masks, musical instruments, dresses to pay homage to Mother Nature, the hat that those who live more than 4,000 meters above sea level wear for protection and other daily life components. They are the best shield against centuries of colonial domination.
It is the first time that Quintana travels to Holguín and participates in the Ibero-American Culture Festival, carrying Bolivia in his heart through the exhibition and the conference that he will give in the opening day of the Ibero-American Congress of Thought. But he assures that it is not the first time that his nation is in the "most beautiful land that human eyes have seen":
"I thank the people of Holguín for the hospitality, love and the fraternal embrace that has given to my brothers, the more than 2,000 compatriots welcomed here for several years to study Medicine and return to their homeland to serve the Bolivian people. That is an incomparable action that generates us a debt beyond price".
Bolivia of Fiesta...
"This is a very important event because it is a space for intercultural exchange among participant countries. The exchange allows us to get to know each other, strengthen our ties and propose tasks in the cultural area that will help us protect intellectual and artistic production ".
The opportunity…
"Álvaro Verdes, director of Casa Bolívar in Havana, had the idea of bringing the exhibit to the Ibero-American Culture Festival. We want to contribute very humbly to the event, so that everyone can get close to a part of Bolivia that almost represents the microcosm of the world, made up of around 30 towns. There are demographic, human, cultural reserves, facing the different forms of cultural, political, economic and social aggression. The way in which they have also survived is expressed through their music, textiles, carvings, painting...
“These men and women have defended themselves intelligently in five centuries of colony. They hid the music beneath the earth; they withdrew their memory in the mountains of eternal snow. Therefore, this exhibition has a message to intercultural communion that is a way to defend the sovereignty of our peoples.”
"I want to take the opportunity to express our deep admiration for the cultural power of the Cuban people, with amazing, heroic expressions that today give us an example to follow."
