During the summer season, several cultural institutions implement initiatives to attract the public to their facilities and, in unison, contribute to their healthy recreation and self-improvement.
Among the invitations, the summer workshops stand out in a special way, which approaches different expressions of art from the hand of diverse creators.
YOUNG ART AT THE FOREFRONT
The Asociación Hermanos Saíz (AHS by its acronym in Spanish), for example, develops workshops that embrace music, dance, and visual arts. The drawing workshop, directed by Luis Antonio González Rodríguez and Lisbet Avilés, teaches children about the world of painting, allowing them to let their imagination run wild with the help of cardboard and other media.
There is also a guitar workshop called Cuerda y Tiempo, hosted by Adrián Parra Peña, and the freestyle workshop La Vida es un Free, led by Mason García. In addition, there is also a dance workshop, taught by Edguar Santos Álvarez, a teacher at the El Cucalambé professional art school (EPA in Spanish), for students at the school.
Also, according to journalist Sheyla Arteaga, communicator of the youth artistic vanguard in these premises, cultural ties are being strengthened between artists from Tunisia and colleagues from Contramaestre, Santiago de Cuba, who participate in activities here and in the Heroic City, and it is intended to resume the Diástole Community Project, which will reach several communities.
NICOLÁS GUILLÉN FOUNDATION OPENS THE WALL
The branch from Las Tunas of the Nicolás Guillén Foundation (FNG in Spanish) hosts on Fridays, under the name of Abre La Muralla, a multiplicity of options for the most varied tastes. It brings together different projects promoted by this entity, promoting the confluence of different artistic manifestations.
Speaking to 26, María Sao, vice-president of the institution in the province, said: "There are proposals such as BuscArte and Papeliris, which teach us about visual arts; Nicolás Guillén and graphics, which works within the Reyva gallery and the Antoms, carrying out workshops on graphics, caricatures and visual arts in general; initiatives aimed at children and adolescents at the Sensemayá headquarters; the project De Dónde So1 Cultura FNG Las Tunas Talleres de Verano Foto ReyLópez 1mos y Hacia Dónde Vamos, which gives visibility to different doctoral studies carried out in the province, and Viaje al interior, related to the world of celluloid.
"The Art and Nature Project is also promoting a competition involving members of the Las Tunas Bonsai Club, the results of which will be announced at the end of the summer. Our Information Centre provides information of interest to those interested and hosts the Always Ithaca Project, dedicated to women. In addition, there are the "Tertulia De arpeggios y palabras", which brings together creators and encourages the enjoyment of poetry, good trova, and other surprises.
A GOOD BOOK IS AN OPTION
The Centro Provincial del Libro y la Literatura (CPLL in Spanish) and the Sanlope publishing house of the territory are also developing actions to make this summer more enjoyable. According to Yuslenis Molina, programming specialist at the CPLL, several readings and book presentations have been planned for July and August in different parts of the city.
"We want to take initiatives to the Provincial Directorate of Commerce, the headquarters of Copextel, the stainless steel company (Acinox Las Tunas), the provincial radio station Radio Victoria and other entities. At the Enrique Casals tobacco shop, for example, we have received a warm welcome. We always try to include diverse authors and to ensure that there is variety and quality in the invitations.
"Although popular events such as Book Thursdays are not held during the summer, others like the peñas El tercer deseo, which takes place on the third Tuesday of the month at the Provincial Committee of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (Uneac by its acronym in Spanish), and Los pasos en la Hierba, on the fourth Tuesday, at the headquarters of the AHS, with many guests. Likewise, writer Lester Fernández Ballester gives readings at Radio Victoria, while at La Casa del Soneto, in Omaja, Majibacoa, Adalberto Hechavarría, and Teresa Fonseca promote cultural activities. And we continue with the Workshop on Narrative Techniques in Science Fiction and Fantasy, given by the writer Abel Guelmes Roblejo."
The Facebook page of the Sanlope publishing house echoes - equally - other options within reach. According to publications on this social network, fabulous books for children such as Canciones de Ida y Vuelta (by Nelson Simón), En una Maleta el Mundo (by Erasmo de los Ángeles Rondón/ Premio Principito 2020), and Chamaquili y la Pandemia (by Alexis Díaz Pimienta) are among the texts available in our bookshops.
OTHER INVITATIONS
At the same time, the José Martí provincial library organizes poetry recitals every Thursday, as well as puppet workshops, given by actress Verónica Hinojosa on certain days of the month. For its part, the Provincial Committee of the Uneac organizes the discussion group Desde el verso a la Estrella, every Friday morning, hosted by Marina Lourdes Jacobo, as well as panels on criticism and the Café Palabras space, among other initiatives.
The city's galleries are not far behind either, showing exhibitions of admirable quality such as those exhibited at the Centro Provincial de Artes Plásticas, the Casa Iberoamericana de la décima El Cucalambé, the Oficina del Historiador de la Ciudad and the Comité Provincial de la Uneac itself.
Generating similar actions, based on creativity and collective contribution, is necessary in the different territories, especially in the face of real limitations such as theatres closed due to infrastructure and other problems. Our people deserve it, they need it.
