Spanish Cooperation Cultural Centres
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Cultural Centre of Spain in Guatemala
The Guatemalan Institute of Hispanic Culture opened on 16 February 1955, a few months after the governments of Guatemala and Spain resumed diplomatic relationships, at the initiative of two Spanish Jesuits, Carmelo Sáenz de Santa María and Isidro Iriarte, who were also closely involved in the creation of the first Catholic university in Guatemala, the Rafael Landivar University, in 1961. The internal conflict that afflicted Guatemala for thirty-six years (1960-1996) also affected the Institute. In the 1960s and 1970s, its activity within the cultural life of the country alternated between periods when its programme was rich and dynamic, with long years of silence. This was especially so in the early 1980s, when Spain and Guatemala broke off relations following the vile assassination of its then President, Roberto Mertins. The Institute remained closed for five years. With the renewal of relationships in 1985, the Institute flourished again at its headquarters in Plazuela España, where it remained for nearly twenty years, as a benchmark of cultural excellence in a scenario that brightened as the conflict gradually declined in intensity. There were commemorations of Spanish writers, debates on Spanish theatre, exhibitions by Guatemalan artists such as Isabel Ruiz, Zipacná de León, Efraín Recinos and Rolando Ixquiac, and poetry readings from Luis Alfredo Arango, Amable Sánchez, Francisco Morales Santos, Ana María Rodas or Delia Quiñónez… to name but a few of the activities held in the Institute. This stage of its existence concluded with the signing of the treaty between the Institute of Hispanic Culture and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) in November 2004 which transformed the Institute into the Cultural Centre of Spain in Guatemala (CCSG) “as a civilian association, non-lucrative, private, apolitical, non-religious, of a cultural
character acting in accordance with the laws of Guatemala, with legal personality, with its own capital and capacity to acquire rights and to take on responsibilities”. It thus became an institution of shared management, an Associated Centre of Spanish Cooperation, which introduced itself to Guatemalan society as a renovated project with bold proposals. This was the first step of a profound change, which brought about the professionalisation of the management team, the implementation of programmes and projects promoting Spanish and Ibero-American culture, greater cultural cooperation and the nascent Culture and Development Strategy Paper (2007). The new Cultural Centre was warmly welcomed and has since come to form an essential part of cultural life in Guatemala, remaining so until the present. In parallel, the CCSG formed a closer relationship with the Spanish Technical Cooperation Office and with the Spanish Cooperation Training Centre in La Antigua, thus reinforcing the already significant presence of Spanish Cooperation in Guatemala. Membership of the AECID Network of Cultural Centres gave the CCSG the opportunity to participate in online initiatives that made a significant impact in Central America, including the projects Migraciones: Mirando al Sur (Migrations: Looking towards the South), Arquitectura de Remesas (The Architecture of Remittances) and En Clave Afrocaribe (In tune with the Afro-Caribbean), with the participation of every country in the region. These proposals highlighted the potential of online collaboration as a powerful tool for cultural cooperation. This type of regional cooperation has continued in various regional projects, such as the Programme of Central American Artistic Residencies, which is currently in its third edition.
