Spanish Cooperation Cultural Centres
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Juan de Salazar Cultural Centre of Spain, in Asunción
The Juan de Salazar Cultural Centre (JSCC), also known as “el Salazar” or “el Juande”, is the longestestablished of all the Centres among the Network created by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID). Since its inauguration in 1976, as a transformation of the former Institute of Hispanic Culture, the JSCC has occupied an important place in the cultural life of Asunción. From its beginnings, the institution has been at the forefront of cultural concerns, providing instruction, promoting debate, dialogue and creative freedom, and supplying a platform for emerging groups and artists, as a space that is both receptive to new aesthetic movements and a driving force making them known throughout the country. The focus of the Centre’s activity is, naturally, culture, in all its manifestations, which is viewed as an essential component of human development: political, social and economic. History The JSCC, with over 40 years’ presence in Asunción, has been an exceptional witness to the recent history of Paraguay, since its original configuration as part of the Institute of Hispanic Culture, through the reestablishment of democracy, to the present day. According to Francisco Corral, its first director, this Cultural Centre was created almost as the personal endeavour of the then ambassador of Spain, Carlos Manuel Fernández-Shaw. About those beginnings, Corral observed: “Despite a severe lack of resources, the Centre fostered a continual level of cultural activity, thanks to the dynamic participation of Paraguayan intellectuals and artists. This aspect of the JSCC was never theorised or planned; we simply adapted to our particular situation of being [at that time] the only cultural centre created by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a Spanish-speaking
country. We simply acted in accordance with the dynamics of society and with the demands of cultural movements in Paraguay”. During those initial stages of the Centre’s activity, Spain had newly regained its democratic freedoms and Paraguay was still subject to the dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner. During this era, the JSCC became a space of resistance and freedom, where artists and intellectuals could create and reflect, despite the censorship and persecution characteristic of the regime. The Centre played a key role in the custody and exhibition of the nation’s cultural heritage and in preserving its unique collections, such as the Julián de la Herrería and Josefina Plá collection and the libraries of Raúl Amaral and Miguel Chase-Sardi, which the fragile institutions of the State were unable to maintain. In the collective memory of Paraguayans, the work of the Centre and of its successive directors has left a profound impression. In the words of Nilo Fernández, in those difficult times Francisco Corral made the Centre “a beacon of resistance to the dictatorship and a refuge for those who were persecuted”. During those years, moreover, the Centre acquired certain characteristic traits that have persisted to the present day. The Centre has been and remains a haven for intellectuality and critical thinking, a flagbearer for human rights and a pathfinder for modernity. After the 1980s, with the recovery of democracy in Paraguay, the JSCC retained its inclusive cultural perspective, promoting diversity and cultural rights accessible to all sectors of society. Ticio Escobar made special mention of another JSCC Director, Nilo Fernández, who “bequeathed the renovation of the Centre’s infrastructure, which was continued by his successors. Under his direction, the building was daringly expanded, remodelled, restored and reformed. As a result, it acquired exhibition
