CCS Santo Domingo

Cultural Centre of Spain in Santo Domingo

The Cultural Centre of Spain in Santo Domingo (CCSSD) is located in the former Calle Plateros, now called Arzobispo Meriñ, in the historic city centre, the inspiration for European-style urban design in the Americas. The institution was created in 1990 by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) to enhance cultural cooperation between Spain and the Dominican Republic, two nations that share profound historical ties. The CCSSD is now an artistic and cultural reference point in this Caribbean metropolis, offering a wideranging cultural programme every year, with over 150 activities and events, with 20 or more exhibitions of Dominican and international artists, as well as outdoor concerts, lectures, film festivals and study courses. The importance of this Centre and its unquestionable impact on the local scene are partly explained by its very special location. The historic centre of Santo Domingo, the first city to be built in the American continent and the administrative hub of the Spanish colonial government during the first half of the sixteenth century, contains the largest number of museums, galleries, theatres and exhibition centres in the entire Dominican Republic. Amidst so many options, the CCSSD has become a driving force of artistic creation, acting in support of development cooperation and fostering emerging talents in this country. During its almost 30 years of existence, the Centre has done outstanding work in favour of the Dominican society, promoting access to culture among sectors at risk of exclusion, encouraging all kinds of artistic expression, defending the cultural legacy of African-descendants, supporting the activities of the LGBTIQ community, fostering cultural diversity, stimulating creative exchange and collaborating with the initiatives of other public institutions, associations, groups, cultural managers and NGOs. At the same time, it has sustained alliances with private organisations to strengthen and unite those working in favour of the cultural sector.

A colonial school that became a cultural centre

The history of the CCSSD has a fascinating connection with the early days of Santo Domingo. The beautiful building housing the Cultural Centre dates back to 1502, when Nicolás de Ovando founded the city, and an ambitious young man from Huelva by the name of Hernando Gorjón arrived on the island. Before long, he founded a sugar mill and made his fortune. As he had no descendants, Gorjón bequeathed all he had to create a school. In 1540, this institution received a royal warrant to establish two teaching chairs, and in 1558 the institution was elevated to the rank of university with the name of Santiago de la Paz. One of its professors was Cristóbal de Llerena, the author of the Entremés, considered the first dramatic play written in America. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Gorjón university building was transformed, successively, into a seminary, a convent and a military quarters. It eventually reappeared as a university, administered by the Jesuit movement. However, this rebirth was abruptly interrupted in 1767, when King Carlos III expelled the religious order from all his domains. As time passed, the building, located close to the Caribbean Sea and the Ozama estuary, fell into ruin. In the mid-1970s, during a visit by the then president of the Institute of Hispanic Culture, Alfonso de Borbón, the Dominican State considered the timing right to restore the former teaching institution, converting it into the headquarters of the Dominican Institute of Hispanic Culture (IDCH). In 1987, during the Centre’s management transfer to AECID, an adjacent building dating from the early twentieth century was acquired, enabling

3. The Centre’s library has one of the most complete collections of art books in the country.

4. Xiomara Fortuna, “the queen of fusion”, in one of her concerts in the patio of the Cultural Centre.

2 1 1. Walk through the Colonial City of Santo Domingo, guided by the members of Club Cultura.

2. View from the semi-circular arches that give access to the Centre’s patio. In the background, the ogival arch of the Prats Ventós room.

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the IDCH to expand its administrative offices and freeing up space for the Gorjón College, where exhibition halls and related areas were created. These two buildings were combined and designed to function as a single cultural unit. At that time, the Dominican press characterised the IDCH as an entity with the vocation to “welcome, protect, promote and project the diverse manifestations of Spanish and Dominican cultures”. Three years later, its name was changed, first to the Hispanic Cultural Centre and, later, to its present denomination of the Cultural Centre of Spain in Santo Domingo.

Spaces for art, diversity and knowledge

The architectural style of the colonial building housing the CCSSD is very similar to that found in olden Spain, especially the houses of the region of Extremadura. The exterior features a wonderful stone portal, its most historic element and one of the most representative of the Isabelline architectural style in the Americas. The rectangular framework bore the following coats of arms, subsequently destroyed during the Haitian occupation (1822-1844): the imperial coat of arms of Carlos I, the heraldic shield of Santo Domingo, the arms of the Gorjón family, the insignia of the House of Burgundy, the columns of Hercules and a pendant with symbols of the Order of Santiago. Inside, the CCSSD has a number of luminous, spacious exhibition halls. The first one on the ground floor is called Prats Ventós in honour of the renowned Spanish artist, who later took Dominican nationality. It was the former chapel of the Gorjón College and has a capacity for 150 people. The second exhibition hall is named after María Ugarte, an important Dominican historian of Spanish origin. This space is the result of combining two rooms from the

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original building, and has a maximum capacity for 100 people. From these exhibition halls visitors can access the patio and the Centre’s gardens, where there is also a terrace with free wi-fi and a stage for outdoor activities (music, drama, dance, etc.). This patio can accommodate 180 people seated and 500 standing. The first floor contains the games library, an area for children, with a variety of books and educational toys. This small recreational centre conducts its own programme of activities, including art workshops, film screenings and storytelling presentations. Then there is La Ventana, a newly created space intended as a reading room, which also has computers for internet use. Finally, on this floor, a multimedia library provides a large collection of Ibero-American books, magazines and films. In addition, the CCSSD has a multi-purpose room for 50 people and two classrooms for 10 and 15 people, respectively, equipped with projectors, monitors and computers, among other technological resources for lectures, workshops and courses. A radio broadcasting studio and spaces for administrative services complete the facilities available on this floor, with an area of 750 square metres.

A much prized institution

In Santo Domingo, the CCSSD plays a major role in presenting Spanish culture and fostering cultural and development cooperation, and caters very effectively to different areas of society, including artists, cultural managers, university students and young people in general. The Centre is well regarded by all these groups, who consider it close to their interests, encouraging participation and enhancing understanding. This positive impression is shared by the authorities and the main economic, social and cultural agents of the Dominican capital, due, in large part, to the Centre’s continuing healthy relationship with these sectors. Since its foundation, the CCSSD has encouraged local artistic creation and fostered the diversification of cultural possibilities. At the same time, as an agent of Spanish Cooperation, it has supported and participated in the main cultural events of the country. For example, the Centre organises its own celebrations as part of the Santo Domingo Carnival, and during the International Book Fair it coordinates various literature-related activities. Other major events in which the Centre takes part include the International Theatre Festival, the Photoimagen photography biennial, the Long Night of the Museums, the Design Biennial dRD, the Music Festival (organised by Alliance Française), the Santo Domingo Music Festival, the International Festival of Contemporary Dance (EDANCO), the International Children and Youth Theatre Festival (FITIJ) and the Women in Theatre Festival. The CCSSD is currently active, too, in areas such as providing training for human resources in the field of culture; political and economic aspects of its contribution to development projects (for example, the empowerment of cultural industries); synergies between education and culture; the sustainable management of the cultural heritage; relations between communication and culture; and advancing the recognition of cultural rights. The Centre also undertakes important initiatives with groups at risk of social exclusion and on major issues such as the environment, gender and African descent. In the latter respect, the CCSSD has contributed to a wide range of projects, including

5. Activity in one of the art workshops organised by the CCSSD 6. Dancers in an activity related to the exhibition on the popular artist Nereyda Rodríguez

7 the Festival of African Descendants Today, the seminar on Cultural Expressions of Afro-Dominicans and numerous concerts of indigenous African rhythms. One of the projects that has made a major social impact is that of Club Cultura, a programme to promote participation in society by elderly persons living in the Colonial City. Every month, these senior citizens become cultural promoters and act as guides, presenting a tourist and cultural route within the historic centre of Santo Domingo. The idea of this project is to integrate and involve the elderly in cultural practices. Another area of interest is that of LGBTIQ issues; the Centre has cooperated with this population in organising some of the most important events in the city, such as the OutFest International LGBT Film Festival in Santo Domingo. Moreover, the members of this community are encouraged to make use of the Centre’s classrooms, meeting rooms and workshops. To further reinforce its position as a cultural agent, the CCSSD has presented its medium-term plan to promote the culture-related goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Another of its priorities for the coming years is to promote cultural rights among the Dominican population, with the support of the Ministry of Culture. Following the guidelines of the Directorate for Cultural and Scientific Affairs, and the agreements made within Country Partnership Frameworks, the CCSSD will continue working to consolidate cultural issues as a key factor in the country’s sustainable human development.

7. CCSSD programme of events, June 2016

Professionalism and humanity

Jorge Pineda

Visual artist. His works form part of important collections in the Museum of Contemporary Art of Castilla y León (MUSAC), the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection and the Valencian Institute of Modern Art (IVAM).

The Spanish Cultural Centre in Santo Domingo is a second home for the artistic world of the Dominican Republic, supporting all kinds of artists in developing their projects. Moreover, its programmes facilitate knowledge, providing the means for strengthening artists’ discourse and channelling cultural expressions, both at home and abroad. The defining quality of the Centre is its professionalism, combined with a profoundly humanistic outlook.

Multiple dialogues

Darío Solano

Secretary General of the UNESCO-Dominican Committee on the Slave Route and President of the Dominican Platform of African-Descendants.

In the Cultural Centre of Spain in Santo Domingo, African descendancy is represented within a space where multiple dialogues are encouraged, giving a voice to cultural diversity and interculturality. The Centre’s institutional agenda is constructed from a horizontal perspective that encourages us to rethink notions of the African descendant, an aspect of Dominican society that is too often invisible. Such actions help decolonise a blinkered view of Dominica’s cultural legacy and enable a more plural, universal vision, created from the diversity of the nation’s cultural and ethnic manifestations. The Centre promotes dialogue, oriented towards an ethnic-racial democracy in which African descendants are not subordinated to colonial priorities, which still remain in the structure of traditional thinking that pervades Dominican society.

COSTA RICA Cultural Centre of Spain in San José

Address

Diagonal a la Rotonda del Farolito, Barrio Escalante San José

Opened

1992

Web

http://www.ccecr.org/