CCS La Paz

Cultural Centre of Spain in La Paz

History and introduction

The Cultural Centre of Spain in La Paz (CCSLP) opened its doors on 11 May 2012, and was officially inaugurated by Queen Sofía of Spain on 24 October of the same year. This is one of the youngest centres of the entire Network of Cultural Centres of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID). In common with the other centres in the Network, before its existence Spain’s involvement in cultural activity in Bolivia was coordinated by the Cultural Affairs Office of the Embassy of Spain. The Centre occupies the ground floor, basement and patio of Casa de España, a building that is outwardly neoclassical, but decorated in a distinctly modernist style, much appreciated by its users. To date, the Cultural Centre has had three directors: Clara Cabrera, María Pérez and Jerónimo Fuentes. Although each has left their individual mark as head of the institution, all three have helped establish a line of continuity in which culture is viewed as an instrument that promotes the development of the country. Since its beginnings, the space within the Centre has been used as a gallery for artists and cultural managers; in addition, it has provided an environment for artists, from Spain and other Ibero-American countries, to share their concerns and understanding. On numerous occasions, the Centre’s seminars, meetings and workshops have constituted a space for dialogue. The life and activity of the Centre has also been affected by the political context in Bolivia. In 2005, the Government of Evo Morales launched its “process of change”, encouraging new actors such as indigenous peoples and social movements to play an active role in the sociocultural environment. The Government also introduced its “national reorientation” programme, based on an ideological principle of decolonisation, seeking to open up every sector of society, including education, culture and public management, to the indigenous population, which had traditionally been subject to social exclusion. The cultural world was considered to be one of the fundamental pillars of this democratic transformation and was urged to play a significant role in the process. In consequence, one of the Centre’s core beliefs is that culture should constitute a tool for development, and many of its activities promote the empowerment of indigenous peoples. For example, in 2019 various activities were promoted to commemorate the International Year of Indigenous Languages. The Centre opened its doors during a period of economic crisis, when budgets for culture were severely constrained. To overcome these limitations, the Centre has entered into participative relationships with local partners, which have played an increasingly significant role in the joint projects undertaken. These circumstances were taken into account in the assessment of the Centre’s first five years of existence, conducted in 2017, which included talks and meetings with the local representatives habitually involved. This evaluation concluded that the institution was doing a good job and was committed to its environment, as a neutral space, with a programme that was flexible and open to discussion and debate. The challenge now facing the Centre is to make the institution even more dynamic, and not just a space for artists and cultural managers. The goal is now for the CCSLP to become a Centre for all.

Significant achievements of the Centre and main activities

with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda. The 2019 Plan prioritises the following strategic areas: culture as an element of external expression, cultural cooperation and culture as a promotor of development. In the first of these respects, the Centre seeks to raise awareness of Spanish culture, supporting the presence of contemporary Spanish creators at major festivals in Bolivia, such as the Chiquitanía Baroque Music Festival and the International Theatre Festival in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Another area of interest is the film industry, which is very popular in Bolivia. Thus, screenings of Spanish cinema have been held every Tuesday, throughout Bolivia, for over 30 years. Moreover, Spain was the guest of honour at the Bolivia Lab festival in 2019, the most important film creation laboratory in the country. Reflecting the focus on gender equality in the Centre’s programmes, the CCSLP has recently invited young directors such as Meritxel Colell and Mercedes Gaspar to present their work. The Centre has also supported alternative approaches such as the Radical Cinema Festival, which provides a showcase for cinema research and production laboratories. In the book world, the Centre always has a stand at the Annual Book Fair in La Paz, where it regularly promotes Spanish writers. Thus, Belén Gopegui, Aroa Moreno, Alejandro Palomas, Mar Benegas and Lara Moreno are among those who have been invited, to great critical and public acclaim. The second focus of the Centre’s activities is that of cultural cooperation, one of its traditional priorities, an area in which it seeks to encourage and assist local cultural actors, identify synergies and foster innovation. As part of this concern, the CCSLP organises workshops on a wide range of topics, including museology, narrative, cultural management and exhibition curating. It also recognises and promotes local culture, with exhibitions of local artists and concerts in the patio, aimed at making Bolivian artists more widely known in their own country. As an example of this cooperative activity, the Centre, in conjunction with the National Art Museum of Bolivia, has organised a programme to support young artists. In another participative project with local institutions, the Centre’s media lab provides training and instruction to raise digital awareness among the population. This second section would be incomplete if we failed to address and counter the idea that culture corresponds only to a minority, composed of cultural managers and artists. The belief that every citizen should have the right to access culture is one of the cornerstones of the SDGs. And this belief, in turn, leads us to the third area of the Centre’s cultural action, namely that in addition to other concerns culture should be an instrument for development. This question was addressed at the CCSLP’s five-year assessment meeting, which highlighted the need for the Centre to open itself up even more, encouraging the public to take part in activities and giving them a sense of ownership. The assessment meeting also concluded that the Centre should reach out to sectors that are often disadvantaged in their access to culture. In this respect, special mention is due to the Co-Working Space, a user-friendly environment, open to all, where creators, audiences and users are encouraged to share their understandings of cultural projects. The media lab, too, has adopted this hallmark, and its workshops tackle subjects such as women’s access to science. Furthermore, literacy campaigns have targeted children and adolescents, and discussions have been held on issues such as social media security. On a different note, but in line with the Centre’s credo of opening up to society, the second annual “Encounters on the fringes of art” was held recently; at this open-ended event, students of fine arts and related fields came together to discuss and debate questions in this field. The consideration of culture as an instrument for promoting development also brings the Centre, its directors and its users closer to sectors of society that are vulnerable and often ignored by cultural forces. For instance, cultural activities have been organised with the Bolivian Institute for the Blind, with workshops in techniques of aural art and radio production that have encouraged visuallyimpaired persons to become new users of the Centre. Another very important activity is that of cultural mediation, a project born of the necessity to create a plural community that views the CCSLP as part of its heritage and which plays an active role in the Centre’s programmes and activities. This project, which is an innovative aspect of the institution’s identity, has rapidly come to form part

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1. Presentation of Cabeza by Daniel Abreu, in the framework of Danzénica, Seventh International Dance Festival, 2018

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of its strategic lines of action. Taking into account the research into new teaching methods that is currently being conducted in Spain, the Centre has created a new style of listening, via shared spaces, which allows users to recount their experiences and knowledge and thus form a plural, solid and critical community within the CCSLP. Specifically, the Centre has organised participative workshops for users and their children, and work is under way to create an urban community garden. Finally, CCSLP strategists are working on Experimenta Distrito, an ambitious pilot project in urban planning to harmonise the Centre with its surroundings.

CCSLP as a force for culture and cooperation. Strategic plans and medium-term proposals.

The Cultural Centre of Spain in La Paz has a characteristic identity and a noteworthy institutional presence, both in the city and, increasingly, throughout Bolivia. Practically every afternoon and evening, visitors attend the library, the media lab, the exhibition halls, the workshops and the patio. In 2018, the Centre’s cultural activities (exhibitions, film screenings, workshops and concerts) welcomed 21,193 visitors, while another 4,338 people made use of its services, including the library, the co-working space and the media lab. Of these visitors (25,531 in total), 8.9% were children. These data highlight the large numbers of people currently making use of the Centre, reflecting the popularity and dynamic nature of its cultural programmes. Nevertheless, further efforts should be made to increase visitor numbers, particularly as regards attracting the attention and interest of children and young people. The application of culture as a tool for development continues to be one of the Centre’s main priority. These cultural mediation activities have achieved very positive results since 2018, and further

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success is expected, both in fields already considered and in new ventures, such as extending the Centre’s activities towards educational establishments. Lastly, the Centre aims to consolidate itself as an institution that is fully engaged with the cultural development of Bolivia. It is not only an institution for raising cultural awareness; the CCSLP also encourages critical thinking, while remaining true to its essential understanding that culture should be an instrument for development, in line with the SDGs.

2. Co-working space: the nonstop reading of Don Quixote.

3. Work by Andrés Bedoya, one of the artists in the programme to support young artists.

4. Members of MUSIca ALcheMIca together with the San José de Chiquitos Orchestra in the 12th HispanoAmerican Baroque and Renaissance Music Festival, Misiones de Chiquitos, 2018.

A shared outlook

Elizabeth Torres

Director of the Simón I. Patiño Educational and Cultural Centre, Cochabamba

What is the role of culture in our society? Where are the public, and how do we view them in our cultural proposals? What is the impact of our cultural strategies? What are we achieving for the public with our management policies? Guided more by questions than by possible answers, the Simón I. Patiño educational and cultural centre in Cochabamba (CpcSIP) has collaborated and empathised with the CCSLP almost since its creation, jointly creating a space for ideas to bounce off each other. These two cultural centres are actors on the same stage, that of Bolivian culture, with a mutual concern for the artistic sector in general and for its audience in particular. On more than one occasion, these two agencies have joined forces to strengthen the links between culture and education. In the CCSLP, we have an associate, or rather a partner, in our projects and programmes, resolutely working as equals and addressing other cultural centres and society as a whole in Bolivia. This spirit of teamwork and cooperation has often brought us together to decide upon future actions and to reflect on our obligations in constructing the cultural occurrences of our country. For many of our own activities, the CCSLP has been the gateway to art, and its cultural management with other sectors of society has complemented our participation in joint programmes, for example in the support offered to contemporary Bolivian art with activities such as the ExpresArte art competition for young people. The spirit of understanding between our two centres has been bolstered with the invitations we have extended to Spanish authors, such as José Ovejero in 2014 and Antonio Orejudo in 2016 in the seventh and eight editions, respectively, of the Congress of Ibero-American Writers; other notable collaborations include our invitation to speak at the first and second editions of the Bolivian Cinema Seminar in 2017 and 2019; and the co-production of the Work in Progress documentary film, presented at the Second Latin-American Festival of Documentary Cinema (under the title A Cielo Abierto, Open Skies), in 2014, with the presence of the film’s director Marta Andrew. In the same year, we worked together to mainstream gender issues in the world of culture, a project that gave rise to the documentary Beatriz junto al pueblo, made by the CpcSIP about Beatriz Palacios, the cinema producer and member of the Umakau Group Foundation (this film was screened at the First CCSLP Season of Political Cinema Directed by Women). In 2018, we collaborated with the CCSLP in preparing the exhibition for the Ibero-American Design Biennial at the National Art Museum. Among a series of training programmes in the artistic and cultural sectors, the CpcSIP has benefited from the valuable observations and analyses made in the 2011 and 2012 Cultural Diagnosis sessions, from the 2017 meetings to celebrate the first five years of the CCSLP and from the workshop entitled “Cultural Mediation: stepping out of the audience and participating”, led by Javier Laporta in 2018. All of these activities were organised by the CCSLP, which kindly invited us to take part. Finally, in addition to working together in the above activities, our two organisations are united by the conviction that we cannot hope to raise the profile of culture if we are isolated from society and from each other. Culture cannot be transmitted if each of us lives and works in a world apart. In our view the CCSLP has always been a solid, open and plural institution that has enabled us to advance towards achieving a society that is free and outspoken, and based on solidarity.

The CCSLP, a cultural embassy

Mabel Franco

Cultural correspondent. Head of the Municipal Drama Space Unit, La Paz

The activities of an embassy often go unnoticed by the man in the street, perhaps because the responsibilities of a diplomatic mission are almost inevitably biased towards political, economic and military affairs. Cultural issues, even when the Embassy has a department with specific responsibilities in this area, may be viewed as simply decorative and not an essential factor bringing people together and fostering mutual understanding, and thus justifying the existence of an embassy. The fact that cultural concerns need to be addressed in an exceptional, specific way, to address human needs in terms of sensitivity and understanding, in the hope that at least some of the barriers may be brought down, is something that Spain seems to comprehend, and has demonstrated day by day in the work of the Cultural Centre of Spain in La Paz. The CCSLP, more than a space – which will always seem undersized if the work to be done is judged only by the physical dimensions available – is in fact a world-changing opportunity. An opportunity that arises because it represents a place and a time in which we can share and discuss our ideas, as an essential part of our quest to build a better society. Workshops, talks, seminars, exhibitions, concerts, the library. All of these elements are part of the big picture, as I see now, writing these lines, and I recall how many times I have walked through the doors of the house on Avenida Camacho, and met someone who is like-minded, or someone who thinks differently, persuading, provoking or affecting me. The seminar on cultural criticism by the journalist José Andrés Rojo, the exhibition of photographs by Isabel Muñoz on the train known as The Beast, running from Guatemala to Mexico, the drawings by the migrant Martín Elfman and his meeting with school students, the cartoons of the great Carlos Giménez, the meetings with the Bookseller of the Month, the talks on sexual diversity, the mugs of coffee... My mind whirls with these thoughts , flying from the CCSLP springboard. And I find these thoughts have left me concepts, images or attitudes that I often draw upon in my journalism, in my appreciation of a work of art or when I view myself in relation to others.

The imagination of a city

Juan Fabbri

Anthropologist, curator and artist

As artists, what would we do without imagination? As cultural managers and researchers, we commonly chase after ideas that lie deep in our dreams; wishes are no more than fantasies until they are given material shape as song, dance, writing or speech, or some other form of expression with which to share our ideas, feelings and thoughts, our subjective world. In this space between the intangible and the tangible, I believe the Cultural Centre of Spain in La Paz, in its short life, has created a powerful force, impacting on our dreams and bringing them to life, turning the city’s imagination into a reality for those who live here, incessantly in search of each other. To illustrate this, let me describe three projects that marked my experience with the CCSLP. In each case, I was directly involved and so I can give an insider’s view on the situation; although this may put my objectivity in doubt, I ask the reader to accept this testimony of someone who was there, albeit not part of the CCSLP team. The first project concerns Spanish artists, curators and intellectuals, who have brought us closer to contemporary Spanish thought, but in so doing, demystified it. Considerations of the historical reality between Spain and Bolivia, as a fundamental part of the colonial scene, of Spain as an agent of colonial power over these territories, might have been cause for rejecting the CCSLP. On the contrary, however, the Centre became a space for discussion and for the generation of new forms of seeing. In this sense, people like Rogelio López Cuenca, Julia Morandeira, Diego del Pozo and Juan Naranjo, among many others, have shown us that Spain’s historical role as a colonising force is being rethought from a contemporary perspective, and that there exists an evident intention to generate another type of relation between Spain and Latin America, at least as concerns the arts. This scenario was perhaps one of the most interesting proposals, one in which the institution became a space where we can reflect not only on the arts and on culture, but also on colonialism and neo-colonialism, catalysing the construction of another scenario and rethinking relations between our countries, studying and debating the colonial situation and collaborating in the construction of a new mindset, one less marked by machismo, sexism and racism. The second project is one I experienced at first hand, namely ExpresArte, the training programme (formerly a competition) for young Bolivian artists. I believe this programme provides resources, asks the proper questions and fosters the imagination, in a scenario of artistic education that is currently absent from the world of contemporary art. The ExpresArte programme empowers young artists who are dissident or dissatisfied with the traditional schools of art in La Paz. It enables these young creators to take their own path, to think in their own way and to start a professional career beyond the limitations and restrictions of the classical art that is taught in the schools of Fine Art. ExpresArte is a space where people with other creative orientations, wishing to experiment, investigate and make art in a different way, are encouraged to do so. For many people, ExpresArte is an initial experience that allows them to understand art as a space in which they can materialise their imagination in a professional manner. Hopefully, this facility will long continue to be offered. The third of these projects is one I took a personal interest in, to encourage local cultural management initiatives not only by ensuring they can take place, but also helping them broaden their scope. With this stimulus, the artistic imagination is rapidly transformed and made tangible. Such was the case of the CCSLP’s support for the international seminar “Emerging Utopias: dialogues within art, anthropology and curatorship”, which was held as part of the 10th Art Biennial SIART in 2018. This project, devised by

Spaces of belonging

Gabriela Zamorano and myself, later joined by Denisse Aguilar, brought together artists, cultural managers, anthropologists and others seeking to widen the debate in La Paz on the questions addressed. Clearly, this support for the project was based on an interinstitutional framework. Had it not been for the input of a large number of participants, many of whom travelled from the interior of the country or from abroad to be present, it would not have been feasible, and this large-scale representation, in turn, was made possible by the CCSLP. This space for interdisciplinary discussion was a novel occurrence in Bolivia and promoted the creation of new types of imagination and creation. To conclude this brief description of some of the initiatives taken by the CCSLP and of its conceptual perspective, I wish the Centre a long and fruitful existence and reiterate my support for the continuance of its projects, which greatly enrich local dynamics and cultural exchanges between two countries with a shared history.

Cergio Prudencio

President of the Cultural Foundation of

the Central Bank of Bolivia Since its creation, the Cultural Centre of Spain in La Paz has been a reference point for the culture sector. The CCSLP has made a notable contribution to the art world in Bolivia and to young Bolivians. As an institution officially representing the Kingdom of Spain, its work does not focus on promoting the culture of its own country, but on creating programmes, services, activities and exhibitions aimed at the development of local contemporary expression in a variety of artistic languages, enabling young people to find their own spaces of belonging and exchange. One result of these efforts is the consolidation of ExpresArte, providing young artists with a valuable platform. Furthermore, the CCSLP has always acted openly and positively in its relations with Bolivian institutions, both public and private, enabling it to become part of the cultural framework, especially in La Paz. The Centre’s premises in La Paz, in the heart of the Chuquiago Marka valley, is a factor of no less importance. Its spaces are perfectly suited for the performance of a range of artistic activities, as well as for providing services such as the library and film screenings, where the public are always warmly welcomed. We celebrate the existence of the CCSLP and wish it a long life.

PERÚ Cultural Centre of Spain in Lima

Address

Natalio Sánchez 181, Santa Beatriz, Cercado de Lima

Opened

1991

Web

http://www.ccelima.org/