Plan would create a Peru-Cuenca ‘air corridor’: Mega-project will combine health care and condos; Youth park work underway; Cuenca legends come alive

Bored? –
(De El Mercurio del martes, 23/6) – “La figura compleja del Rey” en la Sala Proceso (“The Complex Figure of the King” at the Sala Proceso) – The exhibit, “La figura compleja del Rey” opened el martes in the Sala Proceso (Luis Cordero 7-22, 3d floor) and will run until el 17/7. Hours are lunes a viernes from 10:00 to 13:00 and 15:00 to 18:00. <Time for everyone to enjoy a leisurely lunch instead of scarfing down a sandwich at your desk to increase your billable hours.> The show initiates a dialogue between contemporary artistic practices and the study of the human mind, based on a collaboration between Spanish artist Marina Vargas, researcher and director of the Instituto de Neurociencias Johanna Pozo, and the curator Katya Cazar.

Two exhibitions in Cuenca’s El Vado district are designed to keep Cuenca’s oral legends alive. The legends are recreated using artificial intelligence and photovoice technology. (El Mercurio)

(De El Mercurio del martes, 23/6) Casa de la Cultura convoca a integrarse como miembros (The Casa de la Cultura invites you to become a member) – The CCE opened a call directed to artists and cultural managers interested in becoming one of the 9 members of the institution. The application process will be open until el 22/7. The applicants need to complete a form on the CCE website and attach the requested documents including a resume. <I know there are a lot of artists out there, and some of you might be sufficiently fluent in Spanish to be on this board.>

(De El Mercurio del miércoles, 24/6) Museos municipales abren sus colonias vacacionales (Municipal museums open their summer camps) – <This is for those of you with kids who are bored and driving you crazy since they’re not in school and need to be entertained.> The municipal museums will start their summer camp programs for children aged 6-12 years in julio. Spaces are limited and registration procedures are defined by each museum. Registration for the Museo Municipal de Arte Modeno (MMAM) will be el miércoles, 1/7 from 9:00 to 16:45 at their site on Mariscal Sucre y Coronel Tálbot. The Plastic Arts camp will be from the 6-31/7 with activities such as drawing, painting, ceramics, and mixed techniques. There are 60 spaces with different hours for different aged kids with 30 kids in each group. The only requirement is to bring a black and white copy of the kid’s cédula.

The Museo Municipal de la Paja Toquilla y el Sombrero has their “Verano vacacional para niños” aged 7-12. This camp will be from el 13-24/7 and el 27/7 to el 7/8 from 10:00-12:00 at their location on Rafael María Arízaga y Luis Cordero. The program includes workshops, games and crafts. Call Doris Serrano at 098 974 9612 to register. <Or if you don’t speak Spanish, have your kid call.> Spaces are limited.

(De El Mercurio del jueves, 25/6) AGENDA
26/6 -14:00 – Taller de manualidades: El Reloj (Craft Workshop: The Clock) – Biblioteca Municipal de Octavio Cordero <So if you were that kid who took your grandma’s clock apart, maybe this will show you how to put it back together again so it chimes on the hour instead of on the 12 minute mark.>
– 15:00 – Lecturas que curan (Healing Reads) – SOLCA – Av. del Paraíso y Agustín Landivar.
– 18:00 – Masterclass Guitarra y Blues – Casa Patrimonial Municipal del Artista.
27/6 – Festival Cielo Abierto Junio Hop (Open Air June Hop Festival) –
10:30 – Entrepreneurship Feria
12:15 – Ancestral Inti Raymi ceremony
14:00 – Cuenca Folk Dance
14:45 – Call for Entries: Graffiti Art at Plaza Tomada
15:00 – Freestyle Battle Heroes of the Mic.
16:45 – Breakdance Battles Battle of the City
19:30 – Alli Yuyaywan
<And to answer your question – I did not see any location for this event.>
– 10:00 – Sábados en Familia: Let’s Make Corpus Sweets – Museo de las Conceptas.
– 19:00 – Rutas de Fantasmas (Ghost tours) – Museo de las Conceptas.

(De El Mercurio del jueves, 25/6) El Vado revive leyendas (El Vado Brings Legends Back to Life) – Two exhibits at the Casa de los Arcos and both running until el 15/7, address stories transmitted orally from El Vado such as the Widow from the Lighthouse, the Priest without a Head, and Pietre’s Skull. The show, “Cuenca Oculta: Leyendas y Relatos Visuales del Imaginario Popular” (Hidden Cuenca: Legends and Visual Narratives of the Popular Imagination) which recover those stories which were compiled through ethnographic interviews done in the sector and reinterpreted through comics and illustrations using AI. The proposal sought to bring the narratives and memories into visual form to speak to new generations. Manuel Villavicencio, director of Culture at the U. of Cuenca, said the show responds to the need to recover stories that are part of the Cuencanan oral tradition but are little by little disappearing from collective memory. <It would be ironic if gringos who are interested in these oral traditions wound up being the repositories of these stories and memories.>

The other exhibit, “31 voces del Vado: Memoria, arte e identidad” (31 Voices from El Vado: Memory, Art, and Identity) is a study conducted using the Photovoice methodology. Through images and testimonies, the show depicts the social-economic situation of the craftspeople in the sector and raises questions about the futures of this traditional knowledge. According to the study, 70% of the craftspeople are between 50 & 60 years old with no one to pass their knowledge to. This threatens the continuation of practices linked to the neighborhood’s intangible cultural heritage. Sofía Cardoso, the culteral manager of the Casas Vivas project said that the research shows the gradual loss of knowledge passed from generation to generation. El Vado has an index of intangible cultural heritage of 256 which is one of the highest in Cuenca. For that reason, the University, through its research, wanted to open a discussion about the conditions that confront the craftspeople and the future of their knowledge.

Curious? –
(De El Mercurio del martes, 23/6) Un ambicioso corredor aéreo: Ecuador y Perú (An ambitious air corredor: Ecuador and Perú) – The objective of the Peruvian General Directorate of Civil Aviation is to connect northern Peru with southern Ecuador. The two countries signed a memorandum for open skies which means fewer restrictions for airline operations. This step is considered important and comes from an interest in connecting smaller cities and regions such as Cuenca, which is one of the most touristic cities in Ecuador with Chiclayo, which is a strategic, regional, and border city. There is another reason for this connection — the November visit from Pope Leo to Chiclayo, where the Pope served as a priest before he was named Pope. For Perú this visit is a good opportunity to launch the route since it would allow Cuencanos to see the Pope when he visits. Another medium range objective is to connect the Galápagos to Cuzco through Cuenca. Since Cuenca already connects to the Galápagos, a Cuenca-Chiclayo-Cuzco connection could bring thousands of tourists to those two attractions.

(De El Mercurio del miércoles, 24/6) Un parque para los jóvenes (A park for the youth) – The new Parque de los Jóvenes in the south of the city is taking form. The work started 2 months ago and the park will include an agora of 500 sq. meters with a capacity for 3,000 people; sports courts, one multi-use and the other with artificial turf; areas for calisthenics, crossfit, skating, yoga and climbing; walkways; and a pedestrian bridge over the Yanuncay which will connect to the Parque del Ferrocarril. The $2.8 million, 3-hectare park is located on the banks of the Yanuncay in the stretch between av. 27 de Febrero & 10 de Agosto between the Gapal and UDA (U. of Azuay) bridges.

(De El Mercurio del jueves, 25/6) Arranca megaproyecto de salud <Mega-healthcare project gets underway) – With the construction of the Santa Inés Cuatro Ríos by the Grupo Santa Inés and the Grupo Vintimilla, the hospital ecosystem in Cuenca will become the largest in the south of Ecuador. The project is at the intersection of av. del Tejar and Pelileo. The developers said the project will incorporate the latest hospital infrastructure, cutting edge technology, and an ample offering of specialized services. The complex was designed to integrate health services, housing, wellbeing, and supplementary benefits in the same space, creating a setting designed for patients, professionals and families with greater comfort and access to specialized attention. <Can you tell the paper probably just published the press release from the developers?>
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Information in this column, including dates, times and locations, is courtesy of the El Mercurio newspaper. Comments between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), are the personal opinions of the author and not part of the news translation.