Cuenca Orchestra opens its second season; Andean pottery exhibition at Pumapungo Museum; Cuenca displays ‘knotted gun’ sculpture; Weekend agenda

Agenda:
5 de septiembre:
19:00 – Concierto Solidario for the JuanFran SOS Cáncer Project with invited performers Pablo Noboa (voice of “La Pandilla”), “Yo me llamo Paola Jara,” Rock Sur, Fercho Bravo & Emilio Villavicencio – upper level, $20, lower level, $25. <But nothing about where it will be. Just someplace with 2 levels of seating.>
20:30 – Concierto de Juan Fernando Velasco who will sing duets with Julio Jaramillo <Who’s been dead for 47 years> thanks to AI and holographic technology – Coliseo Jefferson Pérez – $25, $40, & $60.

6 de septiembre:
10:00 – Expoferia de Antiguedades El Vado – Casa Patrimonial de la Lira.
10:00 – Taller para elaborar cometas (kite making workshop) – Museo de las Conceptas.
19:00 Ruta de Fantasmas (ghost tour) – Museo de las Conceptas.

Cuenca is the first city to display the “knotted gun” sculpture, the Non-Violence Project Foundation’s emblem of peace and non-violence. It was in Parque Calderon Thursday but will move to other city parks in the coming days.

Concierto por los 55 años de la U. Católica – The Orquesta Sinfónica de Cuenca will open its 2nd season of 2025 with a special concert honoring the 55th anniversary of the Universidad Católica de Cuenca el 5/9 a las 19:30 in the Basílica de la SantísimaTrinidad (Av. de las Américas y Humbolt) conducted by Patricio Mora with the participation of violin soloist Jhomayra Cevallos. The program includes the Obertura Coriolano by Beethovan; the Concierto #3 for violin and orchestra by Mozart; the premier of the pasillo ‘Pasillando’ interpreted by Jhomayra Cevallos; Symphony #1 by Beethoven; and ´Poema indiano,’ Ecuadorian music by Ignacio Canelos.

Nuestros saberes alfareros (potters) – The exhibit, “Saberes alfareros andinos: sur de Ecuador y norte de Perú” will be in the Museo Pumapungo for a year. The show is a tour of techniques, objects, and testimonies that reflect the validity of a craft passed down through generations. The research was curated by an international team from Perú and France, and is part of a British Museum program, Patrimonio de Conocimiento Material en Peligro (Intangible Cultural Heritage in Danger). That program seeks to make visible, research, and preserve traditional practices that are in danger of disappearing due to industrialization, climate changes, and urbanization. The goal is to create worldwide data base available to all to conserve an audiovisual and written memory of patrimonial techniques currently at risk.

Libro recoge experiencias en torno a fomación dual – Cuenca has become a national reference for the dual education/training model in which classroom teaching and practice in businesses is combined. Juan Francisco Cordero, rector of the Instituto Superior Tecnológico Wissen, presented his book, “El modelo dual: eje dinamizador entre la academia y la empresa” (The dual model: a driving force between academia and business). The book is divided into 2 parts with the first reviewing best practices and challenges for the academic sphere with cases from the U. de Cuenca, UPS, UDA, and the Azuay and Wissen technological institutes. The second is about the experience of the business sector and the role of the Cámara de Industrias and Comercio Ecuatoriano-Alemana and the contribution of financial entities that have welcomed students in this modality. Currently in Azuay, there are 20 carreras (majors – your word for the day) under this system. Statistics show that 85% of the students in dual modality receive job offers when they graduate. The book launch will be el 18/9.

“Revólver Anudado”, una distinción por seguridad (“Knotted Revolver,” a distinction for safety) – <This is also a demonstration of how important the tilde (the accent mark) is in español>. Revolver without the means to stir or scramble, as in huevos revueltos <scrambled eggs for those of you who just got off a plane and have not had a chance to order a breakfast yet>. With the tilde, it’s a gun, a revolver.> Cuenca is the first city in South America to host “The Knotted Gun” sculpture, recognized in the world as an emblem of peace and non-violence. The presentation of a scale model of the sculpture from the Non-Violence Project Foundation was in Parque Calderón yesterday. The location for the actual sculpture is being discussed with the parque La Paz or La Libertad under consideration. Citizens are invited to submit proposals for the location so that the selection process is participatory and representative of the community.

Presentan el campus de la UTE en Cuenca – The official presentation of the new Universidad UTE campus in Cuenca was Thursday morning in the Challuabamba sector. The 45-year-old university said it opened a new campus to respond to their conviction to increase access to higher education for youth from different zones of the country.
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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.