Beatriz Morales, president of the Athenaeum of Las PalmasBeatriz Morales, president of the Athenaeum of Las PalmasShe is 27 years old and is executive president of the first Ateneo de Las Palmas, founded this past June 27.Philologist, poet and teacher, PhD student in Linguistic and Literary Studies in their Sociocultural Contexts at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Beatriz Morales assures that her main ambition is to consolidate the Ateneo as a space close to the neighbourhoods, away from the concept of intellectual elite;attached to intergenerational projects, authentically linked to educational spaces;and, in addition, to make it grow as an "itinerant" capable of holding in its arms the creative force of Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, La Graciosa and Gran Canaria.Because the new Ateneo de Las Palmas has, above all, a provincial vocation, she assures its president.-A very young team founding an Ateneo and managing to fulfill one of the historic cultural dreams of Las Palmas.How is it achieved?-The first, from the dialogue between the different profiles.There is the pleasant casuistry and coincidence that many of us are of the same age (in our twenties, in our thirties): we live the same study plan, the same academic and professional reality, and that was key in the beginning.We are a group of young people who have been meeting and who have been giving it structure, starting with solid, firm statutes, and later we coincide, for example, in giving the Athenaeum a visibility adapted to the 21st century, with an easy-to-use website. reading for all audiences: fresh for young people, but accessible for adults.But, in addition, this group of young people had the support, from minute one, of other profiles that helped from their seniority and experience.Without her, the project would not have been possible.Experts from the cultural field, such as Daniel Montesdeoca, director of the Néstor Museum, José Ignacio Aguiar González, conservator of the Castillo de Mata, or Dania Dévora, producer, manager and promoter of Womad, told us yes, met with us and guided us .They told us: "This will and this illusion is vital, now we are going to put our feet on the ground, to establish a structure, to provide a legal framework."There has been an intergenerational dialogue between the solid experience and the initial and passionate vocation of the youth, added to the perseverance, to the daily work."The goal is to move and that the activity is not reduced to a single space"-Both in the founding act and in different statements to the media, it has stressed the importance of moving away from the elitist concept of athenaeums and also not centralizing the Athenaeum in the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, but building it with decentralized vocation, that is: an Athenaeum for all of Gran Canaria, but also for Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and La Graciosa.How is this vision transformed from an institution with so many connotations?-Of course, we know that the athenaeums, with the great strength they have had since the 19th and 20th centuries, have a certain image in the social and cultural sphere;in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria there was, in fact, a proto-Ateneo that was the Literary Cabinet.But the foundation of this Association of the Scientific and Cultural Athenaeum of Las Palmas intends to break with that elitist vision in two ways.One is to approach the different municipalities of the four islands, that provincial vocation that must be a reality;The second is to promote closeness to educational centers and the young public from the beginning.From the first moment we are going to link everything to a young audience;This does not mean that it is the only thing that takes place, logically there will be activities for the general public, but we do not want to forget adolescents, university students or vocational training students.We believe that this barrier must be broken and at no time relegating educational centers or youth to cultural life.-What does this idea of ​​creating an itinerant athenaeum between islands consist of, broadly speaking?-The objective is to move around all the municipalities and islands, without the activity being reduced to a single space, that is to say: to understand ourselves as a 'movable space'.We want to consolidate an athenaeum with the intention of giving it the character of approaching the neighborhoods and the different municipalities, also in Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and La Graciosa.The Athenaeum is going to move around the four islands because we start from breaking with that unique space, breaking even with a historical space: we want history to be made by its own people, that is why this athenaeum moves.Founding the athenaeum and deciding that it has an itinerant character between the four islands already implies breaking with that elitist historical vision, closed to the city.That is why I point out that we founded an Ateneo as an itinerant and provincial space: it will be from Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, La Graciosa and Gran Canaria.Yes, we are going to have some support spaces (such as the ULPGC, Schamann's creative spaces or the State Public Library), but we believe that it is much more beneficial for the Athenaeum to be where the people are, that is why we propose this idea of ​​an itinerant space , that is: not having a single physical space."There has been a dialogue between solid experience and youthful vocation"-An ambitious goal, what will be the first steps, in this line, during this year?-In addition to some activities that we will begin to announce in the coming months, such as setting up a Debate and Ideas Society, and that there is also a debate society for young people from the four islands, not only in Gran Canaria, or some activities that already started as The Treasure Hunt, from the Psychology and Philosophy section, or Design the Ateneo de Las Palmas with its own perspective, from the Citizen Participation section, among others, the first action is the active search for partners: give us know values, purposes and those responsible for sections.We start from a zero fee, that is: we do not require an economic fee to join.Secondly, we want to make contact and make ourselves known among the different institutional spheres, so very soon we will tour Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Madrid, to explain what this Ateneo is and what it does.And, finally, apart from boosting our website and social networks, we have scheduled activities from five sections for the last quarter of the year: education, psychology and philosophy, literature, citizen participation, and science and health.-He has indicated that, for the time being, no financial fee will be required to join the Athenaeum.I understand that the financing channels will be, in this first year, a decisive factor as well.-Effectively.We start from the fact that we want to bring the Ateneo closer to all citizens and that they not only participate, but also form part of it as a member.We understand that, more in these times, the first thing is a zero fee and an accessible registration on the web: anyone from La Oliva, anyone from San Bartolomé in Lanzarote, anyone from Caleta de Sebo, from Moya. .. From your home, with all the ease, you can become a member with zero fee.Obviously, this implies that we have the challenge of finding institutional support and public and private companies that finance, but, yes, I want to clarify that financing will always be in favor of culture.We are not looking for funding for ourselves, we already have our professions.The budget must serve only for culture and never in the sense of generating a salary for those of us who are part of the project, in their different positions.It is not the intention, nor will it be."The foundation of this association aims to break with the elitist vision"-What is the great ambition, in the long term, that you dream of seeing fulfilled?10 years ahead, for example?-I would like that, in 10 years' time -and I already know that it is very ambitious- the Ateneo settles down, that it be a project that every young person, adult or elderly person knows that it exists and not only that it exists, but that it is plausible to do things in it;that it maintain its itinerant character, that it not remain fenced off, but quite the opposite: that it remain alive, open, that the provincial sphere is truly real.I would love to make the Ateneo de Las Palmas really belong to the four islands.And, finally, that links be generated with long-standing athenaeums such as the Ateneo de La Laguna, Madrid or Seville, that a time comes when the Ateneo has a national vision and we are known not because we exist, but because we do .Let it be clear that in the Canary Islands there is much that is being done and that is yet to be done.© SIROCO INFORMATION SL |Tel. 828 081 655 - 606 845 886 |info[@]diariodefuerteventura.esDiariodeCanarias.es |DiariodeLanzarote.com |DiariodeFuerteventura.comAdvertising |Legal notice |Cookies policyDeveloped in Drupal by Suomitech