It was in 1991 when professors from IES Villalba Hervás and Rafael Arozarena, both located in La Orotava, decided to hold a seminar on the history of science. The success of subsequent editions led to an idea that was gradually gestated and that was consolidated eight years later with the creation of the Canarian Foundation for the History of Science (Fundoro), an institution dedicated to the promotion of studies, didactics and dissemination of the History of Science, especially in those aspects related to the Canary Islands. Its headquarters are located at number 17 on the central street El Calvario and its activity has not stopped growing in recent years. Those in charge have the consolidation of important projects ahead of them, says its director, Miguel Ángel González Expósito. “We are determined that our work reaches as many people as possible and that is why we organize workshops, exhibitions, seminars, congresses, symposia, that is, we diversify as much as we can because we are clear that we have to expand,” he says.
– Do you think that the institution reaches society or is it still considered by some as a bit elitist?
“That is what we try. Lately we have verified that we have reached where we did not before, because there was this conception that the foundation was somewhat elitist, that it was only designed for intellectuals. We have tried to fight against that idea and that feeling because it is not true, science is everyone’s heritage and our challenge is to reach broad sectors of the population. And modestly, I think that in recent years steps have been taken in that direction. Now people come and call us who did not do it before, and activities arise from other places, such as town halls, which take us into account for their cultural weeks, or neighborhood associations, who request an exhibition from us. That did not happen before. In other words, we do not neglect our origins but we are convinced that our work has to spread, because the History of Science is a discipline that, even to people who are not academically trained, may be familiar. An example is the travelers of the 18th and 19th centuries, who came to the Canary Islands. There are people who have always heard in their family about the companions of the Teide expeditionaries and when they see an exhibition and you talk to them about this topic, there is always someone in their family who heard something about it ”.
-Why did it take so long to reach this goal?
“Because it is difficult. In all the institutions there is a period of consolidation and Fundoro has cost a lot because it is an entity that depends on public institutions and convinces them that the investment they make here is profitable from the point of view of the benefit that citizens will obtain. complicated”.
-I understand that when you talk about History of Science you are referring to science in general, not to a specific discipline …
“The virtue of the History of Science is that it is an interdisciplinary subject. Our activities are attended by a diverse audience, from linguists, philosophers and historians, to chemists, mathematicians and biologists, to name a few examples. In other words, there is no specialization because precisely what the History of Science does is fight against that, against the barriers that separate or specialize people who are in the world of ideas. That is why our message is that the History of Science must serve as a link between different subjects, but also between different sectors. In this sense, we have seen with pleasure that the Foundation has become a meeting point between secondary school and university teachers, and that is difficult to find in other areas, because they work separately. However, through projects that we develop here, such as the Canarias otra Mirada exhibition, which was exhibited in Madrid until October 28, we have the collaboration of both ”.
– The model of the water mills that is exhibited at the entrance of the Foundation’s headquarters, which brings the living history of the Villa closer to the citizen, has to do with that adaptation of the discourse that the institution seeks?
“Indeed, because it is a scene that is familiar. People pass by the headquarters who do not know what the Foundation is, but they stop and enter to see the model. They are neighbors of the town and they know what there is. That was one of the objectives, to make various acts affordable. Everything is to find out about the things we organize, because sometimes you believe that they are activities that are not interesting but you believe it because you do not know them. Be careful, I am not saying that everything we do will captivate everyone, but there may be something that without knowing it may be of interest and our obligation is to spread it so that it is available to all citizens ”.
-Where does Fundoro get the resources to organize the activities?
“We are an entity of public interest but we operate through a board of trustees that governs us and that is made up of four institutions: La Orotava City Council, Tenerife Council, University of La Laguna and Government of the Canary Islands. way they control us. In other words, we take the activities that we propose to the board of trustees to see if they are approved or not, since the resources with which we carry out the projects come from these institutions. The headquarters, for example, is owned by the La Orotava City Council, which last year gave us the ground floor and that allowed us to expand a little more. Now we are preparing there a museum collection that has to do with the travelers who visited us in the 18th and 19th centuries. And it will coexist with the model of the mills because we want to use it as a ‘hook’ for people who are walking through La Orotava to see the exhibition. The latter aims, in a series of rooms, to immerse the people who visit us in the economic and social context in which the travelers found themselves when they arrived in the Canary Islands. There will be marine charts of the time, old objects and panels. In November the first room will be inaugurated, which is a recreation of the interior of a cabin of a 17th century galleon and there we will represent the cartography and navigation room. Later, we will add other modules that will show what volcanology and geology were like when those travelers arrived, botany and zoology, landscape and society. It is about giving a general idea of what travelers found when they visited us. And precisely, the objective that led us to bring the exhibition Canarias otro gaze to Madrid, was to reinforce a little how canaries see us from the outside, that here there is not only sun and beach but also culture and part of it has to do with what the travelers of that time did ”.
-Is science done in the Canary Islands?
“Not what we would like, but it is done. There are sectors, working groups, that are doing very interesting things, but we only remember science when we have a very complicated problem on top. Now, with the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone is turning to science to overcome this and the same is happening with the Cumbre Vieja volcano. There is ignorance in many areas, in geology, for example. Among other reasons, because in secondary schools the teaching of this subject has been completely relegated. Thus, we realize that the population ignores, for example, many aspects of the volcanic mechanism even though we live on volcanoes. It is thought that by general culture it is necessary to know, for example, who wrote Don Quixote, but not who Newton or Einstein were, who did such fundamental things as the music of Beethoven. This is due to the lack of generation that science is part of the general culture and that scientists did not have to communicate their work. They not only have to do it, but also do it well, even if the subject is complicated. How can the population be expected to intervene in a debate on the use of stem cells if it does not know what a cell is? That is why our objective is to convey that science is not something closed, watertight, but has connections and is available to everyone. They keep calling us, so the message gets through ”.
-Are initiatives such as the Science Fair necessary to reach society?
“They are absolutely fundamental because they involve the population and when you give an offer, there are more possibilities to access it and get to know it. The City Council of La Orotava has been promoting cultural activities for a long time that involve people in the belief that it is also possible to be happy promoting culture, because it gives the feeling that this is relegated to leisure time, watching television or matches football and it’s true. But we also defend and are convinced that pleasant situations and some pleasure can be reached through cultural events ”.
-Does the Foundation have any challenges for the future?
“Keep reaching out to all of society, because we don’t conform. Although we believe that important steps have been taken in this direction, there are still people who do not know us. Our idea is not that they know us in the Canary Islands, in our closest context, but in all of them. As director, I would like to end my career in office with the finished museum collection because I believe it will give more opportunity for the Foundation to be better known and more people to come and discover us. It is an exciting project because there is no museum in the Canary Islands specifically dedicated to travelers and scientific expeditions and it is a topic that Fundoro has been working on for more than 20 years, connected with very prestigious institutes in other countries, such as the Max Planck Institute. from Germany. It is complicated and difficult and there is a lot of work to be done ”.
-And is there a date to have all the rooms ready?
“My idea is that in the year 2024 the collection is finished. The first room is practically ready waiting to finish the decoration, but there are still four others: the one for volcanology and geology, geology and botany, landscape and nature, and climatology and health, because at that time the Canary Islands began to be considered a destination. ideal for people suffering from certain diseases. There are already people working in each of the spaces. We are doing well for now and I think we will succeed. The idea is to find the resources to put staff and that the room is permanently open ”.
