The Councilor for Culture of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Enrique Arriaga, yesterday presented Ojeart: A look at five decades of culture in the Canary Islands, an internet page with which the Círculo de Bellas Artes de Tenerife wants to open a debate on contemporary Canarian culture. During the presentation of this web page coordinated by the Círculo de Bellas Artes, the vice president of this institution, José Valladares, pointed out that “Ojeart does not pretend to be the history of the Canary Islands”, something that would be a “very complex” project due to the trends and opinions about it.
It is about opening a debate on what the contemporary culture of the Canary Islands has been, explained José Valladares, who reiterated that it is the look of 31 specialists who give their particular look. The vice president of the Círculo de Bellas Artes de Tenerife has also stated that the idea is that this project will serve to create a critical vision and that each person draw up their lists, that there be debate.
Ojeart, a look at five decades of culture in the Canary Islands, is divided into the sections Literature, Plastic Arts, Cinema, Music, Performing Arts and Architecture, and it shows 350 works, said the Councilor for Culture of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Enrique Arriaga, who has added that each collaborator has chosen the ten works that he has considered most significant from 1970 to 2020.
On the other hand, Valladares has also commented that it is about continuing the work of the institution, closed since 2018 to carry out rehabilitation works, which is scheduled to begin in a few weeks and finish in a year.
The general secretary of the Círculo de Bellas Artes, Pablo Martín, who has been the coordinator of the project, has insisted that it is the gaze of each one of the 31 collaborators of this project, so that in “no” case is it intended establish a canon of art and culture in the Canary Islands.
He has also highlighted that, from now on, this website is open to the public so that anyone who wants to can contribute their opinion, and has pointed out that, although “every list is exclusive”, it is a procedure that works very well on the internet. To this, Pablo Martín has added that it is a way of animating the debate once each collaborator has made a selection of ten works and explains in an article the reasons for that choice.
