The Historical Heritage Area of the La Laguna City Council is working on the creation and installation of two sculptures, one in the Salud Alto-El Rocío area and the other in Punta del Hidalgo, with which they want to “recover and dignify the memory of the guanche population” that populated both areas, while “transmitting to present and future generations respect for our past” in a visual and artistic way, as explained by the councilor responsible for the Area, Elvira Jorge.
In addition, with these two new works it will also be possible to “increase the artistic heritage of the municipality and the number of sculptures related to women, because there are very few,” he points out, since the one that wants to be installed in the Salud Alto-El Rocío area It will represent a Guanche woman carrying her son in her arms.
“It will be an imposing sculpture that will remind us that the Guanches inhabited and buried honoring their dead in the Santos ravine,” says the councilor. “We must also remember that, in the words of the archaeologist Candelaria Adrián, from MUNA, the Santos ravine had also been a foundational population nucleus, what happens is that it has never been valued,” she highlights.
And it is that in said ravine, at the height of the El Rocío neighborhood, “is the archaeological site that Cuscoy discovered” and where at the time the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage of the Government of the Canary Islands carried out vertical surveys in five caves “and in all pre-Hispanic aboriginal human skeletal remains were found,” he says.
“And there we have a large peri-urban park, that of El Rocío, where the sculpture will be very good, since it seems to us an interesting place to point out that there was an aboriginal population living in that enclave, and, in addition, it closes at night and avoids the vandalism”, explains Elvira Jorge.
The work is being carried out by the sculptor Francisco Hernández and it will be in polyester resin with a bronze effect patina, it measures a little over two meters although its final height will be three meters because “it will have a pyramid at the base to also wink at the pintaderas”. The forecast is for the sculptor to deliver the work in February, with which it could be installed between next month and March, and the councilor points out that the project has been very well received by the neighborhood associations of Salud Alto-El Rocío.
Zebenzui
The second sculpture will honor the achimencey Zebenzui and will be located in Punta del Hidalgo, where in the past there was another in his honor, since the coastal town owes its name to this achimencey, who owned the Punta del Hidalgo manor. However, in the 1970s, it was vandalized and ended up disappearing.
The councilor explains that the idea arose from a conversation with a historian about the importance of restoring this sculpture, for which the mayor contacted the Aguacada Neighborhood Association, from La Punta, which in turn transferred it to other the area, to assess the proposal; as well as with the Zebenzui Pro Guanche Platform, which years ago tried to recover it.
Finally, the restitution of this sculpture was agreed due to the historical importance of the character for this coastal nucleus, as well as that the sculptor was a local artist, selecting Ibrahim Hernández, at the request of the associations themselves, “a neighbor of the same area, who that contributes to the promotion and publicity of local artists”, points out the mayor.
The sculpture will be around 1.70 meters high, with a raised pedestal, and will be made of polyester resin with a bronze-effect patina. The forecast is that it will be finished in April and its exact location is still being studied, one of those suggested being the Plaza de la Iglesia de La Punta, where the work could have visibility, as well as greater security. “A central space is sought, where residents and visitors can learn part of the history of this nucleus,” says Jorge.
