The Valle de Guerra Pueblo Unidos Association will be showcasing their first of 14 documentaries on April 4th, at 6:00 p.m. at the Museum of History and Anthropology located at the Casa de Carta headquarters. The presentation aims to shed light on and safeguard the history, traditions, and heritage of this La Laguna town. This initiative is part of a project to promote cultural heritage supported by the Historical Heritage division of the La Laguna City Council, open to the public until full capacity is reached.
These documentaries, approximately 15 minutes each, explore various themes spanning from the time of the conquest to the first half of the 20th century. They are based on interviews with local elders sharing their memories and experiences, supplemented by historical research. Isabel Valencia Hernández, the project coordinator at the Valle de Guerra Pueblo Unidos Association, mentions, “Since 2014-2015, we started conducting interviews for a magazine we published, El Calabazo, but without recording them.” It wasn’t until 2017 when they realized the importance of recording these stories to preserve Valle de Guerra’s history. This realisation led to the idea of producing documentaries and books, culminating in a project that commenced in July last year with the video editing process. Originally planning to release 6 to 8 documentaries, they ended up with 14 due to the abundance of shared memories from the town’s residents.
The association, along with financial support from the Lagunero City Council, has undertaken this work with the assistance of volunteers, including both associates and professionals who contributed to the documentary production voluntarily.
The screening series at the Casa de Carta will kick off with the documentary titled “The Guanche Settlement in Valle de Guerra and the Era of Conquest: Land Distribution and Settlers’ Lifestyles”. This documentary will feature archaeologist Candelaria Rosario Adrián at the Calabazo cave, followed by a discussion involving some of the interviewees.
Key Topics
The upcoming documentaries will be screened once or twice a month at the Casa de Carta and will cover various subjects such as Valle de Guerra’s geography, agricultural practices, water management, historical overview from the conquest period to the mid-20th century, and traditional forms of entertainment passed down through generations, among others.
Isabel explains, “The material goes back to the 1950s, but the Casa de Carta was so impressed that there are discussions about collaborating with the Museum to continue further projects focusing on research and heritage dissemination from the 1950s to the present, including additional interviews.”
Moreover, this initiative extends beyond the 14 documentaries to include the development of a mobile application set to launch on April 14th. The app will serve as a self-guided tour of the traditional estates in Valle de Guerra, providing users with information and imagery through their smartphones. Isabel mentions, “We aim to create a mobile app that you can use starting from the church; it will guide you to various locations with images and even aerial views of the estates.” This project is being handled by a specialised company, which will also revamp the association’s website to host all the forthcoming documentaries.
