CAMAGÜEY.- April its flowers opened ... This poem by Nicolás Guillén can also contain the state of grace and the enervations of young people who, despite the pandemic, persist on social networks with the hashtag #keepinspired, and shine with the balsam of his work the beautiful idea of life. All because #elartesalva(#the art save).
Lady April 3rd marked one year of the Youth for Life megaconcert, one of the first incentives to the spirituality of a people, then terrified by COVID-19. Camagüey was one of the first provinces linked to the so-called Streaming Cuba. Thus, the Ministry of Culture entered fully with different emissions from the digital ecosystem.
From that April 3, I remember the improvised set in the Mira gallery, on the second floor of the building where the Casa del Joven Creatador de Camagüey is located. A handful of enthusiasts secured the basics for online streaming. On the screen we only saw the writer Evelin Queipo and the troubadour Harold Díaz, representing the affiliate of the Hermanos Saíz Association (AHS).
It was a nice afternoon. The day before it had rained as a result of a cold front that we prefer to interpret with the words of our grandmothers, when they related downpours with good omens.
Speaking in good Cuban, that live pass was a stick. The image was not sharp, nor was the video fluid. Much to blame was the poor connectivity of 3G, although we do not rule out the inexperience of those who, as is also said, took the step forward. The above was learned later, by learning on the fly. The inexperienced dreamed of higher goals and developed El Almacén de la Imagen in October as a transmedia event, which has not been surpassed.
Creation and promotion alternatives began to proliferate. Evelin Queipo herself, in her attempt to make confinement "delicious" for us, began to publish tenths with recipes for confectionery. On her Facebook profile we can find next to the verses the images of the process and the final product. From there she delighted us even with the occurrence of a sweet named Romerías de mango, for the days of the Romerías de Mayo festival.
Recordings made with cell phones also appeared with greater force, and institutions began to trust teams of young filmmakers to make the leap in quality. Thanks to the true alliance, the Provincial Center for Books and Literature prioritized recent authors in promotional videos when the quarantine was hardest. Then it put members of the Visual Arts section in the foreground as they painted pictures that today set the scene for bookstores. The third wave of capsules that it supported was for dancers and actors from the Performing Arts section. Likewise, the subsidiary targeted people with close ties to the organization.
Another objective has been to remain linked to good practices to transform the problem of the pandemic. That endorsed applause of national stature such as the Neighborhood Award for the sociocultural project Golpe a Golpe, deserving of the status of the Shield and Sword of the Nation, conferred by the National Union of Cultural Workers also to the labor collective of the House of the Young Creator . Representatives of the CTC and the UJC in the territory presented the recognition For the paths of Agramonte and the Youth for Life distinction.
Lecner Zúñiga “Da Zee” and Abel Betancourt “El Sensei” make up the duo Killas Club. They resized the Trackean Rap Festival2 that from March 19 to 22 promoted a spectacular hip hop party with participants from Cuba, Mexico, Chile and Colombia.
The talent of being unconditional explains the yes to how much call for help has come from the political and governmental authorities. Brigades from Golpe a Golpe, the main bridge from the AHS to the community, spent weeks with the elderly Manuel Ramón Silva y Zayas; then they took their artistic show to other social assistance centers. In the midst of the intense regrowth of 2021, members of that star project fulfilled a mission in the Red Zone enlisted in the Luis Casas Romero Vocational School of Art.
Given the impossibility of face-to-face activities due to the situation of autochthonous transmission of COVID-19 in the city of Camagüey, the life of the House of the Young Creator has been transmuted to social networks. From the affiliate's profile on Facebook, we can follow the clubs, the news of the associates' awards, the events, the calls for scholarships and awards, and the movement of an active organization. One of the keys to increasing the number of followers is the quality of the content, because it is not enough to have something to say, it must be done in the most attractive way possible.
The subsidiary has been shaping its strategy with productions of high audiovisual bill, with greater care in the institutional image and of its associates, and the conformation of a cultural offer in the virtual stage and even to play the national television grid. The success of the Visual Arts Gesture Room (January), the Beat 32 electronic music day (February) and the Trackean2 rap festival (March) reaffirmed the importance of a forward-thinking sense in the organization of events.
Being a member of the AHS is a condition that is demonstrated in the most diverse settings. In the foreground we see Kenny Ortigas, theater instructor, recently appointed president of the Provincial Council of the Performing Arts. He participates critically and ethically in the most controversial debates.
The AHS in Camagüey is full of projects: it has almost ready its redesigned website with better services for interactivity; participate in the communication campaign You have the word; and he is already preparing the materials for the Romerías de Mayo megafestival. In the same way, he will celebrate the victory of Playa Girón with an evocative conversation of Guillén's verses and music inspired by the invincible Cubans to the evil of the invaders of 1961.
One year after the first virtual mega-concert, Youth for Life, when April challenged creativity to flourish in pandemic circumstances, the AHS grows in projects and gratitude. Today he will donate paintings and books to a scientific institution, and will sing with the voice of a troubadour the exploits and resistance of a people that inspires and involves young creators in their cultural processes.
Translated by Linet Acuña Quilez