The minister Salvador del Solar convened yesterday in the Ministry of Culture the first meeting of an advisory committee formed by five women and five men that are experts in matters related to visual and performing arts, anthropology, archaeology, history, cultural industries, indigenous peoples, among others.
The committee includes the sociologist Santiago Alfaro Rotondo, the theatre director Chela de Ferrari, the archaeologist Santiago Uceda, the historian Ponciano del Pino, the painter Christian Bendayan, the curator and researcher Natalia Majluf Brahim, the communicator Rolando Toledo, the visual artist Natalia Iguiñiz, the historian Carmen McEvoy and the indigenous activist Tarcila Rivera Zea.
The purpose of the Advisory Committee on Culture is to give advice and opinions on the politics and strategies of the Ministry of Culture, and contribute to designing actions, public dissemination and positioning of topics related to this sector. During the first year, the committee will contribute to the elaboration and revision of the National Cultural Policy.
“We have committed to design a National Cultural Policy that gives culture the value it deserves in our society within the framework of State policies”, the minister pointed out.
Tarcila Rivera, the president of CHIRAPAQ and member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, expressed to the members of the committee that the culture “must be understood beyond artistic expressions and recognize the contributions such as the indigenous peoples’ food culture”.
For Rivera Zea, the establishment of this committee represents “the opportunity to develop policies that really gather the contributions of different cultures and give peoples back their dignity and rights”.
Likewise, she underlined the need to achieve greater linkages between the ministries of Culture and Education. “In the public schools they teach us stories that do not give dignity to the indigenous peoples. For example, the secondary school students from Ayacucho should finish the school feeling proud of the meaning of their region and history”.
The activist drew attention to the cultural affirmation workshops, promoted by CHIRAPAQ, where the children and youth learn the arts of their peoples as an alternative to give safety and confidence to them as well as affirm their identity.
“If we invest in spaces of cultural identity affirmation, we can contribute to the formation of citizens without conflict and resentment, who do know where they come from, what they have and who could grow as persons”, she stated.
She also highlighted the importance of overcoming discrimination and racism and “moving towards a citizenship with dignity”. The Vice-Minister of Interculturality, Alfredo Luna supported the recommendation of Rivera Zea and recognized the cultural affirmation workshops as an example of a good practice that should be considered in order to form intercultural citizens.
Meanwhile, the minister Del Solar stated that the celebration of the bicentenary of Peruvian independence is an opportunity to “not only value who we are, all of us within our cultures, but also to see how is the official view on our diversity”.
