The PUNCH! Art empowered exhibition held in the National Railway Museum in Temuco, Chile, included talks on topics related to Global Citizenship (GC) and Cultural Diplomacy(CD) and Art. Some of them were practical workshops focused on a certain aspect of this topics. Javiera Muñoz, a Junior Fellow from UFRO Campus was in charge of two of these activities–the first one focused on Global Citizenship in action and the second on Intercultural Communication as covered by the MF training in its Orientation Meetings.
The first Saturday’s talks began with a friendly introduction to the concepts of “Cultural Diplomacy and Global Citizenship” given by May Garces Senior Fellow from UFRO and PUNCH Program Coordinator. Following this, Juan Enrique Morales, a Political Science academic from PUC University talked about the “Reasons behind Global Citizenship” where he referred to the evolution, development and debate surrounding the concept of Global Citizenship today. In the afternoon, and joining us from Sao Paulo, Brazil, we had SF UFRO Javier Lorca talking about “Science, Music and Cultural Barriers: Worlds Apart?” convincing artists that having a scientific outlook help us discover new beautiful dimensions of art and scientists that an artistic outlook brings a sensibility that fosters discovery and development.
The final talk of the day was ”Art and Regional Identity” by Ronald Cancino, Anthropologist and Researcher from UFRO, where he presented a very interesting investigation powered by the Chilean Government and lead by him about Regional Identity. People discussed and asked questions in the talks and during the coffee breaks .
Later that same day, the inaugural event was held. This consisted in a collective intervention of four regional artists: Cesar Ibacache in music (trompe – mapuche instrument- and synthesizer and electric drums), Eduardo Rapiman in live painting, dancers Jaime Jory and May Garces collaborating through singing, dancing, painting and spoken word. This performance aimed to create an enviranment to value art as an innate characteristic in all human beings that should not only be revalued and preserved but also experienced. There was a large board where the audience could also express themselves through painting or writing and the response surpassed our expectations.The second day of the workshops on Saturday 18, began with “The Art of Intercultural Communication” with the participation of Rodrigo Bustamante, Attraction Investment Executive of Araucania’s Development Agency and an expert in intercultural communication. In his very interactive talk, he invited us to reminisce about personal experiences to understand concepts of high and low context societies and why we should communicate effectively.
In the afternoon, Vera Fikarova, Head of International Relations of the National Monuments Council talked about “Soft Power and Art” introducing us to important concepts that diplomacy utilizes for dealing with cultural matters from the public sector. Marcelo Berho, Director of the Center of Cultural Studies at the Catholic University of Temuco ended the workshops with his very interesting and challenging talk “Producers of Art and Culture of Araucanía Region“, where he presented the outcomes of an investigation of the Center for Cultural Studies which resulted in a book. We had deep discussions about these results, the roots for the lack of support from the government and the values behind the artistic creation in Araucania region, which funnily are mirroring the socioeconomic reality of the region. Immediately after that we had the closing event in which we gave the certificates of participation and thanked the support of sponsors and partners. The discussions continued during a coctel to close the event.
This event offered all participants an excellent opportunity to communicate and interact with both the speakers and with regional artists, and be inspired to bring ideas beyond dialogue to generate a real impact in their communities.
TEMUCO, Chile: MAY 11 – 26, 2013
