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The International Poetry Festival of Medellín, despite the difficulties of the country's culture, arrives this year at its 28th edition, Fernando Rendón, its director, regrets that the poetry was held by less for our society. But he also believes, and firmly, that the insistent presence of the Festival every year has been able to propel cultural and artistic creation into the city. Precisely, Rendón notes, the festival was born in an unfortunate moment for the city: the year 1991, a time of fear and violence that the city still remembers.
"It is not that there is no violence now, very hard.What we need to do, it's stop the war, it's always the message of the festival, "says Rendón.
This year, the theme will be poetry, shamanism and original songs.If this sounds strange, the latest edition of the magazine Prometheus, in which are gathered the texts of the poets invited illuminates the reason for this theme: "The poets at their origin were shamans, the original poets inherited from archaic times, through the primitive language, the knowledge that constituted the soul and the collective memory of their clan."
The festival wants to propose alternatives to violence, to make a spiritual opposition to the hatred in which we live. We must stop the war: it is always our message
EL TIEMPO spoke with Rendón about this new version of the festival, the challenges of conducting a great cultural event and the relevance that it has. he had for the city in those almost 30 years
from where comes the idea of putting shamanism and spirituality as the main theme?
It is the only poetry festival in the world that has always among its guests indigenous poets. He is also the only one to have had the origin of the world in his themes of reflection.
The West has forgotten its origins, we forget that we come from primitive peoples. We forget that at first the shamans were the first poets. We wanted to bring a group of shamans from many parts of the earth to remind us of where we had come from.
We must meet again in these times of disintegration, of extreme individualism, to rethink the fate of the world. It is good to see what these people, who have such a close relationship with the land, can teach us.
It's not that there is no violence now, these years have been very difficult. What we need to do, is stop the war, it is always the message of the festival
where do the guests come from?
We will have shamans and singers from Mongolia, Vietnam; comes the most important rock band in China . It's a more global vision, with guests from all over America, from Europe, from Africa. Everything converges on the need to protect the earth. We have guests from the Republic of Tuva, native Nahuatl, mapuche and Guarani poets
We want to make a call to the country so that we do not destroy ourselves, that we do not continue to kill us. The call of the shamans is that, to return to the spiritual unity of the world.
What is the contribution of the field of poetry that these original poets can make to Westerners? first poets that there was the world. We can remind them of where poetry comes from and how it is ceremonially related; It was a dialogue with nature, with the wind. Western poets have been trained in a poetic and literary tradition of books.
Instead, the original poets are more vital. The meaning, the symbols, which are every living being, every element of nature, are different from what Westerners give it; it is not, in short, a literature made through the poetic traditions of history, but it is a reading of the earth, of the universe. It will be a very enriching dialogue in two ways: for Western poets and for the originals.
The poets in their origin were shamans. The original poets inherited from archaic times, through the primitive language, the knowledge that constituted the soul and the collective memory
What is the value that has the festival for the city and for the country?
The festival wants to make a stop on the road when the city lives, to make a very calm opposition to the hate we have. The aim of the festival is to propose alternatives to violence, which has not ended either in Medellin or in the country . We want to offer reconciliation and forgiveness as a new engine of our society. In addition, the dialogue between cultures, among poets from different countries. It's not easy to size, but it's the festival's contribution to the city.
Fernando Rendón is the founder and current director of the Festival. Rendón believes in culture as a factor of peace in a society that has suffered so much.
Courtesy International Poetry Festival
Poetry, in a way, has been belittled by our society. Do you have this same perception?
Entrepreneurs, who are dedicated to generating profits, do not have time to read . On the other hand, we who must devote ourselves to creating and poetic writing, do not have time to think about making profits. That's why we give everything we do: there are 152 free activities we will have this year. The business clbad believes that poetry is useless. For us, having a life only pragmatic is useless, it's wasting life.
We believe that the festival overcame contempt for poetry and possessed it as a major art in the city. And, a job that's done in the city, does it for the world. Many festivals in the world were made from ours, people came from Germany, Vietnam, China to develop theirs.
And state support?
The Colombian State does not see that, does not understand what we are doing Suddenly, they will remember a poem to declaim it in the palace. On the other hand, we invited entrepreneurs, but they never helped the festival. We receive help and support from the local government, but we are concerned that there are other cultural projects in the city that are absolutely unprotected.
But we are happy because the festival is still alive despite the minimal support it receives from Colombia, with the exception of the municipality of Medellín which maintains a reasonable level of funding.
Miguel Osorio Montoya
For the time
[email protected]
@ MiguelOsorioMon
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