‘We can not let die the Ateneo’ – Online Time

Created: Saturday, December 19, 2015 12:23

Date

Written by El País

Category: Arts & Entertainment

The Agony of Spanish in Mexico Ateneo is able to withstand you. Mexican intellectuals and artists have come out in defense of the institution that has symbolized for decades the cultural ferment of the Republican exile. Faced with economic decline, which has placed the brink of financial collapse, thinkers and artists such as Enrique Krauze, Juan Villoro, Clara Lida Maria Luisa Tatiana Bilbao Capella and call for the immediate intervention of the governments of both Spain and Mexico. For them, the Ateneo rescue is to save a key chapter in the history of both countries. “It’s a legacy for memory,” says Krauze.

Enrique Krauze. The author of Century of caudillos and the imperial presidency has no shadow of a doubt: we must immediately help the Spanish Ateneo. “One of the tasks to be undertaken and the New Mexico Department of Culture is supporting this worthy institution. Artists and intellectuals who founded the Spanish Ateneo made a huge contribution to the humanities in Mexico. And we can not allow that legacy is lost by economic difficulties. It’s should complement the bailout approach with in-depth documentary and editorial work of those exiles. I will do my part, among other things, because I also am indebted to the work of them and was a personal friend of Leon Felipe, nothing less than the founder “.

Juan Villoro. “The Spanish Ateneo of Mexico is a key site for our culture, for its magnificent building, the library, the long tradition of those who have participated there. It is logical that does not receive much support from its members, as brought together exiles whose descendants are Mexicans. The influence of Republican exile in our country was immense, cinema Luis Buñuel architecture of Felix Candela, through the poetry of Luis Cernuda and many areas of science. The Ateneo was conceived as a temporary shelter, but exile lasted too editor Ricardo Cayuela Gally, grandson of Lluis Companys, says it perfectly:.. ‘exiled Spanish in Mexico became a way of being Mexican’ The responsibility of guarding the Ateneo is ours, because his legacy it belongs to us. It should not be saved with funds from Spain but with the country to which it belongs. It is a task for the nascent Ministry of Culture and the city government, the Secretary of Culture is the poet Eduardo Vazquez, who also comes from Spanish exile and wrote a remarkable poem on the House of Spain in Mexico. “

Tatiana Bilbao. Star architect of Mexico feels Ateneo crisis firsthand. His grandfather, Tomas Bilbao, Minister’s Office, was one of the founders of the institution, along with Leon Felipe, Luis Bunuel and Rodolfo Halffter. “It is scandalous, we must help them. We can not let him die. True involvement grandchildren lack of exile, but not sufficient individual supports. A site like this can not work only with the involvement of partners. Beyond the activities undertaken, it is part of the heritage of this country and the responsibility, therefore the government. Mexican and Spanish. The pity is that, as always, the first thing cut is the culture. “

Clara Lida. Director of the Mexico-Spain Chair of the College of Mexico. “El Ateneo is one of the most representative institutions and paradigmatic exile in Mexico. It has been able to combine the vast exodus without taking political positions, but integrating ethical values ​​in Mexican society. But it is also the great library and archive of the Spanish exile in Latin America. This crisis is regrettable. It is an institution to save memory she have forgotten both the Government of Spain and as the children and grandchildren of exiles. Everyone has assumed that the Ateneo worked alone. But such institution needs support. “

Ricardo Cayuela. Shot grandson of President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Lluís Companys, and editorial director of Penguin Random House Mexico. “Exile, as a historical event, obviously it has been diluted. It was an exodus without return and Republicans Spaniards feel stopped and turned Mexicans. I find it sad that the Athenaeum can disappear, it is desirable to follow, but is not an institution not only for exile, for nostalgia, but also a Mexican entity, open to the challenges of this society. So it was with the College of Mexico and now, already integrated, is an institution of Mexican elite. Exile, after all, is a way of being Mexican. “

Maria Luisa Capella. Coordinator of the Center for Studies of Migration and Exiles, UNED. “It’s hopeless. El Ateneo is a unique treasure, which are its library and archive. Let no one doubt, this is the most valuable library on the history of Republican exile. It would be a horror to lose. There is still much to do to spread this heritage for the world. Because it is also a file grows, it will be getting new legacies. The Ateneo can not die. We must act now “

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