No. 29 - Its Gran Canaria Magazine

22
GET TO KNOW GRAN CANARIA I CONOCE GRAN CANARIA EDICIÓN 29
By Míchel Jorge Millares
Gran Canaria
the ‘Artsphere’ Reserve
Fotos: David Delfour
This territory, which is both a Unesco Biosphere Reserve
and a Cultural Landscape of Humanity, has many
beautiful aspects to portray, as highlighted by the succession
of images that are published on social media
and online platforms. Be it a sunset, the celestial constellations,
the sea, the forests, the endemic species of
flora and fauna, or the island’s events and traditions,
everything is the subject of an image, an instant to capture
and to proudly show off in real time to friends.
On 29th June 2005, Unesco duly declared it a Biosphere
Reserve of Gran Canaria, an area covering almost half
of the island's 1,560 km2 and featuring a large number
of protected natural areas, some of which are the most
significant on the island. It is an endorsement of the
close link between the island's population and its nature
and landscape. 14 years later, Unesco also approved
the declaration of the Cultural Landscape of Risco Caído
and the Montañas Sagradas of Gran Canaria, which
occupies some 18,000 hectares and is located in the
northwest area of the Biosphere Reserve itself.
The fact that two of the most prestigious international
distinctions have been awarded in exactly the same
spot, here in this small piece of land in the Atlantic, is a
tribute to the great natural and historical value it holds.
This huge milestone will be completed with the declaration
of Guguy and its coastline as a National Park, in
the extreme southwest of the Biosphere Reserve, in the
area known as the 'old island'.
The recognition of the exceptional value of this territory
as a landmark of the island's cultural landscape constituted
a confirmation of the uniqueness and significant
richness that had such an impact and which was the
object of inspiration for so many local and foreign artists
who were moved to interpret it and to capture its unusual
beauty in their works. The landscape has inspired
paintings, music and literature to create works that are
rooted in the people and have a projection beyond the
ocean that surrounds us.
This landscape, or collection of landscapes, has inspired
great artists and creators, especially from the first half
of the 20th century onwards. It was at this time that
some of the most ground-breaking artists were trained
and burst onto the scene, who are today considered
fundamental figures in the development of art in the
Canary Islands and who, without a doubt, contributed
to a large extent to enhancing the landscape of this territory,
including the people who inhabit it, as well as its
customs and popular traditions which have become so
deeply rooted in the collective imagination and which
today constitute a precious heritage for all the islanders.
At the dawn of the 20th century, one of the most striking
reasons for the proliferation of artists on the island
was a latent need for expression and self-affirmation
- represented by a society that was mostly peasant,
which had been practically "stripped of its identity" as
a result of the processes of conquest - which, as the
theorist Domingo Doreste (Fray Lesco), founder of the
famous Luján Pérez School in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria,
pointed out, also sought to "fill the aesthetic void"
that society was suffering from at the time. In this context,
the most deeply-rooted arts and traditions, folklore,
clothing, local sports, local products and gastronomy,
flora, landscape and climate, reminiscences of the
aboriginal world and also local decorative crafts, such
as ceramics, fretwork, or musical instruments made of
fine woods, among many others, were reaffirmed and
justified.
For this reason, the managing body of this internationally
prestigious figure commissioned art expert Laura
T. García Morales to create an exhibition entitled 'Gran
Canaria Inspires. Tradition, Art and Landscape', which
shows how this territory has served to stimulate the creativity
of numerous artists, both local and foreign, who
have been stirred to interpret it and capture its strange
beauty in their works.
The artists represented in this collection are: Colacho
Massieu, Tomás Gómez Bosch, Manuela Pérez de Oliveira,
Miró Mainou, Elías Marrero, Jesús Arencibia, Pedro
del Castillo Olivares, Rafaely, Alberto Manrique, Manolo
Ruíz, Plácido Feitas, Luis Montull, Jorge Oramas, Santiago
Santana, Antonio Padrón, Valme García, Carlos
Morón, Felo Monzón, Manolo and Jane Millares, Jorge
López, Paco Sánchez, Juan Betancor, Juan José Gil and
Marta Mariño. This is just a brief selection, as there are
plenty more local artists from the 20th century to the
present day, whose work reflects the values presented
and defended through the discourse of the exhibition.
The exhibition is to be showcased at the Columbus Museum
until the end of August, after which it is expected
to be taken around other municipalities located in the
Biosphere Reserve.