No. 34 - Its Gran Canaria Magazine

12
GET TO KNOW GRAN CANARIA I CONOCE GRAN CANARIA EDICIÓN 34
The Traditional Sand Nativity at Las Canteras Beach
Photo: Cabildo de Gran Canaria
As it does every year, the Sand Nativity Scene has
been set up to celebrate Christmas on Las Canteras
beach in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The traditional
and ephemeral nativity scene opened the
doors for the 18th year on 5th December. It features
artistic designs depicting eight different Christmas
scenes that have been modelled by nine sculptors,
with the largest representation of Canarian artists
in its history. On this occasion, the Nativity Scene
also pays tribute to all Canarian men and women
who live outside their homeland.
The Sand Nativity Scene will be open to the public
from 10:00 to 22:00 daily until Monday 8th January
2024, with the exception of 24th and 31st December
2023 and 5th January 2024, when it will be
open until 20:00. Admission is free and, as usual,
donations made by visitors until the day it closes
will be donated to the soup kitchens in the capital
of Gran Canaria.
The Tourism Councillor at the Town Hall of Las Palmas
de Gran Canaria, Pedro Quevedo, pointed out
that "it signals the start of the Christmas festivities
after 18 years on Las Canteras beach, and it has a
fundamentally social, tourist and social projection
at this time of the year". The councillor underlined
how the Nativity Scene has boosted the promotion
of the art of sand sculpturing, not only in the capital
but all over the island of Gran Canaria.
As is the norm, the monies raised by donations given
at the Nativity Sand Scene will go to the soup
kitchens of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The La
Caixa Foundation, through CaixaBank, will also donate
6,000 euros, according to Rubén Sánchez, director
of Institutional Banking at CaixaBank.
The Councillor for Social Welfare, Carmen Luz Vargas,
says she is "grateful for the solidarity shown
by the townsfolk and the commitment of the institutions
that support the collection of donations
for the food kitchens around the capital". These
centres are: the Rescate Juvenil Social Association,
which works with around 150 people; the Nuestra
Señora del Carmen soup kitchen, which works with
70 users; the San Pedro soup kitchen, which offers
support to around 80 people; the Santo Domingo
soup kitchen, which offers the service to around 80
people; and the Parroquia de la Paz, which works
with a further 80 people.
This year will feature a scene of tenant farmers
modelled by the Canarian Etual Ojeda which will
represent the piece 'La aparcería', or sharecropping,
by the Canarian sculptor Santiago Vargas, exhibited
in the municipality of Santa Lucía de Tirajana. This
artist, a world benchmark in sand sculpture, returns
as a participant in this year’s Sand Nativity Scene,
having been away for many years.
He has been joined by fellow Canarians Aarón and
Bentejuí Ojeda, meaning that the traditional sand
nativity scene in Las Canteras this year has the
largest representation of local artists in its history.
Aarón Ojeda has been in charge of modelling the
daily life of the streets of the scene, inspired by the
works El Risco de San Bernardo, by the Canarian
painter Santiago Santana, and De Chamisso e India
Sambaigo, the work of the Mexican school dating
from the end of the 18th century.
The fountain, meanwhile, was modelled by Bentejuí
Ojeda and the Gran Canaria-based multidisciplinary
artist Paco Arana, who were inspired by José
Ribera's 'Nature with Fountains'.
Alongside the Canary Islanders, five other sculptors
of other nationalities have contributed to this
edition of the Nativity Scene, all of whom have
participated in previous editions. The scene called
'Readers from Heaven', inspired by a piece by the
Renaissance artist Michelangelo, has been crafted
in sand by American Sue McGrew. The flight
from Egypt, modelled by Canadian Karen Fralich,
is based on a specific design for the Sand Nativity
Scene created by Gran Canarian artist Adán López
Alemán and depicts the drama of forced migration
to other lands.
The scene of scene of the Angel Announcer was
created by the Irish artist Fergus Mulvany and is inspired
by a work by El Greco; The Three Wise Men
of the East were brought to life by the Dutch artist
Johannes Christoffel and the American artist
Gresham Glover did the same with the birth of the
Christ child.
This 18th edition of the Sand Nativity Scene is organised
by Go Beyond S.L. in collaboration with
the Department of Tourism of Las Palmas de Gran
Canaria, the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria
Tourism, the Department of Culture of Gran Canaria,
Canarias Getaway, Grupo Ybarra, Mas24 Ingeniería
and Teican Medioambiental.