With activities focused on the figure of Father Julián Zini, Corrientes had its official ceremony on Thursday at the 48th Buenos Aires International Book Fair. Music was present with the recitation of the posthumous collection of poems “Raíces del alma”, by José Lezcano, accompanied by “Tato Ramírez” and Tono Barberan, and a closing that brought out many couples to dance, led by Nélida Zenón and the Playadito Embassy.
The president of the Institute of Culture, Gabriel Romero, and the president of the National Academy of Folklore, teacher José Luis Castiñeira de Dios, were in charge of paying tribute to the Chamamecero priest Julian Zini, icon and spokesperson for Corrientes culture. The event was accompanied by the national senator Gabriela Valenzuela, the Minister of Justice of the Province, Juan José López Desimoni, the member of the Casa de Corrientes in Buenos Aires, Raúl Benítez, the president of Inamu, Bernabé “Buco” Cantlon, and artists Corrientes like Aldy Balestra and Tomas Zacarías, among others.
On the occasion, the president of the Institute of Culture Gabriel Romero, thanked the presence of officials and guests of Corrientes culture and highlighted the possibility of remembering a figure as important as Julián Zini, in a space of visibility such as the International Fair of the Book.
“I want to highlight the importance of the Provincial Government maintaining its presence at this Fair. For us, it means betting on the virtuous circuit that includes the writer, the editor, the bookstore, the reader and also supporting popular libraries. It is a fundamental defense that must be sustained, which means not only talking about culture, identity and history, but also strengthening that very important mechanism that is the publishing industry. We are on that side, and we are going to continue defending the importance it has,” he highlighted.
He also pointed out that this year, Corrientes has the “Avío del alma” stand, in the Ocre pavilion, which gives visibility to more than 260 titles by 180 Corrientes authors. What he assured is possible thanks to the “great work of the entire production team of the Institute of Culture and the collaboration of the Casa de Corrientes in Buenos Aires.”
He considered it as “a great possibility to bring a piece of Corrientes to Buenos Aires, and sustain the identity that the province has, showing us who we are. History, present but also future.”
In closing he referred to figures linked to the publishing industry, such as Leonardo Moglia. “A businessman in the publishing sector who makes an enormous effort to continue spreading Corrientes letters,” he emphasized.
Multiplier
The president of the National Academy of Folklore, teacher José Luis Castiñeira de Dios, said: “It is an honor to have been asked to speak in this presentation of a figure so central to Corrientes and Argentine popular culture, I cannot help but think, when I think of Julián Zini, in those openings of the National Chamamé Festival, in which he represented that very particular duality that the people of Corrientes have of linking an ancestral indigenous tradition of the Guaranític world with the imprint of Christianization and the religiosity that comes from it. .
He also stated: “I always remember him making those poetic presentations, and at the same time harangues, because he was always stimulating the artists and all the figures of the Corrientes cultural world, so that they would open up and multiply in the country, in all cultural spaces. , at parties, at festivals. And carry this message of the popular culture of Corrientes.”
“Since UNESCO declared chamamé as intangible heritage of humanity, it acquired a higher rank in terms of international recognition but nothing changed with respect to what in Argentina is thought of this genre, of this cultural world that it represents, that is behind the artistic phenomenon of chamamé and which today spreads throughout the country and reaches many countries in South America, with an increasingly growing presence,” said Castiñeira.
In this regard, he said that Father Zini had a lot to do with this period of expansion of chamamé.
VAE
