Successful participation in the ‘LibrA’ de Olmedo Book and Art Festival

After three intense days in which the objective of consolidating itself as a cultural reference in Castilla y León, the second edition of the Olmedo ‘LibrA’ Books and Art Festival has concluded this Sunday. Organizational and participation success, which has featured original works by Luis Moro with texts by Ana Bladiana, Elena Poniatowska, Mircea Cartarescu, Antonio Gamoneda and María Zambrano, as well as Beatriz Díaz Ceballos, Amparo Blázquez, Laura Montes, Vanesa Calzada, Yolanda Martín , Roberto Coromina and Aixa Portero.

Thursday’s day opened with the presentation of the First ‘Indecible’ Prize to Rafael Moneo in recognition of his extensive work in a simple, but interesting event in which the famous and international Pritzker Prize-winning architect in 1996, who considers Olmedo as his second people, having a property here, were grateful for the recognition. Likewise, he stressed the importance of having a bookseller for a small municipality. “Someone who sustains and keeps alive the flame of knowledge and intellectual concern, and that luckily Olmedo has”, in clear allusion to the director of the festival, Javier Pérez Lázaro, who in addition to being a professional bookseller is the creator of ‘A la Trabajo Cultural’ , a new philosophy of cultural management in which details and knowledge about theater, theater training and the creation of festivals such as ‘El Clasiquillo’ and ‘LibrA’ are taken into account.

Along with Pérez Lázaro, representatives of the Cultivando Olmedo neighborhood group participated in this delivery. The plastic artist who awarded the award, José María Yague, as well as the writer and vice-counselor of Cultural Action of the Board, Mar Sancho, the Olmedano councilor, Alfonso Centeno, and the director of communication and institutional relations of Caja Rural de Zamora, Narciso Prieto, highlighted the luxury of being able to bring together admired artists who are doing the great work of questioning and awakening citizens’ gaze so as not to remain fixed on identities and stories that have no development. The first day, after the presentation of the aforementioned award, continued with a discussion with the poet of the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts in 2012, Jorge Riechmann.

This Saturday, the scheduled activities opened at noon with a press printing workshop for children aged 12 and up led by the artist Isabel Fuentes, continuing with a dramatized reading of the book ‘Life is a Game’. Afterwards, the artists José María Yagüe, Carlos de Gredos, Javier Ayarza and Ignacio Gil, together with the cultural manager and director of the festival, Javier Pérez Lázaro, starred in a lively gathering under the title ‘Arts in the town’. The final touch will be this Sunday, in a morning session, with a new rotary printing workshop for the adult public, also directed by Isabel Fuentes.

Exhibitors and exhibitions

The Olmedo ‘LibrA’ Festival has been complemented by the presence in the cloister of the Patios de la Merced of several exhibitors from different publishers and specialized bookstores: Árdora Ediciones, Ediciones Tansonville, Escriptum, Editorial Deméter, Ediciones Akal, Kalandraka, Editorial 1 /2 tone, Red Fox Books, Caniche publishing, Éolas editions, Gustavo Gili publishing, Editorial Acantilado, Ediciones Menguantes, Caja de Burgos art center, Nórdica Libros, Lope’s store and Fontanar Ediciones who brought the Villa del Caballero to the artist Castilla y León Prize for the Arts 2022, Luis Moro.

And in the access corridor and main lobby of the San Pedro Performing Arts Center, two exhibitions were held with works by artists of national and international recognition.