The work of José Eustasio Rivera turns 100 years old and to celebrate it there is a tourist route through the departments of Meta and Casanare. Activities were also organized at the Bogotá Book Fair and cultural events in different places in the country.
DIARIO DEL HUILA, CULTURE
This 2024 marks the centenary of one of the most important books in Colombia and Latin America in the 20th century: La vorágine, by the Huilense writer, lawyer and politician José Eustasio Rivera.
The importance of this work in the culture and history of the country gave rise to a tourism initiative in the Colombian Orinoquía region and to different academic and cultural manifestations in a large part of the national territory.
The work, which tells the misadventures of Arturo Cova and his forbidden love, Alicia, is more relevant than ever thanks to an innovative literary tourism strategy in the departments of Meta and Casanare. Thanks to this project, La vorágine is no longer just read, it is also lived.
La Vorágine Territory: plain and jungle is the name of the tourist route that follows in the footsteps of José Eustasio Rivera through these territories, to publicize the impact of the author and his work on the development of the region and contribute to giving it a boost to local tourism.
“It is a tourism product of regional private initiative that seeks to promote, position and market the territory, taking advantage of the innovation of literary tourism with the most transcendental work of plain and the jungle that has been written on the continent and that allows, through “the visitor makes a total immersion in nature, culture and customs, making historical memory of socioeconomic conflicts and taking away an experience of unique beauty and the certainty of committing to a true peace that transcends the country and the world,” They explained from the Eastern Tourism Macrocluster (MTO).
The route was launched at the end of last year and includes seven plans, starting from Villavicencio and visiting historical places where Rivera passed, with some stops at sites that are mentioned in the book and in scenarios where you can appreciate the biodiversity of the region.
As part of the plan there are tours of the rubber plantations, tree planting and meetings with local ethnic groups to learn about their traditions. The heart of the route is Orocué, a municipality of Casanare located 4 hours from Yopal, where the La Vorágine park and the House Museum where the author stayed while he wrote his work are located.
You can read: Minister of Labor meets with Bonice and Vive 100 sellers due to job insecurity
The birthplace of ‘La vorágine’
“When José Eustasio arrived in Orocué in 1918, he discovered the Llano. He had come to Villavicencio in 1916, but upon arriving in Orocué he saw what a plains sunrise, a sunset, the culture was like. That shocked him. In addition, he met Luis Franco Zapata and his wife Alicia, who told him their true love story and this inspired the romance of the book. Luis Franco also spoke to him about the rivers of the Orinoquía, about the rubber plantations, although José Eustasio was already aware of what was happening with the rubber trade. Here the work is created, La vorágine is born, and I think that gives importance to Orocué in the genesis of the book,” explained Carmen Julia Mejía, director of the Isana Foundation and the La Vorágine House Museum.
Those who visit Orocué can discover monuments and sculptures in honor of the novel in La Vorágine Park and visit the House Museum, also known as the Amézquita Family House. A construction that dates back to 1898 and belonged to Teodoro Amézquita, a friend and colleague of Rivera, who allowed him to stay there while he wrote. Here the setting and the elements used by the author are preserved as is, as well as everyday objects from the beginning of the 20th century.
“The House Museum has three exhibition rooms: the José Eustasio room, the Isabel Amézquita room and the Hall of Memory. We have a museum script approved by Cocrea so that the tour is more interactive and educational than academic. Those who visit us will find a house from the period that preserves its materials very well, and with that captivating story of why we are the birthplace of La Vorágine,” said Mejía Amézquita.
You may be interested in: Banks could strengthen their policies in favor of animal welfare
