The Cabildo of Lanzarote hosted this Wednesday morning the presentation of the cycle of eight conferences that are part of 'Thursday Memory', a conference in which the role of historical photographic and audiovisual archives in today's society will be analyzed, in which cases and experiences developed in the Canary Islands will be known, and in which a good part of the audiovisual heritage of Lanzarote that is preserved in the documentary collections of other islands can be discovered.
The press conference held in the Plenary Hall of the Cabildo of Lanzarote was attended by the President of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort; the Councilor of the Data Center of the Cabildo, Ascensión Toledo; the Director of the Data Center of the Corporation, Miguel Ángel Martín Rosa, and the Councilor for Universities, Science and Innovation and Culture of the Government of the Canary Islands, Migdalia Machín.
The President of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, stated that "today the world is changing at a dizzying speed, and when the transformations are very abrupt it is easy not to know what the right course is." "That is why it is so important for a people to know their past, protect it, preserve it and disseminate it, etc. and in that we are all responsible: public administrations, society as a whole, but also each of us individually, hence the relevance of events like this," he said.
In addition, the president thanked the Government of the Canary Islands for its collaboration in sponsoring this cycle of conferences, and the 'César Manrique Foundation' for its collaboration in providing the space in which the talks will be held.
In turn, the Councilor of the Data Center of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Ascensión Toledo, stated that "despite all the work developed in these fifteen years in Lanzarote by the 'Digital Memory of Lanzarote' project, Lanzarote and its inhabitants still have a large number of files that are at risk of being lost, and that should be preserved, documented, digitized and disseminated, because they will make it easier for us to know our history, our past. And these conferences can help to raise awareness of the importance of preserving this audiovisual material," concluded Ascensión Toledo, who also thanked all the staff of the Data Center, led by Miguel Ángel Martín Rosa, for their "effort" in the organization of 'Thursday Memory'.
For her part, the Minister of Culture of the Government of the Canary Islands, Migdalia Machín, stressed that "one of the priority axes within the objectives of the Government of the Canary Islands, in cultural matters, is to strengthen the Canarian identity, for which the conservation, safeguarding, protection and dissemination of our photographic and audiovisual heritage is a fundamental part."
Machín also recalled that the Government is working on 'Identitaria', an initiative that proposes "the revision and research around the concept of Canarian identity, from the conviction that strengthening culture and claiming memory is building territory and community," concluded the Minister.
Finally, the director of the Data Center of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Miguel Ángel Martín Rosa, was in charge of detailing the content of the program designed to comply with a priority for the Cabildo of Lanzarote and the Government of the Canary Islands: the conservation and dissemination of audiovisual archives. The photographs of 'Fachico', the cinema shot on the island, or the archives of Lanzarote in La Palma
'Thursday Memory'
The eight conferences that are part of 'Thursday Memory' will take place every Thursday in January and February, starting at 7:00 p.m., in the José Saramago Room of the César Manrique Foundation, in the Plazuela de Arrecife. Specifically, the scheduled dates are January 11, 18 and 25, and February 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29. Admission to all the talks is free, but it will be necessary to withdraw an online invitation in advance. You can access all the information of the complete cycle and make online invitation reservations through its website.
The first conference will be the one that will take place this Thursday, January 11, and is entitled 'Lanzarote in the Historical Photography Archive of the Canary Islands'. The person in charge of giving it will be the director of the Historical Photography Archive of the Canary Islands of the FEDAC of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, Gabriel Betancor.
The second conference will be held on Thursday, January 18, and will focus on 'Films and home movies of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands Film Library'. It will be given by the expert in cinema shot in the Canary Islands, Saúl Rojas. The director of the Canary Islands Film Library, María González-Calimano, collaborates in the conference.
On Thursday, January 25, it will be the turn of the talk given by the director of the General Archive of La Palma, Manuel Poggio Capote, and the sociologist, author of the documentary 'Roberto's Postcards', Dailo Barco. Both will talk about 'Lanzarote in the General Archive of La Palma'.
The first Thursday of February, the 1st, the topic to be discussed will be 'The amateur film material of Lanzarote in the Audiovisual Culture Center of Gran Canaria'. The speaker of that day will be the coordinator of the Media Library of the Audiovisual Culture Center of Gran Canaria, Ricardo Reyes, and the amateur filmmaker, Pedro Siemens, is expected to participate.
On February 8, a round table will be held entitled 'Innovation and creation from historical audiovisual archives'. The visual artists Macu Machín, Dailo Barco and Miguel G. Morales will participate in it.
On February 15, the historian Mario Ferrer Peñate, author of the book 'Photography in Lanzarote: 1850-1950' and collaborator of 'Digital Memory of Lanzarote', will talk about 'The old photography of the Carnival in Lanzarote'.
On February 22, the scheduled talk will be 'Photographic Archives of Macaronesia', and it will be given by the Doctor in Modern History (ULPGC), Germán Santana, the director of the Photography Museum of Madeira, Filipe Bettencourt.
Finally, the cycle will end on Thursday, February 29, with a talk by the historian Arminda Arteta that will deal with 'The image of women in the archive of Digital Memory of Lanzarote'.
Organization and tickets
The 'Thursday Memory' conference cycle is organized by the Cabildo of Lanzarote through the Data Center, is sponsored by the Ministry of Universities, Innovation and Science and Culture of the Government of the Canary Islands and the collaboration of the César Manrique Foundation.
Admission is free, but due to capacity limitations (100 pax), it is necessary to withdraw an invitation online in advance. Invitations can be withdrawn on the web. Tickets are opened for reservation on Friday of the previous week, from 9:00 a.m.
As they are free, please make sure that each person is going to attend before making the reservation. And please be very punctual. Five minutes before the start of each talk, at 6:55 p.m., reservations will be canceled for those who have not entered the venue, and access will be allowed to people who, in strict order of arrival, are at the door.
For those who run out of tickets, they can see the eight conferences broadcast in streaming on two websites. In addition, to consult more detailed information about the talks and a small curriculum of each speaker, you can visit the 'Memories of Thursdays' page.
