The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sports of the Government of the Canary Islands has facilitated 231 trips of artists from Lanzarote in the first eight months of 2016 through the mobility programs Canarias Crea Canarias and Canarias Crea. These professionals participated in that period in a total of 39 activities distributed throughout the rest of the Archipelago, the peninsula and abroad, and which included concerts, exhibitions, festivals and literary presentations, among others.
Most of these transfers, specifically 202, were made from Lanzarote to other islands of the Archipelago. In total, there were 31 activities whose destination was preferably Tenerife, with 124 trips and 16 activities; Gran Canaria, with 12 activities and 66 trips and, in third place, El Hierro, with 2 activities and 5 trips.
In addition, through the Canarias Crea program, the Government of the Canary Islands supported 12 transfers of artists from Lanzarote beyond the borders of the archipelago to participate in 6 cultural events, seven of them in the peninsula and the rest in Bulgaria, Ecuador, Portugal and France.
Two programs to "break down barriers"
The Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sports, María Teresa Lorenzo, has highlighted the importance of facilitating the mobility of artists in a fragmented territory such as the Canary Islands: "With Canarias Crea, professionals from Lanzarote have been able to cross the island and internationalize their productions, to make themselves known outside their island of origin, not only in their own country but in other parts of the world".
Lorenzo also highlights the role of the Canarias Crea Canarias program in establishing cultural ties between the eight islands. "This initiative contributes to the social cohesion of the archipelago, as it allows creators and spectators from each island to learn about the cultural realities of the other island territories. In addition, it serves as a reference to know the trend of cultural supply and demand of each island", said the Minister.
71 activities in 2015
From the Ministry they have indicated that Lanzarote stood out last year for the "high number of activities it hosted" in the Canarias Crea Canarias program. There were a total of 71, which places the island in third place after Tenerife (94) and Gran Canaria (77). To this amount should be added the 3 cultural events that took place in the peninsula and abroad through the Canarias Crea program.
Last year, 445 trips of artists from other islands were counted to participate in these almost eighty initiatives, while from Lanzarote 136 trips of artists to other points of the Archipelago were made possible to participate in 28 activities.
As far as the archipelago as a whole is concerned, Canarias Crea Canarias made possible last year 2,117 trips, that is, an average of 176 each month, which led to the celebration of 356 activities. In the period between 2009 and 2015, this program has facilitated 14,289 trips and 2,137 activities.
As for Canarias Crea, this initiative facilitated in 2015 a total of 1,129 trips, which resulted in 268 activities and whose destination was 15 autonomous communities and 35 countries.
Collaboration with companies to finance the programs
Both programs are carried out in collaboration with the CajaCanarias Foundation and Obra Social La Caixa, while Binter also participates in Canarias Crea Canarias. "All artists and professionals in the sector can apply for both initiatives, provided they present activities that are of interest for the promotion of Canarian culture", emphasizes the Ministry.
Those who want to take advantage of these initiatives have to fill out the form available on the website or physically at either of the two headquarters of Canarias Cultura en Red S.A. in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. They must provide the invitation or contract from the public entity or private company that requires their assistance to participate in cultural activities of any artistic discipline, applications are not accepted for activities that already have a Sponsorship from Canarias Cultura en Red or are part of the Music, Theater and Dance Circuit, and only proposals "eminently cultural" have a place.
Applications are processed in order of arrival and their relevance as a cultural activity, the number of passengers and the number of projects already approved from the same applicant are assessed, and they are always subject to the availability of the program's budget.
