The Benito Pérez Armas Cultural Center in Yaiza was the venue chosen by the City Council to celebrate this Thursday the act of awarding the titles of Favorite Daughter to Benjamina Marrero Duarte, popular poet from Las Breñas, and Adoptive Son to Agustín Alemán Pérez, artisan from Uga.
The event began with the interpretation of the Anthem of the Canary Islands by the Fantasía trio. Next, the mayor of Yaiza, Óscar Noda, addressed the honorees, corporation colleagues and the general public, on a day he described as historic for Yaiza, thanking the distinguished for their effort to maintain their identity as worthy representatives of the municipality.
The official chronicler of Yaiza, Esteban Rodríguez, was in charge of presenting the proposal for said appointments to the City Council in October 2018, which was accepted unanimously. The secretary of the Consistory.
The secretary of the Consistory read the minutes where the appointment of Benjamina Marrero Duarte as Favorite Daughter of Yaiza and Agustín Alemán Pérez (Tino) as Adoptive Son of Yaiza was recorded, while the chronicler was in charge of the sketch of each distinguished, reflecting the merits for which they have been granted such distinction.
Speeches by the honorees
Next, the mayor imposed the institutional medal and presented him with the accrediting parchment, with the public standing and applauding such an emotional moment.
Agustín Alemán Pérez (Tino) took the floor and, very excited, addressed those present to thank them and tell them that everything he has done has been nothing more than working with clay, a profession that he is passionate about and that has allowed him to contribute to the family economy. He also stated that he has felt very loved since he arrived from Gran Canaria to the town of Uga, feeling like just another neighbor.
Then it was the turn of Benjamina Marrero Duarte, who, despite recovering from a recent operation, stoically endured, never losing the good humor that has always characterized her. Benjamina delegated to her granddaughter Elena to give thanks in the form of a poem that she wrote at home thinking that she might not be present at the event, which said:
"To the Yaiza city council, and to all those who are there, who have fulfilled my dreams, which have come true, thank you for this tribute, I have nothing to pay with, only love and affection, that God from heaven gives me, on this important day, if I cannot be found, they must excuse me for an operation, and not being able to recover, to all those who are here, goes my special greeting".
Likewise, the resident of Femés, Martín Rodríguez, read a poem dedicated to Benjamina Marrero Duarte. The act ended with the musical intervention of the Fantasía trio, who again performed several musical melodies of their own. The poet from Las Breñas and the ceramist from Uga were very supported by their respective families and friends.
Sketch of the artisan Agustín Alemán Pérez (Tino)
Agustín Alemán Pérez is an artist from Gran Canaria, based in the town of Uga for 30 years. He is a senior technician in Artistic Ceramics from the Pancho Lasso School of Arts and Crafts in Arrecife and has spent his entire life working with ceramics.
Tino arrived by chance to the town of Uga for a visit and decided to stay and live and work in this town forever, a place that inspires him and where he gives free rein to his imagination. His dedication and perseverance around aboriginal pieces and what he knows as "style ceramics" earned him the designation as artisan of the year 2012 by the Cabildo de Lanzarote, at the proposal of the island's artisan collective. Not in vain, Tino Alemán has participated in all the craft fairs held in Lanzarote and has been recognized as one of its great promoters.
This artist lives surrounded by his large offspring, six children, whom he has raised with his creative work, some of whom, like Arena and Luna, already collaborate in his exhibitions. For his dedication and perseverance in the work of crafts, for carrying the town of Uga in his heart and for being an ambassador of the municipality of Yaiza with his works, Tino Alemán well deserves to be named Adoptive Son of the Municipality of Yaiza.
Sketch of the poet Benjamina Marrero Duarte
Benjamina Marrero Duarte is a woman of very humble origin, an example of courage in the face of adversity. At the age of 50 she was widowed with 10 children in her care, in times when the island society did not enjoy the current comforts, and in a corner of little population and resources such as the town of Las Breñas.
She has always had a passion for poetry, capturing in it her reality and imagination with a simple language, a clear language, without pretensions of straitjacketing the expression of feelings. Her odes to the sea and the landscapes of her land stand out in her extensive work, as she is already octogenarian, but above all her religiosity, something that everyone remembers for being in the memory of all her offerings in the form of verses in the patron saint festivities of Las Breñas, Yaiza or Uga.
People like Benjamina Marrero Duarte enrich the municipality and are a source of pride, not only for their innate ability to construct verses that move, because in their case they are accompanied by a great heart and goodness; but for their dedication to family and work, and the affection of the writers who come to Yaiza in the usual appointment with poetry in the month of October, who praise their good work and personal character.