When there is a lack of true militant commitment, where thought has the duty and obligation to always and inseparably be accompanied by constant and coherent action, one resorts to organizing events, anniversaries, institutional celebrations. Pure frivolity and manifest betrayal of the honoree.
Right now, on that beautiful island of Lanzarote, you can visit various exhibitions so that we can enjoy the work and remember César Manrique, a man of action, a Renaissance artist who lived in turbulent times. Well, frankly, all the times we or our children and grandchildren live or will live are always turbulent and chaotic.
But César Manrique, the real César Manrique, is alive and still beats in every corner of that island, despite the urban absurdities that the various governments of Lanzarote have allowed unscrupulous and short-sighted businessmen to commit. And let's never forget our own responsibility, because all these abuses and urban and landscape attacks have been committed with total impunity, thanks to our passivity and cowardice.
Reducing the tribute to César Manrique to exhibiting some unpublished photographs, or remembering his architectural milestones, constitutes an inadmissible mockery of one of the most complete and unknown artists that one of the most beautiful islands of the Canary Islands has given.
César Manrique's protest actions, his tenacious defense of the popular architecture of Lanzarote and his marriage to the landscape, his volcanic painting... cannot be understood and enjoyed if the island of Lanzarote is not visited calmly and serenely. To understand and unite with César Manrique, one must read his brief but forceful writings of denunciation, today almost completely inaccessible on the internet.
And of course it is necessary and obligatory to listen to the conversations held with the Swiss photographer Linus G. Jauslin, which a radio station has recently brought to light, where César Manrique has no qualms about speaking out against the kings of posturing, the fairground charlatans, the false activists, the predators, politicians and inquisitors, who have turned Lanzarote into an island without identity or soul.
But what should the centenary of César Manrique be for? In addition to allowing some to elevate and publicly project their already great ego, increasing their professional curriculum, it should be an instrument that recovers the active thought and good work of an artist who, unfairly and miserably, has been relegated to a nostalgic space, to an altar where all opportunists hope to take the photograph, claiming to be his heirs, although all of them are nothing more than impostors and scoundrels.
César Manrique said many years ago "that everything is interconnected and that the excessive occupation of the land ends up destroying nature, and therefore, the human being."
It is time for celebrations and centenaries to help us reflect, recovering the spirit and commitment that César had in his time. Future generations will never forgive our inertia, our lack of courage.
César Manrique is much more than a Centenary, some official exhibitions, some press releases... César is and will always be a total and committed artist, an enthusiastic militant in favor of life, who aspired to integrate art with the landscape, that space where humans have voluntarily been expelled.
Oh. And don't forget to raise your eyes to the sky, so that you can be embraced by the clouds that dance in homage to the artist of Lanzarote today.
