Lanzarote, natural paradise. Attraction of mass tourism, an island of drifting roads. Land of views to the present or at most, views to the "couple of months that are the elections." Land of fragile egos and "high sensitivities." Beloved land for better and for worse.
Is there another possible present?
Historically, art has been an industry that, by its very nature, has served to develop and promote great social, critical, and economic movements. It is no coincidence that other cities have progressed thanks to their vision of the future and intelligent investment in the artistic-cultural industry.
I come to try to mend a little the conceptual damage suffered by an industry that keeps alive a population that does not appreciate it. I am not here to talk about a utopian future where Lanzarote is sustainable only with art, overnight. Nor am I here to talk about a future where there is no tourism.
We all fit. We all fit and we all need each other. It is another way of nourishing ourselves and I refer to a great thinker who already spoke of this, Cesar Manrique:
"It is about living facing the future, contributing to building a clean, intelligent alternative, of quality of life. We must not falter, we must continue forward, be vigilant and keep alive the critical conscience, because the future is never achieved, we have to do it from the present. It is about making the tourist industry coexist with the defense of the territory and its own culture. And that coexistence is possible, but, above all, necessary, obligatory in order not to live with our backs to the future"
But for that, there is a movement, a very important step, that we need to take. In every social advance, there are many agents that help everything to become professionalized, function, and grow, as a consequence. This usually ensures not only a good projection of the trades themselves, but also directly affects many areas and, above all, ends with charlatans who only throw stones against a common roof. In the art industry, the same thing happens.
We are not going anywhere with this large number of events that coexist directly with a poor cultural offer. Empty theaters and museums, wasted talent, lifeless spaces, non-existent regular programming, dissatisfied public, town festivals with exaggerated posters, artists who feel like extraterrestrials, and islands that increasingly trust less in culture and art because they do not know it, because they are confused by the organizations themselves.
And the reason for all this is clear: Lanzarote, and the Canary Islands, need to give space to validation, to professionalization, and the space to the new professions that have yet to arrive on the islands. Let's stop being masters of everything, and let's bet that the interested agents specialize in the subjects we need. Let's validate from all perspectives, from above, from below, and from the sides, and let's originate experts in specific disciplines such as management, programming, production, and a long etcetera that is necessary to disassociate from those who assume those trades today.
Meanwhile, you can also take into consideration, madam or sir who makes decisions, that there is the possibility of informing yourself before sentencing any action of the previous ones. We understand that you do not know, it is an open secret, and the results demonstrate it. Help yourself for this with a technician in the corresponding discipline, not a mere civil servant technician.
There are not many of us, and I understand that given the misuse of the names of these new professions in the islands, there are reservations. But if we do not trust the professionals...
I am not asking to turn this into another religion to pray to either, let's simply look at what the actions and initiatives carried out so far have generated and compare them with possible solutions presented by professionals. If we do not want to blindly trust the titles, let's do a test and talk at a round table where different options for improvements and their reasoning are presented. Let's have a common ground. Maybe that way we can escape from the snake oil salesmen and stay with people who are really involved.
I also understand that it is not a simple exercise, that for all this to happen, a lot of work and time must be invested. But, if you do not have the appropriate predisposition and the vision at a point a little further, if you do not have high beams, where do we intend to go?.
I repeat, we all fit, there is room for everything, but things have to be done with a head (doing it with good intentions is not enough). There are professionals better than oneself, all the time, but you have to approach them, not try to turn them off. If there are people who dedicate their time to learning about cultural dynamics, study them and train, perhaps, they have something interesting to contribute. Because if not, what remains is people who may not even be able to manage their own artistic works (in the best of cases), since it is possible that a person who: is neither an artist, nor knows art, or even likes art, talks about and manages art.
And I clarify, because I do not want to hurt sensitivities. I am not saying that we remove "those of a lifetime", it is not about suddenly everyone being on the street and young people with passion entering. That would be an absolute disaster. Let's just be honest, we have to encourage that space to listen because perhaps, and only perhaps, we may be wrong about something.
In the end, you do not have to be Einstein to realize that it is an almost personal job, where sincerity with oneself must prevail, that we learn and make mistakes, that there are things that go well for us and others, badly, and that it is not necessary to go back, everything can be mended trying to improve in the following steps that are taken.
Let's stop being just that exposed piece that everyone visits. Lanzarote has life, and this glass case is suffocating us.