If there is a word that can define Pepe Dámaso, it is generosity. As an artist and as a human being, he has given so much to this land and its inhabitants that it would be very difficult to describe it in a few lines. With Pepe, the topics are not valid, because any commonplace transcends it.
He is, simply, great as a creator and as a man, and that greatness has led him to materialize the greatest act of love for his islands: to donate his work and his artistic collection to us, which is like saying to give us his entire existence.
Anyone who, at some point along the way, has met Pepe Dámaso knows what I'm talking about.
In each catalog of his work that he dedicated, he gave away a drawing. In every word that he has pronounced throughout these years, in public and in private, he has given lessons of life, knowledge of a man who, even knowing himself to be unique, amazes with the humility that only true geniuses have.
In my life I have had the enormous luck of being able to learn from many artists, relevant men and women, who have come from many parts of the world.
Among them, Pepe Dámaso has always left a deep mark on me, the profound and accurate impression of being before someone essentially good, who does not waste a single one of the words he pronounces, because they are all loaded with immortal truths, with respect for his roots, for the place where he was born and has developed most of his art.
The legacy that he wanted to leave to all the Canarians is, like him, universal. An incalculable treasure that we have a duty to protect and care for for future generations and that includes not only his own work, but also much of other artists, great like him, among whom is our remembered César Manrique, with whom he had a great friendship and whose epistolary relationship will become the heritage of all Canarians, who will be able to admire, in addition to the artist, the committed man.
My relationship with Pepe Dámaso has always been one of sincere affection. It couldn't be otherwise, because it's hard not to love Pepe. Funny, witty, very cultured, approachable... Our first meeting took place 30 years ago when, as a councilor for the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in 1985, César Manrique was precisely the author of the mythical poster that is still remembered. Pepe Dámaso was also there.
I cannot forget, either, when, on one of his visits to La Laguna, when I was mayor, we were in the old Convent of Santo Domingo and, with his special sensitivity, he conveyed to me his admiration for the building and for the city in which it is located.
Today, that the Government of the Canary Islands is the depositary of his legacy, and that the artist has expressed his desire that his work be distributed throughout each of the eight islands, including La Graciosa, I would love, and I know that it would be a great honor for the people of La Laguna, that the headquarters of his Museum in Tenerife be located in the only World Heritage city, which the artist loves so much.
Agaete, Canary Islands, the World... Pepe Dámaso's homeland is as big, as extensive as his work is. As important as he is himself. Pepe el de Elvira, José Dámaso for history, has once again drawn from his soul his love as a deep Canarian to give us a gift that cannot be measured and that is only explained when we understand that we are before a man who has been able to capture his heart's beauty in each of his works.
I write, without fear of being wrong, that my gratitude is today that of all the men and women of the Canary Islands.
Thank you, Pepe, because there will be no words that can express or encompass the greatness of your art, of your detached spirit and of your condition as a good Canarian.
Ana María Oramas, deputy of Coalición Canaria-Nueva Canarias