No, this is not a year for celebrations. The COVID-19 pandemic has been, and is being, very hard on the whole society. And of course, also with culture. Cultural spaces closed for many months, and limited capacity at present, are significantly punishing the sector. I am aware of this complex situation that culture is going through, both on our island and at a regional, national and international level.
Although, logically, the Island Council has had to dedicate great budgetary efforts to alleviate the economic and social crisis derived from the health crisis, from the Government Group we have tried to maintain and program cultural activity in various formats, adapting to the health situation of the moment. From here I want to thank all the staff of the Area for their dedication and effort in tremendously complex times. Also to the cultural sector that, as in previous crises, has been proactive, constructive and with the necessary capacity to adapt to the "new normality" that the pandemic has imposed on us.
Our data says that from January to mid-March of this year, the Culture Area of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, programmed a total of 47 events. On March 13 we were forced to cancel "Pending Premiere", thus beginning the stoppage. At the end of July we were able to restart the activity, planning 6 films, 3 plays and circus as well as 2 musical performances. In this last quarter of 2020, after resuming activity in our spaces after the forced stoppage in September, we have programmed 49 events. In total, 111 cultural events in the 25 weeks that we have been able to plan in person.
In addition to the activities organized directly by the Cabildo, we have maintained support for all the meetings that in recent years have been a reference on the island, in such a way that we have been able to celebrate the 20th Lanzarote Film Festival, the 8th Festival of the Told Tale - Words to the wind, the 6th edition of the Animayo Animation Festival, a new and adapted version of Arrecife en Vivo and Sonidos Líquidos. Also the 5th edition of the Meeting of Photography and Visual Arts of Lanzarote - Veintinuevetrece and the 10th Lanzarote Film Exhibition.
We have had the honor of working with more than one hundred creators, most of them local. Also, we have been present in all the municipalities thanks to the City Councils and Canarias Cultura en Red. And among all of us, we are providing coverage to companies and freelancers in the sector. Printers, graphic designers, lighting and sound technicians, audiovisuals, hosts, web developers, photographers, community managers, actors, actresses, in short, a small but firm network of cultural professionals, thus putting our grain of sand in the necessary economic reactivation of the island and therefore, of the cultural sector.
In addition to all this, we must not forget that during the months of confinement and de-escalation, the activity focused on the digital format, with an abundant offer on our website and on social networks, so that the public could enjoy it from home safely.
In the Culture Area we did not miss the opportunity to talk with the entire sector, scheduling an extensive calendar of videoconferences for this. Creators and cultural institutions, freelancers and companies, public and private entities, local and regional, professionals and amateurs, musicians and visual artists, set designers and literary artists, folklorists and curators took part in these videoconferences.
Among all, with a vindictive, combative and above all constructive attitude, the foundations of a document were laid, which we will soon return to all those who have worked on it so that they can make their final contributions, and which I am convinced will be a guide in the next decade.
The year 2021 is full of uncertainties but, without a doubt, we will be facing "the beginning of the end" of the health crisis that has radically changed our way of life, our way of relating and that has taken away part of the cultural fabric. It is the duty of the Cabildo, as well as the rest of the public administrations, to provide decisive support to the local cultural sector, through a determined and ambitious strategy that supports the cultural industry of Lanzarote. All this without forgetting the necessary inclusion of regional, national or international activities and contents, since these contribute to enrich, in variety, diversity and formation, both the public and the local agents and actors themselves.
In any case, uncertainties are still looming on the horizon, what will happen with the capacity in theaters and cultural centers? What will happen with the big events? Without a doubt, these are some of the questions that, for now, it is not possible to answer. These should be resolved as we overcome the pandemic.
This is not a year for celebrations. No, it is not. But as a professional in the sector told me these days: "Although there is nothing to celebrate, maintaining activity, maintains the illusion".
Alberto Aguiar Lasso, Minister of Culture of the Cabildo de Lanzarote.