February 2019 | Social-cultural Project. Recovering cultural spaces

In May of 1956 a inspiring corner of the spanish city of Cuenca was baptized as Jardín de los Poetas (Garden of the Poets) by a group of poets. The City Council of Cuenca, under the expectation of these poets and artists planned to turn the tower of San Gil and the garden into a cultural center with a public library, where poets and artists could find an inspiring place to create, write and meet all together.

A year later, after a memorable literary night, the dream of enabling this garden for culture and art was almost fulfilled.

 

“Ni biblioteca vino, ni llegaron visitantes ni, por repetir, se repitieron versos. Aquellos días le repetía machaconamente a Florencio Cañas que se dieran prisa, que lo hicieran todo, que lo que ellos no llevaran a término ahí se quedaría y así fue, así pasó”

 

"No library came, nor did visitors arrive, nor, to repeat, verses were repeated. During those days I repeated insistently to Florencio Cañas,  the culture's councilor, that they would hurry, they would do everything, because what they did not finish there would stay and that's how it was." The poet Carlos de la Rica wrote these words years later referring to this project.

 

In 2015, 63 years later, the rehabilitation works of the Garden of the Poets and the old church San Gil Tower were resumed with a budget of € 300,000.

In 2019 the tower is rehabilitated and the space recovered, but for whom?

Since the work was finished the building is full of rubbish and debris that the rehabilitating work left behind. It is the house of doves and the nothing.

 

 

My project is a campaign for poets, artists and neighbors of the city come together and claim this space as a public center. So the people of Cuenca can give a public use to this space and the artists find here a space to create, meet, share and exhibit their art. Workshops, music, poetry, ateliers, everything could fit here!

Use it as a dynamic space where culture and art are the protagonist.

Because in the times that we are living, we must be give a lot of importance to culture. Culture and art must be saved. It takes a place for this to happen.

 

Any person who is interested on join the project receive a templates (bellow) to draw or write on it their ideas, dreams and projects for this space.

All the petitions will be send to the City Hall as a common project of the citizens of Cuenca.