Achievements and realizations

PROMETEO Magazine was founded in Medellín in 1982 by Fernando Rendón. 108 issues have been published in the past years, some of which are dedicated to aboriginal poetry of the Americas, African poetry, Algerian, Argentine, Chilean, Polish, Vietnamese and French poets, and also to specific themes such as poems about the universe, poetry itself, work and play, madness, dreams and nightmares, the elements, war and paradise.

Each year, a special issue is published dedicated to previously unpublished poems of established contemporary poets who take part in the International Poetry Festival of Medellín, organised by PROMETEO; over the years, these issues form a kind of anthology of contemporary poetry.

From the very beginning, the philosophy of PROMETEO has focused on promoting the diffusion of contemporary poetry of all generations, but it has also been a reflection of the diversity of poetic expression over the centuries, traditions and cultures, bringing the world of poetry closer to our daily lives, and to the struggle of the millions of people who demand an end to war and injustice, and the beginning of paradise.

This concern lead to the founding of the International Poetry Festival of Medellín by PROMETEO in 1991, the PROMETEO Corporation of Art and Poetry in 1993 and the Poetry School of Medellín in 1996.

Achievements and Realizations

Poetic Actions

• 27 annual Festivals since 1991, in which more than 1.349 poets form 167 countries have participated. The festival has organize more than 1.520 collective poetry readings in 36 Colombian cities, among them: Medellín, Armenia, Barrancabermeja, Barranquilla, Bogotá, Bucaramanga, Cali, Cartagena, Cartago, Cúcuta, Ibagué, Leticia, Manizales, Pereira, Popayán, Quibdó, Santa Marta, San Andrés y Providencia, Tuluá, Tunja, Turbo, Valledupar, Villavicencio, among others. Poetry readings have been held in indoor and outdoor auditoriums, in streets, parks, bridges, slum neighborhoods, universities, libraries, theatres, trade union and co-operative buildings, high schools, cultural centers, bars, open fields, coliseums, shopping malls, metro stations, museums, factories, churches, jails, hospitals, hilltops, ecological reservations and in the city planetarium.


• International Exhibitions of Poetry Books and Magazines, in the context of the Festival, which facilitated the community's access to fundamental poetic works, published by such prestigious publishers. during the Festival, that has facilitated the community's access to fundamental poetic works, published by the most prestigious publishing houses of Hispanic-America.


• Since 1986, annual auspice of the Poetry Prize the Gaceta de Cuba. Call for the International Poetry Award by Prometeo Magazine for Books Published in Spanish (currently on its second version), the Latin American Poetry Prize City of Medellin (on its sixth version), National Poetry Prize (fourth versions), and to the Prize of Stimulus to Young Poetry of Medellin (sixth version).


• The First International Experimental Poetry Exhibition in 2001, with visual, phonetic and performance poetry.




Publications and Communications

• The publication of PROMETEO magazine, founded in 1982, with 105 issues to date and 21 books of poetry, publishing collection Prometeo Series Hipnos, including titles Entre presencias visibles e invisibles, one map of the world poetry, 230 poets from 155 countries; and El imposible realizado, official memory of 25 years of the International Festival of Poetry of Medellin. These books can be read on internet, only in Spanish.


• Edition and inclusion one unique worldwide poetry anthology at Internet, with more than 848 videos with 797 poets from 161 countries of five continents, 33 original nations, in 75 languages, subtitled in Spanish. They are published online at Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/revistaprometeo and have been visited by more than one million visitors. At Prometeo´s Web at: http://www.festivaldepoesiademedellin.org/pub.php/es/Multimedia/index.htm.


• Editing of anthologies of documentaries focusing on the International Poetry Festival of Medellin. To date, the entity has edited (in DVCam format) a series of 17 poetry documentaries, under the title "Time of Poetry . They were premiered at the XIII International Poetry Festival of Medellin and were shown on Colombian and Venezuelan television Tiempo de Poesía In Spanish.


• Development, since 1997, of the Festival website (www.festivaldepoesiademedellin.org ) that brings together the achievements and publications of the Corporation. Also have the festivalpoesiamed facebook fan page has over 150,000 followers.


• The recording of CD's. In 2000, a double CD was recorded which narrates a history of the Festival, and is at once an oral anthology of contemporary world poetry, read by the participating poets of the first nine Festivals.


• Prometeo has published an anthological Cd Rom with poems at video, audio and text, photos and biographies form 216 poets from 113 countries.


• Editing, in two languages (Spanish-English), of the Colombian poetry page for Poetry International in Rotterdam, in which more than 70 Colombian poets have already been included.




Pedagogical Work

• 21 versions of the Poetry School of Medellin (founded in 1996) in with more than 101 free courses have been taught to nearly 16.660 students, as well as 120 conferences, conversations and workshops given by established poets of the Americas, Europe and Asia. This activity has generated a new creative space for the young people of Medellin.


• Realization of the Gulliver Project consists of workshops of literary appreciation, reading stimulation and poetic creation, for 400 children from public schools, in 16 communes (collections of neighborhoods) in the city of Medellin. Currently, from 2011, the Gulliver Project has been supported by Swiss Foundation Alta Mane and Alta Mane Italy.


• Reading Stimulation, Poetry Appreciation and Literary Creation Workshops since 1992, intended for young poets, teachers, students and children from different areas of Medellin and Antioquia.



Struggle for Peace

• Realization, in 2003, of the I World Summit of Poetry for the Peace of Colombia, in which participated as presenters both Colombian and foreign poets, as well as members of NGO’s of human rights, and some ministers and vice ministers of culture of Latin American area who exposed on the following issues: Culture and globalization, The writer and politics, Forced displacement, Biodiversity, human and cultural rights, and finally, The armed conflict as seen by the Colombian poets.

  
  
• The active coordination of projects of solidarity with our country, deeply affected by a more than forty-year civil war, presented in different campaigns searching the reopening of dialogue among the enemies. The international circulation of an open letter to the governments of the world, signed by 900 poets and writers of 115 countries, in an attempt to encourage the peace process in Colombia.



Globalization of Poetry

• Direct assessment to the Venezuelan Ministry of Culture for the creation of World Poetry Festival in 2004. Prometeo has helped to born and development of Poetry Festivals at Rosario (Argentina), San Salvador (El Salvador), San José (Costa Rica), Granada (Nicaragua), San Juan (Puerto Rico), Auckland (New Zealand) and Itinerant Poetry Festival of Africa.


• It has contributed to the establishment of the World Poetry Movement on 2011. WPM consists on coordination of 126 international poetry festivals, 126 poetry projects and 1.300 poets from 137 countries, general coordination is developed by Prometeo. It has developed ten Global Actions from its origin.



Awards and Honours

• At September, 2006, the Right Livelihood Award has decided to grant the 2006 Alternative Nobel Peace Prize to the International Poetry Festival of Medellín "for showing how creativity, beauty, free expression and community can flourish amongst and overcome even deeply entrenched fear and violence", among 73 candidates of 40 nations, activists for truth, peace and social justice.


• In 2006 and 2010 also was awarded the Order of the Festival Council Juan del Corral de Medellín in the gold category. In 2008, the festival director, Fernando Rendón, on behalf of the Festival received the highest award the Congress of the Republic of Colombia in the degree Commander. In 2010 the Festival received the Order of Cultural Merit Barbajacob Porfirio, the Mayor of Medellin.


• In 2005 Prometeo received an honourable distinction: the Prize to the best cultural project that Hivos supports in Latin America.


• In March 2009, the Constitutional Court of Colombia, after a tortuous process of two years, declared executable the Law of the Congress of the Republic declaring the International Poetry Festival of Medellín a Cultural Heritage of the Nation.

Organizations that have supported Prometeo

Mayor Office Municipality of Medellin, Secretary of Culture of Medellin, Ministry of Culture of Colombia, Zhongkun Group (China), Institute Hivos (Netherlands), Government of Norway, Government of Venezuela, Prince Claus Foundation (Netherlands), Government of Switzerland, Prohelvetia Foundation (Switzerland) , Spanish Agency for Development Cooperation (AECID), Fundación 2012 Fundazioa (Bilbao), Ford Foundation, Mama Cash, German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (COSUDE), Foundation Alta Mane Foundation ( Switzerland-Italy), UNDP, UNESCO, Cordaid, DOEN Foundation, Novib, Cultures of Resistance Network (USA), Heinrich Boell Foundation (Germany), Organisation internationale de la Francophonie -OIF- (France), among others.

Locally the: Financial Cooperative Confiar, Coofinep, Empresas Publicas de Medellin EPM; Antioquia Governor, Institute of Culture and Heritage of Antioquia, University of Antioquia, CES University, UNAULA, Sena, the Metropolitan area of ​​the Aburrá Valley, some municipalities of Antioquia and mayors and governors of Colombia, Universities, Educational Institutions, Cultural and artistic ONGs

Updated at September 23rd, 2016