Report 26º Medellin International Poetry Festival
Report 26º Medellin International Poetry Festival
June 18 to 25th 2016
Memory of Eleusis - Homage to Arthur Rimbaud
The 26th International Poetry Festival of Medellín manifested itself in the poetic dimension of reconciliation, embrace and renewed friendship. A lucid community was convened in 165 acts, producing a new song that celebrates life in a city full of panic and fractured love; its massive response was a reaffirmation of the advance of the collective deployment of a spirit of peace and coexistence, strengthened by the momentum of poetic word.
Two celebrations were conveners: the deepening of the rites of Eleusis, as one of the keys of the cultural process of the West, and the tribute to Jean-Arthur Rimbaud, the poet of Illuminations, who guided the poets who came after his brief life through a thorny path: to become seers.
The Festival promoted a stimulating dialogue between cultures far removed from each other, involving 110 poets from 35 countries on five continents. Representatives of American Indian peoples and other poets from non-Western nations, offered a stark contrast as well as a dialogue on essential points with the authors from the West, drawing attention to a target that was applied in the rich development of the Festival: the need for a new beginning of culture through the poetic word.
There was an excellent organization of the event, the massive and fervent participation of a mostly young audience. The community of Medellin proved its high quality, as an active population in all poetic events, with a high level of listening and understanding of the contents and nuances of poetic expression. It was demonstrated that the large number of people attending the call, consolidate ever more lucidly their renewed sensitivity, their desire to be open to a new moment of our destiny as a community that transforms and enriches its sensitivity.
General Structure
165 acts were carried out in closed auditoriums and outdoor venues, streets, parks, neighborhoods and displaced settlements, universities, libraries, theaters, union halls and cooperative society halls, cultural centers, shopping malls, museums, both in Medellin’s city center and in venues of the 16 communes of the city of Medellin in five districts, in some municipalities of Antioquia and in four cities of Colombia.
The foundation of the 26th International Poetry Festival of Medellín was the poetic dimension of peace and reconciliation. This atmosphere covered the Festival, with the support of 165 activities: courses, screenings, documentaries, public events that spread to other cities, and other related activities accompanying the Gulliver Project, focused on the training of children in marginalized neighborhoods in Medellin.
There were poetry readings and training activities carried out by poets invited to the Festival, under the framework of the 20th International Poetry School of Medellin that developed five courses, 10 workshops, 15 conferences and four panels.
Participating poets were: Ali AlHazmi (Saudi Arabia), Hugo Mujica, Graciela Maturo, Carolina Zamudio (Argentina), Judith Crispin (Australia), Jian Rufeng (Popular Republic of China); Colombian poet José Luis Tahua Garcés, Winner of the IInd National Prize Medellin International Poetry Festival; Luz Dary Peña, Guillermo Linero, Danny Yecid León, finalists; Juan Carlos Galeano, Pablo Montoya, Tarsicio Valencia, Rubén Darío Lotero, Luis Arturo Restrepo, Héctor Cañón, Albeiro Montoya, Fátima Vélez, Fredy Yezzed, María Cecilia Muñoz, Marisol Bohórquez, Robert Max Stenkist, Annabel Manjarrés, Ana María Bustamante, Hugo Oquendo, George Mario Ángel, Leo Castillo, Sore Snid, Manuela Gónima, Andrés Uribe, Hanna Escobar (Colombia); Israel Dominguez (Cuba, Winner of the Prize Magazine Gaceta - Magazine Prometeo, 2016), Gibi Bacilio (Curacao), Adriana Paredes Pinda (Mapuche Nation, Chile), Dane TS Hawk (Denmark), Marianela Medrano (Dominican Republic), Raúl Vallejo (Ecuador), Deeb (Egypt), William Alfaro (El Salvador), Alain Borer (France), Hatto Fischer, Björn Kuhligk (Germany), Keki Daruwalla (India), Duna Ghali (Iraq), Emilio Coco (Italy), Akbar Ryskulov (Kyrgyzstan), Ashur Etwebi (Libya), Aicha Bassry (Morocco), Mikeas Sanchez (Zoque Nation, Mexico), Terje Dragseth (Norway), Manipiniktinikinia (Tule Kuna Nation-Panama), Krystyna Dabrowska (Poland), Barbara Pogacnik (Slovenia), Juan Carlos Mestre, Samir Delgado (Spain), Jochen Kelter, Augusta Laar (Switzerland); Gcina Mhlophe (South Africa), Koulsy Lamko (Tchad), Juliane Okot Bitek (Uganda), Isabel Crooke Ellison (United Kingdom), Gustavo Pereira, Freddy Ñañez, Adhely Rivero, Antonio Trujillo (Venezuela), Corade Faso (Zimbabwe).
Communicational Impact And Outreach
Free press work was developed in the media: radio, newspaper, television, web and social media. Free press coverage in the media is summarized here
An editorial and audiovisual line was developed. Printed collections were published, consisting of an anthology of works by poets participating in the Festival. The anthology was published in the Poetry Magazine Prometeo # 104-105; two promotional videos and four radio spots were made. 150,000 handbills and 5,000 posters were printed and distributed in the city and among the audience and a promotional campaign was carried out on the web, on social media and among the corporation’s contacts.
Published on August 22nd, 2016
