Network of Cultural Centres, Spanish Cooperation
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Closing concert of the Week of the Author, in the CCSMx Auditorium, 2014
The Mexican people are open and highly appreciative of the cultural riches of others. This is true to the extent that they incorporate these contributions into their own culture in an exercise of symbiosis, in the sense of a relationship of mutual support between people or entities, to achieve a common goal. That is the atmosphere in the CCSMx: two countries conjoined by their art and culture. And by a degree of coincidence or synchronicity that some might term “karma”. If there is something that really characterises the Centre and the people who work there, it is that they are very much aware of the ground beneath them, for which they have profound respect. This sacred land was home to the successive bloodlines and cultures of the Anahuac. In the ancient valley of Mexico, they built the great Tenochtitlan and the pillar of Mexican civilization, the magnificent Templo Mayor. For those who have let Mexico into their hearts, who have absorbed her culture, her music, her artists and customs …. her exultant markets replete with the colours, flavours and smells of the countryside, her spicy cuisine with endless varieties of chili peppers, her native language, Nahuatl…. for those who have trod her streets, sang rancheras with the Mariachi in their taverns and sensed the heartbeat of their land…. for all those people, respect for Mexican culture in all its manifestations is something that is mystical, sacred, shamanic and close to magic. It is no surprise that the CCSMx Site Museum, attached to the Templo Mayor, houses archaeological pieces from the ancient Toltec, Olmec, Aztec and Mexican civilisations that once inhabited the ancient Anahuac. Over these years I have attended various conferences and meetings at the CCSMx; of them all, let me make special mention of a talk offered by Carlos Ann on the terrace of the Centre and his poetic discussion with the awardwinning Argentine poet Juan Gelman. I also recall one of the most rewarding
