Celebration of the Bicentennial of Cuenca by pure book
Within the framework of the Bicentennial of Independence of Cuenca, the Publishing House of the University of Azuay presented five books, one book per day from November 16 to 20.
The first work was the launch of the second edition of the book "Julián en el Barranco", by Alexandra Moreno.
"The more opportunities we have to read, the more possibilities we will have to understand the world," said Francisco Salgado, Rector of the University of Azuay, when opening the event and the week of literary launches.
The first edition of Julián en el Barranco was published in 2007, in the city of Quito and it is a children's story about interculturality.
Cristian Alvarracín, illustrator of the work, defined Julián's character as “Cuenca's inner child” and highlighted the fact that the illustrations were made by hand.
Juan Carlos Astudillo, member of the House of Ecuadorian Culture, Literature section, was invited to comment on the book, and defined it as "a book that opens the doors to profound interpretations of our own identity."
Alexandra Moreno, the author of the work, later explained that this new edition fulfills the purpose that more and more children can learn about the history of the city of Cuenca, above all, love its rivers and nature.
Finally, Tamara Landívar, director of Culture of the Municipality of Cuenca, on behalf of the mayor, highlighted the importance of the work in rescuing the cultural and architectural heritage of Cuenca.
Bridges
The second release, on Tuesday 17, was the book "Encounter with a woman on a sandy beach in Cuenca", written by Gary Victor.
The event was organized by the University of Azuay, its Publishing House, the French Alliance and the Embassy of Haiti.
According to Francisco Salgado, Rector of the UDA, the work is a sample of the “ability that literature gives us to inhabit different worlds that, when narrated with great skill, become completely credible”.
Cecilia Andrade, President of the Board of the French Alliance, pointed out that Victor is one of the most influential writers in Haiti, recognized for his literary style and the nature of his creations.
During the event, through a video, Tania Sarmiento, Manager of the Inca Real Hotel, narrated the story behind the mural that inspired the author to create the novel. The painting “was made approximately 150 years ago by Quito artists. She is a beautiful lady who looks out to sea ”.
The presentation of the book was in charge of Christian Toussaint, Minister Counselor in charge of business of the Embassy of Haiti in Ecuador, who indicated that one way to unite and build bridges between distant peoples is "through culture and literature." .
The inspiration that Victor found in Cuenca brought it to the people of Haiti, and by reading the work, Haitians will be able to travel to this city without leaving its borders, added Toussaint.
Finally, through a video, Victor thanked the support received and invited to discover his novel.
1947
On Wednesday, November 18, it was the turn of the book 1947, by the authors Santiago Vanegas, Carlos Espinoza, Alexis Shulman, Mishel Guillén and María Delia Bermeo, which received recognition for its quality at the Quito BAQ 2020 Biennial.
Santiago Vanegas, on behalf of all the authors, commented that for this project he had the support of five researchers and 11 professors from the chairs of the Architectural Projects Workshop, Landscape Architecture and Urbanism of the 4th, 7th and 8th cycles of the Architecture of the UDA and about 186 students.
1947 proposes a theoretical model that, based on the relationship between the Cuenca land use plan made by Gilberto Gatto Sobral in 1947, the Quito Plan created by Jones Odriozola in 1945, and its theoretical referents proposes seven city principles.
This model is used in the Architectural Projects Workshops of the School of Architecture of the University of Azuay, thus generating projects of a hypothetical, future and utopian city.
The Rector of the UDA commented that “when the project was presented a year ago, we made the reflection, together with the authorities of the University, comparing 1947 with Orwell's 1984, since they had both ends of imagining a different world. 1984 is a dystopia that can be reached when the way to control is through that big brother figure. While 1947 would be the other extreme, a utopia, a transfer to a different time and space ”.
Salgado added that “as we continued reflecting, we realized that 1947 goes even further, it is a eutopia, a good place, and that is what architects and urban planners want to do, is to dedicate their lives to create a good place to serve of room for the family, the city and the population ”.
The launch was attended by Shayarina Monard, professor and researcher at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, who, virtually, commented on the work.
Monard indicated that the book alludes to the first regulatory plan of Cuenca, and becomes a reason to reflect on the city since "the city is the space of modern being, it is our space, the space that in this confinement we claim and miss ”.
200 years
On Thursday 19, “Cuenca 200 Years Sovereign: Chronicles, Biographies, Myths and Legends” was launched, by the author Gloria Riera, an exercise in collective memory that brings together 12 chronicles, 12 biographies and 12 stories, myths and legends that have starred and shaped the scenes of the city throughout his sovereign life.
This work has texts that are accompanied by illustrations, which describe visual imaginaries.
This book begins a few years before the end of colonialism, where an emancipatory atmosphere was radiated, until today.
Ana María Tripaldi, Director of Culture of the University of Azuay, commented that the objective of the creation of this book is to preserve the memory of myths and legends, especially of the youngest.
Gloria Riera, author, pointed out that "Cuenca is made of those pieces and images that dust off memories and nuance memories."
Gabriela Cordero, on behalf of all the illustrators who collaborated in this work, explained for her part that an illustrator becomes a translator, who is able to capture with a unique style and visually give life to each character, giving them an identity and a characteristic of its own.
Manuela
The launch week ended with the book "Manuela, the brightness of Independence" by the authors Santiago Vanegas, Camila Peña and Cristian Ablarracín.
It is an illustrated story that tells the Independence Day of Cuenca -November 3, 1820- through the stories of Manuela, a girl from Cuenca who magically travels and lives the search for freedom through fantastic events, the love for his mother and the strength of the patriots.
Through games and experimentation, Manuela reconstructs Cuenca's past with her heroes, who are the characters, and with her mother María, who instills the values and concepts of the time.
The authors of the work come from very different disciplines:
Santiago Vanegas is the Coordinator of the School of Architecture of the University of Azuay; Camila Peña is a graduate of the UDA School of Communication and recent winner of the second prize for Spanish-American poetry “Francisco Ruiz Udiél”, and Cristian Albarracín is a graphic designer and multimedia designer from our University.
"We are very excited about this great project for the little ones, which is pure creativity," said Santiago Vanegas, on behalf of the authors.
This work seeks to reach as many children as possible since it is written in French, Kichwa, English and Italian, and was also developed as an audiobook.
One of the voices that gave life to the book was that of Ana Luz Borrero, Director of the History and Geography career at the University of Cuenca, who stated:
"I understand fiction, I am a lover of fiction, but coming from history I want fiction to have some truth and this is the case, it is a beautiful proposal where history is respected."
At the end of this week, the Rector of the UDA concluded that “it is a celebration that the Academy can have this lavish production, which is made possible on this date of the bicentennial of Cuenca, based on the work of many months of some working groups that they have come together to make the presentation of these books possible ”.
If you want to access the books, you can do so through the following link: https://publicaciones.uazuay.edu.ec/index.php/ceuazuay/catalog/view/140…
UDA Correspondents
