On July 30, 2018, Law No. 21,099 was published in the Official Gazette, establishing April 15 as National Day of Peace through Culture, Arts and Heritage. A date that has its genesis in 1935 in the Treaty on the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historic Monuments, also known as the Roerich Pact signed by Latin American nations together with the United States. It established that historical monuments, museums, scientific, artistic, educational and cultural institutions must be protected, both in times of peace and war.
“It is important that peace is recognized as a social state to which all countries of the world should aspire, and that culture, arts and heritage are seen as ways to rediscover it and contribute to transmit its value is obviously relevant for us. Culture unites nations, creativity allows us to break down barriers and the arts are a territory for expression, so it makes a lot of sense to link them to the value of peace”, said the Seremi of Cultures, Arts and Heritage of the Los Rios Region, Helmuth Palma.
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The local authority also stressed that in times of the pandemic, cultural manifestations have been vital to overcome periods of confinement, being a particularly positive virtual meeting space for children and young people. “What would quarantine have been without a book to read, a movie to watch or music to listen to? In that sense, as a result of the pandemic, as a ministry we have promoted an important digital culture agenda, where we have made available to the public content created by Chilean artists, for example, through the national audiovisual broadcasting platform Ondamedia, the Digital Public Library, Elige Cultura, the virtual museum platform and also many local contents through our social networks and web platforms Red Aliwen and Comunidad Creativa Los Ríos. I believe that even the pandemic has been an opportunity to demonstrate how important culture is for our lives and that citizens can value the work and craft of artists from different sectors, who have been tremendously affected during this period”, mentioned Palma.
It is worth remembering that next May a new Cultural Heritage Day will be celebrated, where the authority called on the community to value our identity and shared heritage, “which goes beyond valuing buildings or monuments, which are important to safeguard, but only acquire life through the relationship and appropriation that people and communities make of them”, added Palma.
We salute the Asociación Patrimonial Cultural de la Región de Los Ríos on this Day of Peace through Culture, the Arts and Heritage, as we understand that its very existence responds to the spirit of collaboration for the safeguarding and enhancement of the heritage and cultural identity of our region. This speaks to us of how the Regional Government, the municipalities, the public sector, the private sector and the creative sectors represented in the association, among many other actors, make their efforts available to work for the social and cultural development of our territories, which undoubtedly contributes to a state of social peace”, Helmuth Palma, Seremi of Cultures, Arts and Heritage of the Los Rios Region”.
