Antigua
From a global perspective Guatemala is archeologically, historically, and culturally one of humanities greatest treasures. However, the vast majority of Guatemalans are unaware that one of the primary material and immaterial assets and potential sources of wealth IS the country’s unique and extraordinary ‘Culture’. As a third world country in development, being unable to meet the basic requirements, Guatemala only has four UNESCO World Heritage sites while an additional 21 identified sites have remained ‘pending’ on the list for years. Antigua became a UNESCO Patrimony to Humanity World Heritage Site in 1979.
Albeit Antigua is a major player in the global travel scene, the city has remained unbelievably neglected considering it is such an important national and international focal point. Although it is among the top recommended cities to visit in Central America, is the number one destination in the country, somehow it has been entirely overlooked the past 40 years. Neither private investors, nor the national and international government aid has been directed towards Antigua for it to reach its potential to become the shining star of Guatemala.
Pre COVID Antigua’s ratio of residents to tourists’ numbers had been higher than some of the worlds’ largest cities including Bangkok, Paris, London, and New York. Antigua weighed in at 45,000 residents per 2.6 million visitors. Antigua receives little reciprocity from the national government even though it is the top generator of tourism income in National Tourism 7.5% GDP (compared to incoming International Remittances from Guatemalans abroad at 10% of the GDP suggesting a possible lack of interest to proactively end migration given its financial benefit to the country.) Insufficient funding to Antigua means the city is slow to improve the integrity of the physical structures of its monuments and to comply with UNESCO guidelines. As a result it is at risk of losing its World Heritage Site title if actions are not taken towards its protection, and conservation.
Although National Geographic and the New York Times frequently feature Antigua, you don’t have to be here long to see the discrepancy in information vs. the reality. Antigua is deficient of internal infrastructure to support its level of tourism. Despite the fact that anyone who comes to Guatemala comes to Antigua (frequently being our visitors’ only stop), insufficient activities and cultural offerings unfortunately results that our visitors only stay for a maximum average of two days. Regrettably, the city simply has not been developed to take full advantage of its position, leaving few options of things for our visitors to see or do. Generally lacking in coordination and network systems, endless opportunities to demonstrate and highlight a much broader spectrum of Guatemalan culture continues to be passed up. Barely any visible online information has been generated by locals. What one finds has been put together primarily by foreigners and travelers.
It is beyond our comprehension that the Arts have not been integrated to Antigua’s forefront. To date the city has had NO Public Arts representation, no Cultural Affairs Department Offices/ers or Arts & Cultural Sector infrastructure. Case studies of other cities which have undergone a “Cultural and Creative Intervention” prove this is an inconceivable oversight with countless social and economic losses. Take Bilbao for example, UNESCO ‘Creative Cities’ states “These joint efforts have resulted in the transformation of Bilbao into a vibrant and dynamic city with major cultural facilities contributing to the economy in terms of wealth creation, employment and social well-being.” The same could be said of San Miguel de Allende in Mexico.
Over the last decades, most of the central colonial homes have been transformed into spaces that financially depend upon and accommodate facets of a bustling touristic city. Right now, empty buildings and available for rent signs, dot every street. With hundreds of business closing permanently, the question of the disproportionate amount of restaurants and memorabilia shops has been brutally resolved. Spatial organization of the city center, its use, as well as addressing urban strategies that protect the patrimony and its standing as a heritage site are essential.
The predictability of the pattern of development is clearly demonstrated by many cities around the world which gives us living example of what we can expect to see happen with Antigua. Currently in a state of abandon, infusion of arts and culture, along with Inter –Sector collaboration Sectors, draws investment interest, becomes the choice home to the younger international expats and wealthy nationals from Guatemala City seeking an alternative tranquil trendy life in close proximity and commute to the city. Eventually, in the years to come, Antigua becomes home to educated millionaires with interest in culture, the capacity to invest and maintain the conservation and permanent ambiance of Antigua. The more affordable urban townships grow as they absorb the lower and middle economic class. Destinations surrounding Antigua become additional secondary cultural hubs and the poorest continue to get pushed to the fringes.
As we are at a beginning place, we hypothetically could chose to do things conscientiously, create socially responsible forms and models that take into consideration all of the socio economic demographics. We could turn the city into the nation’s Monuments and Museums Cultural Center. This is our chance. This is our window of opportunity, and it’s only going to happen once. So how we choose to proceed right now is critical, and we must get as many people on board as possible.
As the government is frequently unable to follow through projects proposals within their fiscal timeframes, due to elections, change of office heads of departments, lengthy bureaucratic procedures, interdepartmental system failings, extortion, etc. we do not have the luxury of having or depending on a supportive government systems has meant more citizens based organizational sub programs are emerging to carry responsibility, create new infrastructures, and leverage the community through initiatives build on personal and direct connection to the issues that need to be resolved.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
We need to convince Civil Society, Policy Makers, and Government how Art plays a role in Economic Recovery, and begin to build data to be able to prove the actual impact numbers.
Given the Arts & Culture are Guatemala’s primary feature; we firmly believe it must become the centric idea and component to be able to end migration, poverty and instability. Immediately prioritization must be given to organization and placement of creativity and cultural industries as the core of development strategies, to make our communities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
Despite that across the board the vast majority agree, recognize, and widely speak with fanfare about artists, Art and Culture, there are basically NO national structures that exist to support them. If the arts and culture are Guatemalans highlight, hence the arts should be the highest funded instead of the least. It could be debated that the arts might be ‘non-essential’ in Guatemala, given its plethora of known issues, including having the highest rates of migration, poverty and malnutrition in the region. However the root solution is also revealed in the fact that worldwide we can observe the global fascination with this Mayan land’s Arts & Culture…
Antigua relies over 80% on its tourist industry as a living monuments city. Our residents depend on employment in tourism related service jobs in the city center. The regular baseline median reality is the majorities of our community live in the outskirt townships in near to severe poverty. With many people living in near to extreme poverty on less than $1.90 a day, we need to develop a new form of commitment to society. The future of all Guatemalans depends on sustaining it internally as quickly as possible with local solutions, which empower the local community.
Artists and cultural organizers are able to offer professional guidance and implementation of structure which can help create art and culture as a national public asset. We need to consider breaking away from traditional methods and structures of the of exhibiting art market, collectors, Galleries, Museums, fairs, and look at alternative ways that fit the countries actual situation.
The arts sector has the capacity to create a new drive and source of local economy. It can provide hundreds to thousands of new jobs and resources which stay in the community. With increase of public spaces, museums, public cultural events, exhibitions, an organized calendar of day and evening activities the arts sector the ability to stabilize and grow to be able to generate billions of legitimate dollars for Guatemalans in and for Guatemala.
By integrating an Arts & Cultural Sector we increase and diversify the types of activities and interests in our city. We offer people the opportunity to have meaningful novelty cultural experiences. We appeal to a broader range of visitors to stay for more than the current maximum two day average. By stimulating a new industry we multiply our cities revenue over the coming years, given the impact it also offers to all the other industries, tour companies, hotels, food industry, and more.
While the government has to use allocated funding for projects within the fiscal year and have to be reinstated, many potential government projects are never brought to completion. Collaborative alliances open new opportunities for both the private and business sectors. With a defective government sector, citizen based initiatives are truly the only successful way to aide resolve, address, fund, and support the resolution of specific issues the country is facing. We need to engage the Business Sector and create a trend which others may follow in putting resources to powering national community based initiatives that have the potential to boost internal long term infrastructural solutions.
The Arts produce the Cultural change, that will lead to produce Social change, which is necessary for political, economic, and policy change.
Major businesses and organizations around the world recognize ‘the Creative’ as one of their most valuable members and assets with responsibility to bring forward new proposals and ideas. Creativity is often also the least nurtured, supported, appreciated and funded in the current system. If we seek to impact this generation and the generations to come, we must invest in living examples of creativity and creative in action. We must offer the opportunity of dreaming, imagining, contemplating, sparking chains of new ideas, perceptions, and solutions.
Governments change, leaders come and go, but the Arts remain as permanent documentation of our cultures, our people, our leaders, and our humanity. The Arts create visual cues as a reflection of the ‘soul’ state of modern society. When we are exposed to art, we open ourselves to creative, innovative thinking that inspires us to see the world in new and different ways. Creativity is the motor of evolution, whether that is in technological development, architecture, the arts, science, and cuisine, the design of a new car or anything which has never been done before. Our universal human curiosity to solve a question, our willingness to ask ‘what if’, and the contagious effect of imagination result in trips to the moon, and innovative new ways to do something differently. We must look past what is there and envision what could be there.
The arts speak to a universal and ancient innate sense in every human being. Although making art is one of the oldest human manifestations, neurologically and scientifically what happens in our brains, as a curative medium, and when we experience art, is still a relatively new field of discovery. We know through history of the connection between art and spirituality. When attuned we also universally recognize the feelings of awe, curiosity, enhancement, presence, expansiveness, timelessness, splendor, and perhaps sometimes even guttural reaction art can cause. It does something to us, regardless of who we are, or where we come from.
We must provide people of all ages and backgrounds an up close opportunity to engage and interact with art. Showing the work examples of creatives is essential to inspire the up the coming generation of innovators, problem solvers and critical thinkers that are needed to advance the nation. In order to shift the popular mindsets of poverty, we need to support, encourage, and empower national influencers who have the ability to set new trends through positive examples.
In order to break the cycle of disempowered, acknowledge and recognition is a first step. To be ‘seen’ by others is one of the most important social aspects of human wellbeing. In promoting the arts by local artists we are creating a feeling of personal connection and homemade pride. We are creating new environments for people to be able to experience a cross cultural neutral environment where people from all backgrounds and walks of life may share a moment in time out of time.
Lack of exposure and access to the arts combined with small exclusive inaccessible closed circles result in a contained to a limited few who know and value the wealth and history art in Guatemala. Public Art gives the opportunity for Guatemalan artists work to be visible to many people who would not otherwise ever see it. At the same time we propel Guatemalan artists to create quality Public Art works, receive due support, visibility, and recognition.
In this way we create more national heroes and models of success to copy and imitate that strengthens national identity and pride of cultural race and heritage. Marketing continually pushes consumerism and Caucasian North American white lifestyle image through national publicity as the idyllic. The majority of the population is Mayan indigenous, with only a small percent of families of mixed and European decent ruling all technologies, resources, publicity, market trends, companies, lands and ideas.
THE ARTS
The fact that Antigua has remained ‘undeveloped’ is beyond comprehension, but at the same time it also means we have a somewhat blank canvas to work with and to set new examples of socially responsible, forward thinking, innovative ideas, into place, and motion.
The representation of fine Art and prominent art and artists in Antigua has been thoroughly overlooked. The mere fact that Antigua is host to over two million visitors from around the world every year, more than any other location in Guatemala it would seem nothing short of common sense that the countries arts are in plain sight. But they are not. As THE central hub of Guatemala, Antigua has a responsibility to represent the entire nation authentically representing the Guatemalan people, 51% of whom are Mayan indigenous to include- all aspects of the countries culture, arts, traditions, history, and way of life. Antigua has the framework, and idyllic set up to be a top ranking, international world class Museum city of Mayan, Pre Colombian, Colonial, Modern, and Contemporary Arts & Culture in Central America.
There are over 10,000 active artists in Guatemala who make powerful, beautiful, meaningful, profound, technically exceptional works of art par to global top ranking art. We believe everyone should be able to see them. Many artists from Guatemala will never have the resources to have their work seen and acknowledged, and at the same time it would make a difference in many Guatemalan people’s lives to be able to actually see the incredible artworks which are produced and made in their own country.
Creating a culture of appreciation requires raising the bar in popular culture. There is a need to bring uplifting quality productions proposals which honor, heighten and enhance the human experience. There is a tendency to dumb things down and underestimate people’s intelligence. Many popular products and projects are not socially sensitive or thoughtful, which merely contributes to the continual chain of social disrespect and negligence. We believe everyone across the board should be able to experience and have access to the fine arts, and in order to achieve this in Guatemala- they must be public.
Art as a universal language has the ability to bridge a connection between the global community to Guatemala and its people and vice versa. The appreciation foreign visitors bring to Antigua also serves as valuable leverage for creating dignified opportunities in which nationals can share and feel proud of their arts and cultural heritage.