More than 200 people came to lunch today in the central plaza of the Gabriela Mistral Center, GAM, to commemorate the 45 years of the building.
Recipes and flavors from the 70s were prepared by the Buenos Aires collective Teatro Container, together with people and artists who were regular visitors to the UNCTAD III building. Salpicón, beans with sausage and pears in wine was the menu that surprised the attendees who arrived at GAM at 1 p.m. to enjoy this community meal for free.
The Minister of the National Council of Culture and the Arts, Ernesto Ottone, assured that the commemoration returns the building of citizenship: "We are commemorating 45 years of one of the most emblematic projects, not only at an architectural level, but at a citizen level. Of a space that was designed for the community, the people, which had the objective of what you are seeing now: to share, reflect, dialogue and finally, make a society a little more just."
The activity began with citizens helping in the kitchen and preparing the large table set outdoors, always with live music by troubadours and popular singers. In addition, an open microphone was included, where people who were linked to the building, either in its construction or in its daily use, offered their testimony and experience about the history of the building.
Berta Vásquez, for example, participated in a memory workshop for older adults, and as a result "I came to this building as a child, everything was harmony and happiness. Now I feel very happy to be here remembering that wonderful time. EL GAM is now my second home for me, I love coming."
Felipe Mella, Executive Director of GAM, highlighted the importance of this celebration: "We are recovering what was the UNCTAD casino. We hope that these squares will be filled with people and their ideals. That it will be an inspiring space for everyone and that it challenges us to generate more actions every day to deliver a truly transformative experience. This is the mission that we have set for ourselves as GAM for 7 years and in which we work every day seeking to guarantee access to culture for more and more people.”
The actress Mariel Bravo remembers the building's casino, which was the first self-service in Chile: "I am excited to be here to remember what I experienced at that time. We kept that in our hearts so that it would not be contaminated. I came to the casino a lot and we could not shut our mouths because of the modernity that was seen in this building. Everything was beautiful, everything was pretty and President Allende wanted all the people to have access to the same thing that a few had."
Nicolás Eyzaguirre Bravo, organizer of the activity and artistic director of the Teatro Container Cultural Center, comments on the process of bringing the Public Kitchen to GAM: "We spent a month conducting research workshops with volunteers, we interviewed many people, we watched documentaries and we discovered that UNCTAD was in our history. There was a space here where the GAM is today that was very alive, where people were very happy. For us, the kitchen has a very important memory component. It is the only experience that transcends time. and places, you can eat a plate of beans in Sweden and Chile returns to your heart in two minutes.”
GAM Cultural Center, UNCTAD III Building, Gabriela Mistral and Diego Portales Metropolitan Cultural Center, names with which the building has been baptized, celebrated its 45 years of life in this way. A nod to its own history full of smells and colors of yesteryear.