This Wednesday, October 30, GAM will reopen its doors to the public from 10 in the morning to start a day of participatory activities. Everything will begin at 11 AM with an artistic intervention in the central square by the citizen choirs.
Directed by brothers Gopal and Visnu Ibarra Roa, the choir will perform a selection from their trilogy dedicated to the great popular musicians of Chile. They will be emblematic songs with social content from the productions “Víctor, sin Víctor Jara” (2013), “La Carta” (2018) about Violeta Parra and “Pateando piedra” (2019) about Jorge González.
The cast is made up of performers from the most varied occupations, including lawyers, midwives, older adults, teachers, doctors, university students, schoolchildren, boys and girls.
“As a cultural center, whose building has experienced historical moments in the last 46 years of Chile, we have always given space to the inspiration, questioning and reflection that the various artistic disciplines that we host give us,” comments Felipe Mella, executive director of GAM, and adds: “In this new social context, today we reopen our doors with citizens of different ages and realities who have decided to be artists and express their ideas and feelings through the powerful lyrics of artists such as Violeta Parra, Víctor Jara and Jorge Gonzalez.”
After the presentation, around noon, there will be words from the Group of Relatives of Political Executed Persons (AFEP) and a minute of silence for the twenty people who died after the social outbreak. This will also be an act for the National Day of the Politically Executed, which is commemorated that day.
The day will conclude with an open town hall made up of artistic and cultural associations, unions and neighbors. This will take place between 11:30 and 1:30 p.m. in a work format of self-convened groups based on three thematic axes: What is a priority today to reduce inequality in Chile? What are the main rights that should be enshrined in the Constitution? And what changes does the culture in Chile need?
In this way, GAM will open its doors to welcome citizens always with the intention of protecting people and so that they know what their rights are in the context of current social movements.
"We are very happy because GAM did not suffer damage inside and the citizens respected our space. As we have always been a place of important reflection, we hope that this will be an opportunity to help build the new social pact that we all dream of. In our rooms and patios we will promote it together with our workers, artists and the public who visit us. As we have said, GAM is a cultural center of the people and here tomorrow the stories that happen today will be told," concludes Felipe Mella.
Due to the suspension of performances of the works “Breath”, “To God What Belongs to God”, “The Pergola of Flowers”, “Pundonor” and “Excesses”, among other activities; GAM has already communicated with its audiences to refund money for ticket purchases, and in some cases, to change dates. The productions that premiered this week, Proyecto Aguirre” and “Lipika”, were also postponed, while some musical activities, workshops and other performing arts presentations were cancelled.
Photos: Jorge Sánchez.