Come What May…..

….don´t miss ´the arts´ this month, all here on Lanzarote

The arts programme on Lanzarote reminds me of the conveyor belt of prizes on The Generation Game. There were so many items on that belt that it was impossible to remember them all as they rolled past. With Bruce Forsyth, or later, Larry Grayson, babbling away in your ear it must have been doubly difficult. These art performances on Lanzarote, however, are displayed on not only one conveyor belt but on scores of different belts around the island. You can find them on line here at Lanzarote Information, (where Miguel publishes my monthly preview, of which this is an example,  and runs an online what´s on listing) and at CulturaLanzarote, or Turisma, in magazines like Lazarote G Life or Lancelot, or in give-away leaflets on the counters of supermarkets and petrol stations. As I try to make sense of which arts events I want to see (its often all of them) my wife plays the part of Brucie and/or Larry constantly urging me to not forget this, purchase tickets for that, and to invite our friends to join us at the other. We played our version of The Generation Game last night when the government´s listing for next month, complete with press photos and compiled by Miguel Ferrer, dropped into our inbox. So, here they are, in date order,…..the arts exhibitions, concerts, dance, theatre, literary events and workshops you won´t want to miss, …….

Some art exhibitions and installations currently on show continue until well into next month. We´ll try to sort out the chronology for you! 

UNTIL 14TH MAY

Running until 14th May is Movimiento y direccion de Fuga Aclimatacion 1, combining the work of Gabriela Bettini, Liliana Zapata, Manuel Diego Sánchez y Racso Zehcnas, commissioned by 

Dalia de la Rosa

This is showing in Sala El Aljibe at the delightful  CIC El Almacén (The Warehouse) in Lanzarote and is open free to the public with some covid restrictions still applicable.

Opening hours: Monday to Friday, from 10.00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m.; Saturdays, from 10.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m.; Closed on Sundays and holidays. Organised by: Cultura Lanzarote – Cabildo de Lanzarote

This exhibition project, curated by Dalia de la Rosa, presents us with an artistic discourse that investigates the processes of adaptation of foreign elements in a specific place through dislocations that break layers that affect identity processes or sedimentations that erase spaces to create new places in which fragile provisional balance occurs in the form of acclimatization. This is how we see it in the new forms of mobility on the territory that were generated from the gold rush in the United States through the audiovisual piece by Manuel Diego Sánchez, the productive models based on the wild extractions on the territory that is reflected in the work of Liliana Zapata, in the traces and violent interactions between the body and the territory of the visual piece of Racso Zehcnas or in the modifications of the natural environments after the nineteenth-century scientific expeditions carried out in Africa, America or Asia in the work of Gabriela Bettini.

Guided visits (with art historian Estefanía Camejo): 

Saturday 14 May – 12.00 h.

UNTIL 21ST MAY 

Running until 21st May,  Acaymo S Cuesta, shows his work, Blanco corrupto, commissioned by Dennys Matos, in Sala Cubo, – Cic El Almacén in Arrecife. 

Admission is free until full, subject to some covid restrictions.

Opening hours: 

Monday to Friday, from 10.00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m.; Saturdays, from 10.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m.; 

Closed on Sundays and holidays. 

Organised by: Cultura Lanzarote – Cabildo de Lanzarote

After a long process of documentary and informative research on corruption and urban development that has occurred in recent decades in Lanzarote, the Gran Canarian artist Acaymo S. Cuesta, curated by Dennys Matos, has articulated a plastic and visual story from which to reflect and denounce, through a series of pieces and installations,  on three fundamental issues linked to the territory and post-truth on the island, that is, on the aesthetic impact of tourism corruption on the landscape of that island, as well as on the influence exerted by political-business control over the media to legitimize the “laundering” or manipulation of public opinion; and, as a backdrop, the validity of the legacy of César Manrique’s environmentalist thought on the island.

UNTIL 27TH MAY

Running until 27th May 2022 is an arts exhibition called Feura De Juego, featuring work by Carmela García, Noelia Villena, Acaymo S. Cuesta, Sara GDM y Antonio Manuel Domínguez, in a project copmmissioned by Adonay Bermúdez.

The exhibition, at Escuela de Arte Pancho Lasso in Arrecife, daily except for Sundays and public holidays from 10.00 am to 8.00 pm and is free to the public until full, with some covid protocols still in place.

This exhibition project, curated by Adonay Bermúdez, is an artistic proposal that explores the machismo entrenched in society and, specifically, in sport, through plastic and visual works of public denunciation that seek and expose feminist formulas that show situations of inequality in different sports contexts. In this way, we stumble upon readings that dialogue about the lack of voice of women in football (Carmela García), hatred and violence towards women athletes in social networks (Acaymo S. Cuesta), the relationships between women, sport and motherhood (Noelia Villena), the links between women and football (Sara GDM) or the prevailing dominance of men in sport (Manuel Antonio Domínguez).

Guided tours (with art historian, expert and enthusiast, Estefanía Camejo): Wednesday 11 May – 18.00 h Wednesday 25 May – 18.00 h

Visitas guiadas (con la historiadora del arte Estefanía Camejo): 

Wednesday 11th May –  18.00 h

Wednesday 25th May –  18.00 h

UNTIL 28TH MAY 

Also running throughout the month until 28th May will be an exhibition by DANIEL MORDZINSKI, “Navegantes en la balsa de piedra”, in The Casa de la Culture Augustin de la Hoz in Arrecife. This  celebrates  the centenary of the life of José Saramago (1922-2022)

This, too, is open free to the public until full, with the reminder that some protocols may still be in forcé. Opening hours will be

Monday to Friday from 9.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. and from 5.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m.; 

Saturdays, from 10.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. 

Organised by: Cultura Lanzarote – Cabildo de Lanzarote Collaborates: Arrecife City Council, Saramago Foundation, Tías City Council, Canary Islands Government

In this exhibition by the artist Daniel Mordzinski, designed and projected expressly for the programming of the Centenary of Saramago in Lanzarote, the Argentine photographer transits and becomes an emblematic interlocutor who enables dialogue between the Portuguese and Hispanic worlds and does so on a stone raft, in which the faces of the writers who inhabit his designed great island of cultural Iberism metaphorically navigate,  where literature and photography come together and merge forever in the memory of Saramago.

Guided visits to the exhibition with Estefanía Camejo: 

Tuesday 10 May at 18.00 h Saturday 21 May at 12.00 h.

UNTIL 4TH JUNE

An arts exhibition with a slightly different falvour will run until 4th June at Cic El Almacen in Arrecife.  8 ESCRITORAS Y 8 CREADORAS features the work of Agustina Ayala, Inocencia Aldana, Daniela Martín Hidalgo, María Morales Topham, Macarena Nieves Cáceres,Inocencia Páez, Dominga Suárez Clavijo y Lola Suárez, Elena Betancor, Rosalía Díe, Flora González, Guacimara Hernández, Isabelle Mathieu, Raquel Plans, Adriana Sandec y Rosa Vera

Again it is open to the public, free, until full although again there might be some pandemic protocols still in place.

Opening hours: Monday to Friday, from 10.00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m.; Saturdays, from 10.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m.; Closed on Sundays and holidays. Organised by: Cultura Lanzarote – Cabildo de Lanzarote

To overcome the unforgivable absence of names of women writers in the studies on the literary heritage associated with Lanzarote this artistic intervention that has as a priority objective to publicize and value the work of eight writers hand in hand with plastic recreation, through the collage technique, of eight creators of the island,  in an exercise of visual expression where literature and art interact to vindicate the development of a new aesthetic and intellectual discourse signed by women from Lanzarote.

Eight texts by the writers María Morales Topham, Agustina Ayala, Inocencia Aldana, Dominga Suárez Clavijo, Inocencia Páez, Lola Suárez, Macarena Nieves Cáceres and Daniela Martín Hidalgo inspire eight collages made by eight artists from the island, such as Elena Betancor, Rosalía Díe, Flora González, Guacimara Hernández, Isabelle Mathieu, Raquel Plans, Adriana Sandec and Rosa Vera.

Guided tours (with art historian Estefanía Camejo): Saturday 14 May – 12.00 h. Saturday 28 May – 12.00 h.

Visitas guiadas (con la historiadora del arte Estefanía Camejo): 

Guided tours (with art historian Estefanía Camejo): Saturday 14 May – 12.00 h.  

Presentation of the catalogue: Friday 13 May at 7.30 p.m.,

UNTIL 4TH JUNE

There will be an arts installation, Identity Detonations by Macarena Nieves Caceres, in place at Cic El Almacen  and open to the public until 4th June, and again admission is free and subject to protocols in place at the time.

Monday to Friday, from 10.00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m.; 

Saturdays, from 10.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m.; 

Closed on Sundays and holidays. 

Organised by: Cultura Lanzarote – Cabildo de Lanzarote

Within the artistic project “Corpus of absence”, exhibited in 2010 in Gran Canaria Espacio Digital, was the installation “Identity Detonations” in which the artist and visual poet from Lanzarote, Macarena Nieves Cáceres, showed this work in which she explores the concept of identity from absence, lack or lack with respect to anthropological origins,  using the zurrón, a traditional element of the Canarian culture, today almost a souvenir, interspersing it and giving it corporeity as a current image on which to base a metaphorical discourse in which the human body becomes the territory of research and thought of a poetic and visual architecture.

Guided tours (with art historian Estefanía Camejo): 

Saturday 14 May – 12.00 h. 

Saturday 28 May – 12.00 h.

Performance “María Magdalena versus María Maccarena”, May 16, at 20:00 h. in the Cube Room of the CIC El Almacén.

Of course, there are new events opening in May, in art fields other than the visual

3RD MAY 

On Tuesday 3rd May, 19.30, a presentation of Madre, de Teresa Correa will be given  by artists Teresa Correa y Adonay Bermúdez  at Cic El Almacen on Tuesday 

All audiences Entrance: free, with prior reservation through the phone 928 831 507, providing full name, email, telephone and ID. Places are limited and will be confirmed through the email provided. Application of safety and hygiene measures according to current COVID-19 regulations. Organised by: Cultura Lanzarote – Cabildo de Lanzarote

In the context of the exhibition “Mother” by Teresa Correa that was exhibited at the CIC El Almacén between October 2021 and January 2022, the realization of this artist’s book by the Gran Canarian photographer Teresa Correa is framed, as the result of a personal process of artistic reflection around the anthropological investigation of the aboriginal archaeological past of the Canary Islands,  from her return to the Islands in 1998 to the present, leading her to reformulate the concepts of identity, time or memory, in the form of silences, rumors and dialogues that visually transit between visible (revealed) and invisible (undisclosed) reality. The book has had texts by Adonay Bermúdez, Suset Sánchez and Simon Njami, with the editorial design of Vanessa Rodríguez.

FRIDAY 6TH MAY and later dates.

You can treat yourself to a night at the theatre on Friday 6th or/and Saturday 7th May at 20.00. La Noche is a seventy five minute performance suitable for all audiences aged 14 or over.

Tickets are 10 euros for an event from Trama 2 Producciones, directed by Joaquin Vida and promoted jointly by Cultura Lanzarote, Cabildo de Lanzarote, Fundacion Jose saramago, Gobierno de Canarias and Ay

The piece was written by the late Nobel prize-winning author Jose Saramago, and if you haven´t yet seen his former home in Tias, now a working museum and library, you really should.

Writing of a Lisbon newspaper on the night of April 24-25, 1974. On the background of censorship, the desire for freedom and ethical debates, editors and editors dispute and maintain relations of conflict before the first episodes of the Carnation Revolution that would end the dictatorship of Marcello Caetano.

Written by José Saramago, this drama was originally premiered in Lisbon in 1979, five years after the end of the Salazarist dictatorship. In 1996 the Spanish version was premiered in Granada, commissioned to the director Joaquín Vida, who returns to direct this staging faithful to the one made in 1996

We would very much urge you to put the following dates in your diary, 9th, 16th, 23rd May & 6th June June at 18.00 and reserve tickets for at least one of those occasions at Cic El Almacen in Arrecife to hear a talk given by arts historian, practicing artist and expert and enthusiast, Estefania Camejo, on the subject of Arts and Aesthetics.

You will probably notice her name quite a lot throughout this article, as she is such a trusted ally of venues, promoters and artists that she is frequently employed to give guided tours of arts exhibitions and installations. We have attended several of these, and indeed I have conducted a couple of exclusive interviews with her: one in my capacity as a writer for Lanzarote Information and another for own daily blog at Sidetracks And Detours.

Her ninety minute presentation will be free admission to the public with prior reservation available through the phone 928 831 507, providing full name, email, telephone and ID. Places are limited and will be confirmed through the email provided. Application of safety and hygiene measures according to current COVID-19 regulations. Organised by: Cultura Lanzarote – Cabildo de Lanzarote

Starting from the premise of the need to explain and publicize the theoretical foundation that is associated with the artistic experience itself and the contemporary culture in which we live, this cycle of talks proposes an approach to the main concepts, postulates, principles and ideas linked to Aesthetics and the way of understanding the artistic fact,  from the informative perspective of the History of Art and thought, thus enabling both the knowledge and the analysis of the processes of meaning and interpretation of the artistic expressions of the past and the present.

Each weekly presentation, then, will address different aspects of her topic.

May 9: “The art that did not want to be. Historical Vanguards” 

May 16: “After the end. El no relato y la abstracción” 

May 23: “Art acts. Performance and other languages of action” 

June 6: “The landscape. A vision from art in the Canary Islands”

Estefania is an informed and informative speaker, delivering her thoughts and engaging with her audience through empathy and humour. These talks should be a real treat. We´re very much looking forward to them.

10th MAY 

On Tuesday 10th at May 19.30 there will also be a conversation between two artists, GALA KNÖRR Y DANIEL JORDÁN, moderated by Adonay Bermúdez at Cic El Almacen. This 90′ event is open to the public and admission is free, with prior reservation through the phone 928 831 507, providing full name, email, telephone and ID. Places are limited and will be confirmed through the email provided. Application of safety and hygiene measures according to current COVID-19 regulations. Organized by: Cultura Lanzarote – Cabildo de Lanzarote Colabora. Hotel Nautilus Lanzarote

The curator Adonay Bermúdez proposes a meeting between the Basque artist Gala Knörr, who is in the artistic residence of the Hotel Nautilus Lanzarote, and the Lanzarote creator Daniel Jordán, in order to dialogue and seek connections that allow us to draw bridges, see relationships and make readings between the artistic production of two creators who a priori did not know each other,  in the format of a conversation in which themes, intellectual concerns or strategies to which they resort to face artistic practice and other transversal issues of their respective creation processes will emerge.

13th MAY 

Friday 13th May brings us more art with “BLANCO CORRUPTO”, DE ACAYMO S. CUESTA

This presentatión of the catalogue Con Acaymo S. Cuesta y Adonay Bermúdez at CIC El Almacén begins at  19.30 and will last for ninety minutes. 

All audiences free, with prior reservation  available through the phone 928 831 507, providing full name, email, telephone and ID. Places are limited and will be confirmed through the email provided. Application of safety and hygiene measures according to current COVID-19 regulations. Organised by: Cultura Lanzarote – Cabildo de Lanzarote

Within the context of the exhibition “Corrupt White” by Acaymo S. Cuesta, curated by Dennys Matos, the catalogue of this project is presented in which a plastic and visual story is articulated from which to reflect and denounce, through a series of pieces and installations linked to the territory and post-truth on the island,  on the aesthetic impact of tourism corruption on the landscape of Lanzarote, as well as on the influence exerted by political-business control over the media to legitimize the “whitewashing” or manipulation of public opinion. This catalogue includes texts by Dennys Matos and Inés R. Artola, as well as photographs by Joaquín Vera (from Bruto Estudio), the translation by Lena Peñate and the editorial design by Víctor G. Moreno (from Estudio Sombra).

You can learn much more about this artist, poet and her work in Diario de Lanzarote in their Sunday 24th of April edition that includes a fascinating interview.

16th MAY

Monday 16 May offers  a Performance of MARÍA MAGDALENA vs MARÍA MACCARENA, by Macarena Nieves Cáceres at CIC El Almacén.

This performance begins at 20.00 h and lasts for 25 minutes. All public Entrance is free, with prior reservation through the phone 928 831 507, providing full name, email, telephone and ID. Places are limited and will be confirmed through the email provided. Application of safety and hygiene measures according to current COVID-19 regulations. 

Organised by: Cultura Lanzarote – Cabildo de Lanzarote.

The action Mary Magdalene versus Mary Maccarena is a performative nod to religious imagery, based on the mystery that makes up the figure of Mary Magdalene. The uncomfortable, ambiguous, disturbing saint, confronted with the earthly Magdalene, who was not a virgin, nor a mother, nor a wife, but attends the Crucifixion as the first witness of the Resurrection. The work looks at the woman who is most often named in the canonical Gospels and has generated so many artistic-literary reinterpretations in the History of Art. The work focuses on the turning point between the woman of antiquity and the one who shapes Christianity.

17th MAY 

Tuesday 17th  May sees a gathering of three writers at a literary event, when LOLA SUÁREZ, MACARENA NIEVES CÁCERES Y DANIELA MARTÍN HIDALGO appear together at  CIC El Almacén in Arrecife.

Beginning at 19.30 this ninety minute event is  free to the public with prior reservation, available through the phone 928 831 507, providing full name, email, telephone and ID. Places are limited and will be confirmed through the email provided. Application of safety and hygiene measures according to current COVID-19 regulations. Organised by: Cultura Lanzarote – Cabildo de Lanzarote.

This event takes place in the context of the exhibition “Eight writers and eight creators” that is exhibited in El Almacén is part of this literary meeting in which the Lanzarote writers Lola Suárez, Macarena Nieves Cáceres and Daniela Martín Hidalgo will talk to us, in a pleasant and relaxed way, about their trajectories, their books, the processes of literary creation,  of reference readings, future projects and of how or to what extent the island of Lanzarote is directly or indirectly related in the territories of the literary geography of their  poetic discourses.

24TH MAY 

There is a similarly styled event scheduled for Tuesday 24th May when the presentation of the catalogue “IDENTIDAD Y VIAJERAS”, DE GUACIMARA HERNÁNDEZ takes place at the busy and always rewarding centre at CIC El Almacén

Beginning at 19.30 this ninety minute event is free admission to the public with prior reservation available through the phone 928 831 507, providing full name, email, telephone and ID. Places are limited and will be confirmed through the email provided. Application of safety and hygiene measures according to current COVID-19 regulations. Organised by: Cultura Lanzarote – Cabildo de Lanzarote

In the context of the exhibition “identity and travelers” by Guacimara Hernández is framed the presentation of this catalog that collects, in the form of an exercise of anthropological and artistic reflection, an interpretive reading on the foreign look of the texts of the British traveler Olivia Stone who visited the Canary Islands in 1884, making her dialogue with concepts such as the territory,  travel, otherness, identity or tourism. The design, layout and editing has been carried out by Natalia Camacho and Claudia Fernández of Estudio Geiser, together with the photographic work of Moisés Fleitas and the texts of Guacimara Hernández and Pepe Betancort.

FROM MAY 26TH 

As some art exhibitions close down towards the end of the month so another one opens. From Monday 26th May, until 13th August you will be able to view “Primun non nocere” a collection created by Romina Rivero and commissioned by Nerea Ubieto. This will be housed in Sala El Aljibe at CIC El Almacén in Arrecife

All audiences Admission: free, until full capacity (limited according to regulations and Covid19 measures) Schedules: Monday to Friday, from 10.00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m.; Saturdays, from 10.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m.; Closed on Sundays and holidays. Organised by: Cultura Lanzarote – Cabildo de Lanzarote

Under the maxim of classical medicine of “the first thing is to do no harm” Romina Rivero proposes an installation artistic project in which she invites us to reflect on the complementarity between the care of the body and the violence exerted on it. It testifies not only to that empty and forgotten space of mourning and suffering, but also to the pain resulting from the violence of the biopolitical powers professed on the human being. To do this, we must heal the wounds, heal taking care of ourselves individually and collectively as a society, from the intimate, the subtle and the delicate, to reconcile the damage and overcome the painful, beautifying the pain.

Visit to the exhibition with the artist and the curator: 

Thursday, May 26, at 7:30 p.m. CIC El Almacén Conversation with Romina Rivero and Nerea Ubieto: 

Friday, May 27, at 7:30 p.m. CIC Cinema Room El Almacén Guided tours* to the exhibition with Nira Cabrera

Guided tours* of the exhibition with Nira Cabrera: 

Saturday, June 4, at 12 noon 

Tuesday, June 14, at 6 p.m. 

Saturday, June 25, at 12 noon 

Tuesday, July 5, at 6 p.m. 

Saturday, July 23, at 12 no. 

Tuesday, August 2, at 6 p.m. 

Saturday,  August 13, at 12 noon.

27TH MAY 

Friday 27th May brings us the first musical event of the month with CANTADOR SINFÓNICO, Acto Institucional del Día de Canarias in that incredible auditórium created by Cesar Manrique created in the caves and lava fields of Jameos del Agua.

Beginning at 19.30 this ninety minute event is open to All audiences with Tickets free, with prior withdrawal online to reserve tickets: Organise: Culture Lanzarote – Cabildo de Lanzarote Sponsors: Government of the Canary Islands Collaborate: CACT Lanzarote

This is an Institutional Event organized by the Cabildo de Lanzarote in the Auditorium of the Jameos del Agua, on the occasion of the celebration of the Day of the Canary Islands. The President of the Cabildo, Doña María Dolores Corujo Berriel, will speak.   The event will feature the staging of the show “Cantador Sinfónico”, by the artists Ciro Corujo, Manuel Estupiñán and Pedro Manuel Afonso, a project composed of more than twenty musicians that aims to be a recognition of the figure of the singer in the world.

The same date of Friday 27th May also sees a theatre production  of CEGUERA performed by Cuerpo Teatro as another part of the centenerary celebrations of the life of José Saramago (1922-2022) mentioned earlier in this article. This will take place in Centro Cívico de Arrecife but if you also wish to hear the concert in the caves on the same night  there will also be opportunities to see this touring production on 

3rd JUNE & 10TH JUNE

On 3rd June in the Pabellón deportes de San Bartolomé or even on 10th June in  Centro Sociocultural de Mácher (Tías) you can see theatre production of Blindness.

All performances begin at 20.00 and tickets are only 5 euros for the fifty minute performance that is appropriate for all audiences over 12 year old. 

This is all organised by Cultura Lanzarote – Cabildo de Lanzarote, Cuerpo Teatro, Fundación José Saramago, Gobierno de Canarias, Ayuntamiento de Tías Colaboran: Ayuntamiento de Arrecife, Ayuntamiento de San Bartolomé

Blindness is a stage piece inspired by the novel “Essay on Blindness” by Nobel Prize winner José Saramago. The staging is the result of the theatrical laboratory developed between March and May of this year, in which about twenty people have investigated through the body and voice to travel through the different scenarios of the novel.

Blind bodies inhabiting the immensity of an empty white, minds deafened by the instinct to survive, fear and uncertainty breathe. In a society infected by sudden white blindness, the hope of subsisting in the abyss is blurred by savage animal selfishness. It is the darkest side of humanity illuminated by a white, harmful, dense, constant and offensive blindness?

28th MAY

Saturday 28th May delivers another musical event when DULCE PONTES is at  Teatro Víctor Fernández Gopar “El Salinero”

For a starting time of  20.00 this eight minute is suitable for all audience with tickets available at the cabildo on line from 22 €

With more than 30 years of experience, Dulce Pontes is, without a doubt, an essential voice for lovers of fado and music in general. Singer, pianist, composer and performer, her successful “Canção do Mar” – released worldwide in 1993 and one of the favorite songs of the public – consecrated Dulce Pontes as the renovator of fado, thus taking the witness of the great Amalia Rodrigues.

Her incredible artistic conditions, her classical training and her cultural concerns, have led Dulce Pontes to travel the world collaborating with the greatest artists from different latitudes.

Special mention should be made of his meeting with the great Ennio Morricone, the result of which an intense friendship and professional relationship was forged from which emerged in 2003 the great album “Focus”, of which more than 300,000 copies were sold, in addition to the world tours they made together.

As if all this incredible arts tapas isn´t enough to keep us going through May, Miguel Ferrer´s press release from the department of culture at the Cabildo also gives us early news of another art event that comes nearly at the end the following month.

FRIDAY 24TH JUNE

CARNAZA AND MORRALLA. MORNING OF CASTAWAYS FROM MONDAY TO FRIDAY Presentation of the book by Daniel Jordán, with Fernando Castro Flórez  at CIC El Almacén, takes place on Friday 24 June, at  19.30 and is a ninety minute event. All audiences Entrance: free, with prior reservation Reservation tickets: through the phone 928 831 507, providing full name, email, telephone and ID. Places are limited and will be confirmed through the email provided. Application of safety and hygiene measures according to current COVID-19 regulations. Organizers: Cultura Lanzarote – Cabildo de Lanzarote After the exhibition of the exhibition “Murmura todo el teatro” by Daniel Jordán in the summer of 2019 at the CIC El Almacén, it was agreed to postpone the publication associated with this project to 2020, a circumstance that could not materialize due to various setbacks and circumstances associated with the pandemic.

After the exhibition of the exhibition “Murmura todo el teatro” by Daniel Jordán in the summer of 2019 at the CIC El Almacén, it was agreed to postpone the publication associated with said project to 2020, a circumstance that could not materialize due to various setbacks and circumstances associated with the pandemic.   Despite this adversity, in all this time Daniel Jordán and the well-known philosopher, art critic and professor of the UAM, Fernando Castro Flórez have not ceased in their efforts and kept alive an interesting discursive thread in the form of questions and answers in which they have addressed different issues of current cultural, thought and contemporary art and that has given body to this extraordinary,  dystopian and crazy chatter entitled “Carnaza y morralla”.

As I was topping and tailing this piece to send to Miguel, my editor and boss at Lanzarote Information I received the following, I was thinking the calendar of arts for May 2022 on Lanzarote  seems incredible, even by this island´s standards. But then I received a news release from Lancelot Digital that was also proclaiming  arts developments,…

Hold the pages, just for a minute while I type it up,….

right, here it is,….. 

The festivals are coming back: groups and musical bands preparing for summer festivities. Rikabanda, Lanzarote Swing, Los Conejeros y Los Magnéticos, en conversaciones para cerrar fechas de cara a las verbenas de verano.

Here Comes Summer and this time  we´ll be able to listen live performances again of  great songs like “Ganas de tenerte”, since the orchestras and groups of Lanzarote are rehearsing for the long-awaited verbenas and popular summer festivals.

Rikabanda, Lanzarote Swing, Los Conejeros and Los Magnéticos, among others, are even talking to some town halls to finalise dates , although still without many confirmations.

After two years of hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, the groups are very excited and eager to return to the stage and sing the favorite songs of their audience at the patron saint festivities.

However, they face this period with uncertainty, since Arrecife and Yaiza did not have any local bands or orchestras during daytime carnivals. Now, they trust that this situation will not be repeated in the summer, dreaming of recovering from this complicated period.

Rikabanda is currently the only orchestra on the island , known for its songs I Will Lie or I Will Not Suffer Again”, but since the arrival of the pandemic, they have not played in any act since.

“Our last performance was at the Arrecife 2020 carnival, just before confinement, we have not performed since that time,” says José Domingo, president of Rikabanda. “When we found out that festivals were coming back, we were very happy because we were clear that we were going to continue”.

From the orchestra they say that they are already rehearsing for the summer festivals with “more enthusiasm than ever”, although the team will not be the same as before the pandemic. “We have been rehearsing since the beginning of the year, but we have made changes,” says José Domingo. “There are people who have not wanted to continue, because it is difficult for people to commit to rehearsals without knowing for sure if they are going to act, without setting a date” .

In addition, the president of Rikabanda points out that “they could not or did not want to count” on them for the carnival acts, since they did not receive any calls. “I suppose that the city council technicians advised that an orchestra was not the most convenient for reasons of covid, but in the end there were two DJs in Arrecife and several groups in Playa Blanca,” he adds.

Now the orchestra is focused on closing the agenda for the summer patron saint festivities and promoting itself through social networks to “seduce people”. “We are specifying performances for the summer with some councillors, both in Lanzarote and in Fuerteventura, to see if we manage to have the season covered”, explains the president of the orchestra. “We will play our old songs, but also some new songs, which could come out next month” .

On the other hand, the president of Lanzarote Swing did consider leaving during the pandemic and ending the group once and for all.

“ I thought up to 20 times to leave the group, because it was not profitable , my daughters even went on to sing on their own in hotels weekly, because it is a guaranteed job, but I like music and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to leave it ”, explains Clotildo Morales, president of Lanzarote Swing. “These last few years have been very hard and not only because of the coronavirus pandemic, but because of the politicians ‘ pandemic.”

The group’s last performance was at the San Bartolomé carnival in 2020, since in Arrecife they were not called because “they brought most of the orchestras from outside”. “This continues to happen, the other day there was a daytime carnival in Arrecife and Playa Blanca and they brought DJs and orchestras from Las Palmas and Tenerife, charging up to 4 times more than us, and even then they didn’t call us,” says the president. “The reason was because, according to them, they already had the contracts signed, but the reality is that they think that by bringing them the councilor who brings them is re-valued, it seems that they are better that way.”

In addition, he affirms that a Yaiza councilor told him that “outside groups are professionals.” “So we are not? They do not support local talent ”, insists Clotildo.

In any case, the group has been rehearsing for several months, although there is still no set date for the holidays, but its president confirms that they are already in talks with town councils to perform at festivals such as the one in La Vegueta.

“With Lanzarote Swing we still don’t have any closed dates, but then there are dates and they don’t call us, they are playing with my work”, insists Clotildo. “Hopefully this will change, because we really want to act and we are very excited.” “If all goes well, we may consider creating an orchestra again , but the situation right now is complicated.”

For its part, the famous group Los Conejeros returns to the ring on May 1 in a small festival organized in La Asomada , a date that they look forward to.

“We’ve been rehearsing for about two months now and we have some closed dances, like the one at La Asomada, and for the summer we’re also in talks with several town councils,” says Manuel Viñoly, president of Los Conejeros.

With the outbreak of the pandemic, they had to suspend their agreed performances at the Tinajo and La Graciosa carnivals, so the group even considered disbanding completely , but in the end they managed to resist. “We even considered leaving the group because the situation was unsustainable, but in the end we decided to keep in touch with the same people we had, even with some new talent ”, explains Manuel. “We even made a virtual video clip during confinement.”

The Conejeros received the news of the return of the festivals with great joy and emotion. “After two years standing still, how are we going to live it?”, Manuel points out. “From that moment people started to drive me crazy, sending messages and asking when we started playing”.

This year, the group intends to focus on practicing the themes of yesteryear, such as “Noches de fantasy” or “Marejada” , because “they are songs that everyone likes”, although they are also managing new music.

Many amateur groups are also already planning to perform at the next parties, as is the case of Los Magnéticos, who play music from the 60s and 70s , with hits like “Un Rayo de Sol”, and songs by Karina, Marisol or Raphael.

These types of groups were not really affected by the pandemic, since playing is more of a weekend hobby than a job for them . “It is true that we had to cancel some agreed performances with the arrival of the state of alarm, but we did not have much problem leaving it because in the end we did not live from this,” says Patricio Rowell, singer and guitarist of the group Los Magnéticos. “But those who do this professionally lost their jobs completely for two years.”

His first gig after confinement was in October 2021, in a small room, with a lot of security and with a seated audience wearing a mask. “It was a somewhat peculiar performance, since they didn’t even let you take off your mask to drink water, it was a difficult situation, but at least we could play,” adds Rowell.

The Magnetics began rehearsing when more than four people could meet due to sanitary restrictions, since it is a group of five people. Since then, they have dedicated themselves to covering private events, but they are already in talks with town halls for the popular festivals that may arise in the summer.

“It is true that they have been two very bad years, so we received the news of the return of the parties and festivals with great joy, it was clear that this would not be for life,” says the singer of Los Magnéticos.

We don´t have to read too deeply between the lines of the story above to realise that doubt between local councils and organisers and those musical ensembles who seek to participate in festivals in a professional manner and who wish to be recognised for doing so and the added value they can bring to local festivals.

All these small events and local musicians not only benefit their own local communities but also are an add on to our tourist offer, and whenever I am covering such events in a ´press´ capacity I am invariably left with the feeling that they show the heart and soul of contemporary Lanzarote,….so come on, because happy days are here again.

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