"Cultural Heritage should be maintained not only saved, it must be open ... We must improve its dissemination to play the role of identity assertion that requires our people to change the concept of tolerance that is assimilationist, offensive and rude, for a fairly inclusive concept of identity, which involves all citizens and promotes consciousness of belonging to the country. Being consistent with that country, where we all recognize the other, but to the other that is part of ourselves"... supports the new minister of Culture

Interview with Antonio Preciado, head of the first Ministry of Culture in Ecuador.

In recent days we had an informal conversation with Antonio Preciado, head of the first Ministry of Culture in Ecuador. Here are some concepts that illustrate the thinking of the holder of the portfolio.

Mr. Minister, in the community is the feeling that the government is delaying in showing the face by culture, despite having created the first ministry.

There are groups that culture, who meet to discuss what should be the cultural power. These are intended to challenge the establishment of the Ministry of Culture, for an alleged lack of cultural policies actually have a rebellious attitude, a priori, since they say they are not taken into account .... state that have been meeting for two years to get a document, which in my view are proposals that in practice are not complete.

However, creating a ministry is not an act given by decree, is a slow construction ranging from its physical form, to its conceptual background which are cultural policies ...

You have to give importance to culture, since that has an overall theme, we must give an image to the country's cultural policy, which becomes clear from the physical space of the Ministry. The people are wise and have a saying ... As you see, they treat you ... so they are working on the awarding of a building that is a symbol, but that is functional, with spaces for auditoriums, exhibitions, etc..

It seeks to flatten cultural action so that it reaches the grassroots, to take the people as the major player in the cultural fabric. From there, we do community work, without neglecting the traditional events such as theater, opera ..., but the main thing is to engage the people to take an active role in the construction of cultural policies, there is legitimacy to it not be said that they were born between cocks and midnight. They must also have people who have oversight committees the power to exercise control over what is done.

With the participation of actors holders, will shortly convene a national dialogue with a great slogan that carries a message ...

Give them the word of the people, intellectuals and artists to interpret that make you flourish so that together we can structure the National Culture Plan

Using electronic media can recepta contributions in the provincial boards, forums where you can organize freely and there will lots of ideas. There will then be structurally the same format (a sort of tab) to facilitate processing. Then, through agreements will be required the participation of UNESCO and other international organizations with their technical and is able to process this information quickly. This ensures mass participation of citizens and the entire nation. It will come around on this, but in the end will be the positive voice of the people to guide us.

It is true that there have been problems in the budget for normal operations and therefore we had to resize the work agenda for 2007. No tags are to make the ministry to become a political element, it reaches the people and become a cultural actor.

Roughly how we are, we already have the organizational structure, we have a national leadership and the provincial directorates are planned, everything is pinned. We have already approved the establishment of directorates for each cultural topics: literature, visual arts, music and so on. The Vice President coordinates the policies that concern us, it has demonstrated its sensitivity by culture and want to reach a fair solution.

Mr. Minister, how to consider the Cultural Heritage in a multiethnic and multicultural?



Given that culture is the way of being of a people seated in a given territory, all his seizures, his accomplishments material, spiritual, its institutions, its beliefs, its uses and its scale of values. The Heritage is everything that corresponds precisely to that town. Everything he has done in the past, that the people who live in the present, coming from behind, coming from the past and has to be recognized in this background.
Culture is a dynamic, not stationary. Is resolved in a dialectical synthesis of stable and dynamic, so in the Cultural Heritage, which has no archaeological value only retrospective, but is incident at the present time we live. Gravitation is a statement of identity and consequently into the future, along with the realizations that are woven endlessly in the cultural network that produces all people throughout their lives.

The heritage must be maintained not only saved, it must be open and public and created special guides. We must improve its dissemination to play the role of identity assertion that requires our people. We must change the concept of cultural tolerance that is assimilationist, offensive and rude, for a fairly inclusive concept of identity, which involves all citizens and promotes the awareness of belonging to the country. Being consistent with that country, where we all recognize the other, but to the other that is part of ourselves. This happens when it takes over the consciousness of belonging to all that past, present and future that is being constructed.

The assets must be an active element, where the confluence of all players is producing culture. Because culture is that memory that is built into the actions of nations. Memory is not only a. The vision of heritage is the notion of living memory and that's what we want. In heritage management has emphasized the importance of conservation, but the dissemination and research are fundamental to the affirmation of identity.