By: Natacha Reyes Escobar
From the indissoluble link between the University of Oriente and its city, wonderful things are born. Its status as a popular university reaffirms such assertion every day. Thus, removing the institution from its context,allows it to transcend borders.
It was then that, the Rialto cinema, located near the Cespedes Park, became the opportune scenario for Belgian and Cuban academics to celebrate the Day of the Belgian Culture in Santiago de Cuba.
During the celebration, Dr. María Cristina Hierrezuelo Planas, Professor of the History Department of the Universidad de Oriente, spoke about the Belgian presence in Santiago de Cuba.
Hierrezuelo Planas referred to the presence of Luis Augusto Verbrugghe in this province, who founded the first trading house in the territory dedicated to the export of coffee, sugar, tobacco, rum and copper.
She pointed out that a symbol of the Belgian-Cuban relations was the dancer Jorge Lefebre, who was born in Santiago in 1936, and died in the Kingdom of Belgium in 1990. He stood out as the main figure of the Ballet Siglo XX of Bejart, company with which he made several premieres, as well as with the Wallonia Royal Ballet, in the European nation.
As part of the cultural exchange, Philippe Meers PhD, Professor of the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Antwerp, presented the conference "Belgian cinema as post (national) cinema. Reflections on a European minor cinema ".
Meers referred to cinema as a reflection of national identity, and the different levels that are integrated when speaking of national productions: director and language. It is a way to build or invent culture. Belgium is a surrealist country, which has to do with the mentality..
Belgian cinema consists of six fundamental stages: beginnings, interbellum, post-war, audiovisual politics, European cinema and contemporary cinema, Meers explained, meaning that authors such as Henri Storck, Jefque Bruynenckx, Chantal Ackerman and the Dardenne brothers, have set guidelines in the cinematographic productions of the European nation.
The presentation of “Le gamin au vélo”, directed by Luc & Jean-Pierre Dardenne, marked the culmination of the meeting. The film, produced in 2001, tells the story of a 12-year-old boy who seeks the support of a woman he meets by chance after his father leaves him.
Translator: Lilia Sanz Gámez.
Dr. María Cristina Hierrezuelo Planas, delivered a dissertation on the Belgian presence in Santiago de Cuba.
On Saturday, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium in Cuba, His Excellency Mr. Patrick Van Gheel participated in the activities for the Belgian Culture Day in Santiago de Cuba. . Photos: Adán Santana Arias