Culture not only entertains, it also transforms territories. This was defended this Thursday the participants of the day “Culture as a tool for rural development”. The appointment, held in the Aula Magna del Auditorium, has brought together institutional representatives, creators and cultural agents to discuss the real impact of cultural festivals and projects in rural areas Aragonese.
In the first table of the afternoon, entitled “Festivals as the engine of rural culture”, moderated by the journalist Marina Fortuño, has analyzed how music, cinema or creativity events can revitalize peoples, attract visitors and even change the perception of the rural environment as a space of opportunity.
“Culture is an investment, not an expense; if we saw it as an expense, we would not do anything. We do not seek economic profitability, but to attract people to the people, to promote tourism, that come and know us,” said the mayor of Borja, Eduardo Arilla.
For its part, the director of the Lanuera film sample, Beatriz Bañales, added that “what we intend is that culture is accessible to everyone and we also have very present the idea of sustainability, since the festivals in the rural world have a clear exchange with the environment.”
From the most theoretical issues to practices: the second round table of the afternoon, with the title “give life to the rural through music”, and moderated by Eva Pérez Sorribes, director of content of chain Ser Aragón, put the focus on the transmedia project rural chords and focused on musical creation in the villages from the point of view of the artists. Thus, he had the intervention of Cyril Comín, producer of rural chords; by Eli López and Miriam Carbonell, members of Ixeya, and Alfonso Herce and Víctor Rubio, who are part of the Zigalas.
For their part, the members of the Zigalas said: “Thanks to the videos with rural chords, two bowling have come out for this summer and we will take out an EP from the podcast recording. The EP will be called, in fact, rural chords.” “The idea of the project was precisely that, that project participants can use these recordings to generate more work and positive impact, both for artists and for municipalities, contributing to boost sustainable tourism,” in the words of Cirilo Comín.
The day has been organized by the DPZ chair about depopulation and creativity, in collaboration with the University of Saragossa.
