We haven’t seen him for three years. International Arts Festival, an event that sought to bring national and international artistic proposals to the corners of Coahuila and, of course, to disseminate those gestated in the state itself.
With the start of the pandemic, in 2020, it was natural that something of this magnitude would not take place, and the following year, lto the Secretary of Culture of the State of Coahuila, organizer, allocated the bulk of its resources to the participation of the entity in the 49 International Cervantino Festival.
Now in 2022 the public expected it to finally return and, in fact, in April the Federal Ministry of Culture announced that the festival had been selected in the Profest call, to receive financial support.
The FIAJT has brought important artists and events to the city.
FEDERAL CUTS
However, despite this, the budget, says Ana Sofía García Camil in an interview, was not enough to solve the project that, in its last edition, It was carried out with 18 million pesos, of which 90 percent was provided by the State Government in the face of federal cuts.
“Given the budget cuts we had this year, that they were truly brutal, as the year progressed and we saw how the resource was flowing at the state level, that due to the lack of allocation of federal participations, what had been approved in congress and what we were able to exercise began to vary as Secretariat”, expressed García Camil.
“At first we were not sure because of the COVID issue, then we saw that this was overcome and that by mid-year we were able to resumer the Julio Torri for this semester, but since we had this invitation at the door to the Monterrey Book Fair, we also received the National Theater Show, plus other activities that we had throughout the year and that we presented today, having carried the Julio Torri out would have had an impact and we would not have been able to do more activity than we managed to do, always seeking to cover the five regions as much as possible, ”he added.
AFFECTED
The FIAJT has brought important artists and events to the city. Only in its latest editions were we able to enjoy a holographic show that brought back singer María Callas, as well as a Bollywood-inspired musical theater show —part of a collaboration with the 2018 Cervantino Festival—, among other activities.
“It is an important festival, we carry a lot of artistic, cultural activity, not only from Mexico, if not of the world and people expect it. So, in that sense, it was a difficult decision, but we sought to balance the fact that we had more activity and that in turn had an impact, internally and externally, ”he explained.
It is an important festival, we carry a lot of artistic, cultural activity, not only from Mexico, but from the world and people expect it”.
Ana Sofía García Camil, Secretary of Culture of Coahuila
Julio Torri is not the only festival affected by this budget cut. Also in recent years they missed the Festival de la Palabra, which is held in Torreón, and the Rockoahuila. Meanwhile, the Institute of Culture and Education of Durango in collaboration with Coahuila, carried out this December the Festival Como La Laguna Ningula, where various stars performed in Gómez Palacio and Lerdohighlighting the participation of Julión Álvarez in the bed of the Nazas River.
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“We want to raise the possibility of carrying out a Julio Torri next year. It all depends on how the budgets come, the times, it’s an election year. But there is also a book fair coming up that celebrates its 25th anniversary and we want to do something more important, ”he said.
