Noticias
Over 200 events and projects in 35 Mexican cities
About 4 million people in the UK contacted with Mexican culture during the Dual Year
January 28, 2016With an extensive program of over 200 events and projects in 35 cities of 32 states of Mexico, the Dual Year UK in Mexico 2015 has ended.
The purpose of this binational initiative was to strengthen the relationship between the two countries and create bonds of cooperation and development, starting with an agenda covering the fields of art, culture, trade and investment, education, science and innovation.
At a press conference, British ambassador Duncan Taylor stressed that this effort resulted in programs that will continue or will start in 2016, as a series of activities as part of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death.
He noted that the Dual Year achieved three important objectives: firstly, holding the relationship between two nations; secondly, improving perceptions that a country has from each other and thirdly, the issue of legacy and what it means for the future by signing bilateral agreements and conventions to promote excellence in the fields of education and science.
With the support of the Ministry of Culture of the federal government, 74 British projects, among others, were presented in 13 festivals of architecture, design, music, dance, theater, film and urban art, whose impact reached almost 1.5 million Mexicans.
Among the main presentations were: the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Alondra de la Parra; Candoco Dance Company and their participation in the International Cervantino Festival and the exhibition, Landscapes of the Mind, which became the second most popular in the history of the National Art Museum (Munal, for its contraction in Spanish).
UK was the Guest Country of Honor at the Guadalajara International Book Fair 2015 (FIL, for its acronym in Spanish) with an artistic program of 216 events, which was attended by 20 academics and publishers each, nine scientifics, dance and music companies, and 29 writers, including Irvine Welsh and Salman Rushdie.
Regarding the Mexican offer in the UK, the Executive Director of the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (AMEXCID, for its contraction in Spanish), María Eugenia Casar Pérez said that through different cultural options, a country with a rich past has been shown that in turn it has been able to enter in the global economy as a modern and innovative nation.
"Around four million people in the UK had contacted with a Mexican cultural expression as a result of the events of the Dual Year. It was a record year with over 60 artistic activities, ranging from exhibitions on the Maya, with around 260,000 visitors to the exhibition of Mexican films and wrestling show at the Royal Albert Hall ".
Due to the success of UK's Dual Year in Mexico, Edgardo Bermejo, responsible for the design and implementation of cultural and artistic agenda of the British Council, spoke of some actions to be developed in this 2016.
He stressed that in order to join the celebration of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death, a theater program will be held in prisons and schools, in addition to call independent companies to produce works of English playwright.
Concerning the exhibitions, the University Contemporary Art Museum (MUAC, for its acronym in Spanish) presented in May an exhibit of Anish Kapoor, one of the most influential Indian sculptors of his generation who has lived and worked in London since the early seventies.
Regarding the programs, the Danza para la Comunidad (Dance for the Community) project will restart in Tijuana and Monterrey, which brings to young people in a vulnerable situation to the experience of this discipline and also La Segunda Cátedra de Museología William Bullock (The William Bullock Second Forum on Critical Museology) will be held at the University Contemporary Art Museum (MUAC, for its acronym in Spanish).
Mexico,Distrito Federal
