Noticias

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Edgar San Juan appointed him on behalf of Alejandra Frausto

Fonca, a necessary space not only for creators, but for society as a whole: Mario Bellatin

December 12, 2018

Mexico is not technologically and socially the same as 30 years ago, when the National Fund for Culture and Arts (Fonca, for its acronym in Spanish) was born, so it is time to rethink and update this privileged space, which has been an example around the world, in order to meet the country’s reality, said the new director of the agency, Mario Bellatin.

Upon taking office, the writer stressed that his task and mission is to make this body of the Department of Culture can adapt to reality, with the commitment to be more horizontal.

Edgar San Juan, Undersecretary of Cultural Development, when appointing Mario Bellatin in his new position, in representation of the Secretary of Culture, Alejandra Frausto Guerrero, celebrated that now the creators are part of the new team of the Department of Culture.

The designation of the writer as head of the National Fund for Culture and Arts is given in the context of what was expressed by the Secretary of Culture, Alejandra Frausto Guerrero, by assuming responsibility at the head of the institution in the sense that it is the purpose of the new administration to shorten the route between the resources and their beneficiaries, who are the creators.

Mario Bellatin stressed that at this point we should ask ourselves basic questions again, such as what a scholarship is, what Mexico is, where it starts and where it ends and how far we can go. "We are not going to change everything, we are trying to rethink ourselves, not to take things for granted, because the immediate reality needs to be in accordance with this social challenge”.

Without sacrificing a space as privileged as the Fonca, "which continues to be a model in the world for other countries, here exists this possibility, which is copied by many governments, badly copied or half copied", he reflected.

Many countries -considered the author-, did not get as deep as Mexico, which did bet because this system goes to its ultimate consequences and now the challenge is to see how far it can go.

 “My challenge is to see what the last new consequences may be, what society is asking of us, and how we can dialogue with the strength of the Fonca of the last 30 years in order to move forward”, said Mario Bellatin.

Fonca is always in danger due to changes in government and we must "try to establish ourselves, make ourselves necessary so that we do not depend on external decisions, but that we are already a fundamental part of society, not only of the cultural space, but also of the Mexican social space, it is a right for everyone, both for artists and for the rest of the community”, he said.

That is why in his administration at the head of the Fonca, the writer will work to extend the obligations of artists to society and will give special emphasis to the issue of social retribution, "because the artist needs that support and society also needs us".

He recalled that in his role as creator, much of his work has been developed thanks to the complicity of the Fonca and its team, for so long and in different orders: as a jury, as a recipient of scholarships and even co-investment support, which he obtained for the Escuela Dinámica de Escritores. "I have gone through many instances, almost all of them.

Mario Bellatin was born in 1960 in Mexico City. He was a member of the National System of Art Creators from 1990 to 2005; in 2001 he founded the Escuela Dinámica de Escritores; in 2000 he won the Xavier Villaurrutia Award of Writers for his novel Flores; in 2002 he was awarded the Guggenheim Scholarship; in 2008 he was recognized in the Mazatlán Literature Award for his novel El gran vidrio. In 2018, he was awarded the José Donoso Ibero-American Literary Prize. He is the author of works such as Mujeres de sal, Efecto invernadero, Salón de belleza, El libro uruguayo de los muertos.

 

Mexico