Guarania goes one step further to become an Intangible Cultural Heritage

With regard to this campaign, many musicians and cultural managers, such as Ricardo Flecha and Antonio V. Pecci, as well as the National Symphony Orchestra (OSN), have guided and collaborated in all possible processes to achieve this goal.

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Guarania, the work of José Asunción Flores, combines the most authentic elements of the Paraguayan identity with universal values ​​such as peace and solidarity between peoples. Flores was born on August 27, 1904 in the trendy La Chacarita neighborhood of Asunción, the son of Magdalena Flores and Juan Volta. José started studying music in the police band at the age of twelve and became a trombonist.

“The submission of the dossier to UNESCO above all represents a great management effort by the current Minister of Culture (SNC) Rubén Capdevila, who has made this request his flag,” said Antonio V. Pecci, journalist, author and cultural director.

Pecci explained that previous SNC presidents paid no attention to this question. For the cultural manager, this achievement marks the end of a phase of work between non-governmental organizations, the cultural directorate of the municipality of Asunción and the SNC.

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“This is a fact that pleases us, but it encourages us to continue working while Unesco evaluates the proposal,” said the author.

Added to this thought is that of the singer Ricardo Flecha. The artist said: “It remains to keep working, giving concerts and chatting so that people can understand the meaning of Guarani and the Guarani language, two important features that are part of our identity.”

HEROES

What OSN added to this was the development of numerous concerts, in which Guarania was presented in its popular development, both with the most famous works at home and abroad, and with new compositions in symphonic versions.

Among them is a national tour where the voiceover accompanies and presents the album Flores para la Guarania by Ricardo Flecha.

“It seems to me a historic, favorable moment when something was achieved by collaborating with institutions and we have been able to achieve it all along despite budgetary problems,” said Ricardo.

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Access to civil society and open spaces made this success possible for the singer. “This is a long-running civil society study,” he noted.

Flecha emphasizes that Gilberto Rivarola, a personal friend of Flores, was involved in the whole process. “He was a jealous keeper of his memory and one of those who pioneered the arrival of the remains of Flores in the 1990s and later founded the Ateneo,” he recalls.

Pecci, on the other hand, recalls that the work celebrated today began around 2009 when Gilberto Rivarola, president of the José Asunción Flores Cultural Athenaeum, contacted the National Cooperation Commission with UNESCO, headquartered at the MEC, chaired by Beatriz González de Bosio. is found. Thus was born the proposal that was submitted to the parliament to declare Guaranía a cultural heritage of Paraguay. A UNESCO requirement. This law was passed in 2010.

part of the process

In these years, studies were carried out to make our national rhythm visible, such as the Guarania Week that has been organized since 2015. Well-known artists from orchestras such as OSCA, OSN, OSIC and UniNorte participated. The life and related work of José Asunción Flores has attracted the attention of documentary filmmakers. Media support has been critical in positioning and promoting Guarania in the country and at events such as the Chamamé Festival in Corrientes.