The project to disseminate the cultural heritage of Castilla y León, currently outside Spain, took its first steps this Monday at the headquarters of the regional Parliament. The president of the Cortes, Carlos Pollán, chaired the first meeting of the academic committee of the Nostra and Mundi Project of Dispersed Community Heritagean international cultural initiative promoted by the Foundation of Castilla y León and the Regional Parliament.
The project is based on the main idea of promoting knowledge of the heritage of Castilla y León abroad as a means of “generating alliances and cultural opportunities for the Community”. Among its main objectives, it is necessary to highlight “the dissemination of the initiative among citizens, to obtain its recognition as part of the cultural memory of Castilla y León”, reports Ical.
In the words of Carlos Pollán, “this project has a very important scale and, since the Foundation of Castilla y León, it is promoted so that the enormous and inestimable artistic heritage of Castilla y León outside our borders is recognized in the way it deserves.” In addition, he appreciated “the quality of the academic committee, made up of excellent people in their field and who, without a doubt, will be key elements in the development of this project”.
For his part, the director of the Foundation of Castilla y León, Juan Zapatero, declared that “our cultural heritage has an extraordinary quality, to the point that it is present in some of the most prestigious museums in the world”, to which He added that “with this project, we want this heritage to be recognized, where it is located, by the Community which gave it its origin and promote, from there, the Castilla y León brand.
The meeting served to create the Academic Committee of Nostra et Mundi, composed of María José Martínez Ruiz, curator of the project, professor of art history at the University of Valladolid and specialist in the dispersal of heritage; Miguel Ángel Zalama, professor of art history at the University of Valladolid; Fernando Gutiérrez Baños, professor of art history at the University of Valladolid; Isabel Escalera Fernández, predoctoral intern at the Department of Art History at the University of Valladolid; Cristina Borreguero Beltrán, professor of modern history at the University of Burgos; Ana Diéguez Rodríguez, associate professor of art history at the University of Burgos; Gracia María Gil Martín, associate professor of modern history at the University of Burgos; and Miguel Hermoso Cuesta, professor of art history at the Complutense University of Madrid. The technical secretariat of the Committee will be provided by the company Patrimony Global, collaborator of the project and responsible for all its logistics.
These experts are responsible for configure the catalog of the most relevant cultural goods both for its historical artistic value and for the impact of its departure from the autonomous community and Spain.
The research team has already taken the first steps in this direction and this meeting was used to plan the next steps. “Establish academic guidelines that allow us to compile a wide repertoire of works that were part of the cultural heritage of Castilla y León and are today preserved in various international institutions. We want to show what these works are, where they come from, but also – when possible – to make known the story behind each of them; In short, knowing the circumstances that motivate its current presence in contexts so far from its original location,” explained Martínez Ruiz, curator of the project during his speech.
Looking for more partners
Nostra and Mundi have partners of recognized prestige in the cultural and academic field, such as the University of Valladolid and the University of Burgos. However, as was evident during the first meeting of its Academic Committee, there is a clear desire to expand the network of alliances with other public and private entities and universities in the Community. The objective is the integration into the project of national and international partners who work for the conservation of the cultural heritage of Castilla y León in its entirety.
It is a participatory initiative, also open to citizen participation through the Nostra and Mundi site, which “will remain alive and will soon allow the collection of testimonies from visitors wishing to share information or curiosity about the scattered heritage of Castile “. and Leon.
