Mayor Irací Hassler accompanied President-elect Gabriel Boric on a tour of the GAM facilities

This afternoon the president-elect, Gabriel Boric, the mayor of Santiago, Irací Hassler, the executive director of the Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center (GAM), Felipe Mella and the National Architecture Prize, Miguel Lawner, toured the GAM facilities, where they talked about the memory and history of this important cultural venue, according to the municipality of Santiago.
During the visit, the mayor of Santiago welcomed the initiative to tour the building next to the Typical Zone of the Santa Lucía Neighborhood – Mulato Gil de Castro – Forest Park.
“I am very happy to receive in the commune of Santiago our President-Elect, in a place as beautiful as the GAM cultural center that will turn 50 years old and that collects history, culture, architecture in a meeting space for the community,” said the communal chief.
He also stressed his commitment to working with the future Boric government.
“We are available from the commune of Santiago to work together with the next government and that can implement this program from the neighborhoods of the commune, from the people and communities, also from the municipalities,” said the mayor.
Remember
For his part, Boric highlighted the importance of making history through memory.
“This space symbolizes the history and the drive of a people to carry out their goals, the history of this place that was the headquarters of UNCTAD in 1972 is tremendous, an architectural work that seemed impossible and that thanks to the effort of a people pushed by its workers, by its technicians and also by its political leadership, they manage to build in 275 days this tremendous building is something worth remembering,” he said.
“It is a building that they also told us is unfinished, because it has a second stage that for different reasons has been stopped and we hope to be able to collaborate, contribute from the executive to coordinate the different wills that allow this space that houses art and culture with open doors,” said the president-elect.
Along with them, the architect Lawner valued going to this place “the president-elect began his mandate by visiting and stimulating the meaning of this cultural center, this is a seal that we hope the government of comrade Boric will have, in the sense that culture will not be a tail wagon of the government of the day, but that it is really as it deserves a very privileged situation as it should be for the benefit of all Chileans.”
Milestones
In the tour headed by the president-elect, the delegation visited part of the artistic collection, in addition to some architectural and heritage landmarks that are still preserved inside the building, such as the iconic “Pez de Mimbre” (1972) by Alfredo Manzano, “Los tiradores de puerta” (1972) by Ricardo Mesa and the “Mural Chile” (1972) by José Venturelli, along with open spaces and communities, including the community garden created by neighbors of the sector.
The Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center is one of the most important cultural centers in the country. The enclosure is part of an important community, commercial and cultural circuit, which includes the Lastarria neighborhood, where there is an active and organized community, and many points of tourist interest, which from the Municipality of Santiago seek to enhance and protect.
The space created for the performing arts and culture, was inaugurated in 2010 for the celebration of the bicentennial of Chile. The place also has a free access library, contemporary art exhibition halls and large squares that have been transformed into a meeting point for diverse communities and cultural expressions.

Original source in Spanish