2017 Press Releases
UCC welcomes young musicians to boost Colombian peace process
Cork as a UNESCO Learning City and UCC are hosting the Colombian Government’s first Cultural Exchange to Ireland, with a concert at the Aula Maxima today (September 29, 13:00) set to welcome young female Colombian harpists and HE MR Néstor Osorio Londoño, Colombia's Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Twelve Colombian female traditional harpists, aged between 11 and 16, from El Retorno (Guaviare) and Puerto Carreño (Vichada), in the Orinoquia region, are in Cork this week as an outcome of the Memorandum of Cooperation for Sport and Cultural Diplomacy. The Memorandum was signed during Ireland’s first State visit to Colombia in February 2017.
The first exchange with Ireland has been taken on board by UCC’s Latin America team together with CIT Cork School of Music, Art Life and Culture, and Music Generation, which worked with the young visiting performers this week. The group has been learning about Irish music and will perform at Cork Folk Festival this weekend.
UCC's links with Colombia date back to 1852 when Daniel Florence O’Leary, a proud Cork man, Aide du Camp of Simon Bolívar, donated Emeralds and other artefacts to the University.
UCC has been working with Colombia on a multidisciplinary research initiative in Sustainability and Peace Process to develop Capacity Building for Green Campus in Colombia, which involves community partners in both Colombia and Ireland.
Memory from an indigenous worldviews perspective is linked to this initiative and the current efforts in Colombia for sustainability and peace process, with experts from UCC's Marginalised and Endangered Worldviews Study Centre (MEWSC) and Colombia collaborating on how this can be included into the strategic plans for sustainability and Higher education in Colombia.
The Cultural Exchange to Ireland is as part of an initiative which uses music as a tool to foster peace and reconciliation in Colombia, with the group also set to perform in the Cork Folk Festival tomorrow (September 30) at Emmet Place in Cork City at 2pm, alongside the Chinese Youth Dance Ensemble: The HangZhou Youth Art Group. Supported by the Hangzhou Municipal Education Bureau in China, the group won a competition in China enabling them to perform abroad for the first time; they chose Cork as the City has links to Hangzhou and is known for its cultural heritage.
For more on this story contact:
Cliona Maher, International Strategy Officer for Latin America, UCC: 021 4904743 or Cliona.Maher@ucc.ie