Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) elected as the American Capital of Culture 2010

The city of Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) has been elected by the International Bureau of Cultural Capitals (www.ibocc.org) as the American Capital of Culture 2010 (www.cac-acc.org), Xavier Tudela, President of the Bureau, with headquarters in Barcelona, announced today. Santo Domingo will take over from the city of Asunción (Paraguay) as the cultural reference of the Americas starting on 1 January next year.

Xavier Tudela, who visited the Dominican Republic during November 2007 and again in February 2009, has stated that “the designation of Santo Domingo as the American Capital of Culture 2010 will give a new impulse to the promotion and international awareness of what is a rich Dominican culture”.

The candidature of Santo Domingo originated at the Centre of European Studies at the Mother and Teacher Pontifical Catholic University. Later on, it was assumed by Dominican institutions and entities of the country's civil society “which will give a great force to Santo Domingo 2010”, according to the President of the Bureau’s statement.

During his trips to the Dominican Republic, Xavier Tudela met, among others, Rafael Albuquerque, the Republic’s Vice-president; Julio César Valentín, Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies; José Rafael Lantigua, State Secretary (Minister) of Culture; Francisco Javier García, State Secretary of Tourism; Roberto Salcedo, Santo Domingo’s mayor, and Agripino Núñez, rector of the Mother and Teacher Pontifical Catholic University.

As a consequence of Santo Domingo becoming the cultural capital, the Dominican Republic will have a featured international promotion during next year, carried out by the American Capital of Culture Organization in various international media. Antena 3 Internacional, the American Capital of Culture's official TV channel, will promote the Dominican cultural capital in its programs during 2010; it will also be promoted by the Discovery Channel group.

Santo Domingo de Guzmán, normally called Santo Domingo, is the first city founded by Europeans in America. It is the capital of the Dominican Republic. Founded in 1496 by Bartolomé Colón, it was moved later by Nicolás de Ovando in 1502 to the place it occupies today (the Colonial Zone), a place declared as a World Heritage site by the Unesco.

The most important buildings of the colonial era include the American Primas' Cathedral, the first Catholic Cathedral on the American continent; the Alcázar de Colón, once the residence of Don Diego Colón, the son of Christopher Columbus, who became Viceroy of the colony; the Monastery of San Francisco, the ruins of the first monastery in America; the Museum of the Casas Reales, the former Palace of the Governor General and the Palace of Royal Audiences; the Columbus Park, a historic square; the Fortaleza Ozama, the oldest fortress in America; the National Pantheon, a former Jesuit edifice now hosting the remains of various renown Dominicans; and the Dominican convent’s church, the first convent in America.

The city of Santo Domingo has a population of 900,000 inhabitants, with some two million people in its metropolitan area. The Dominican Republic has a territory of almost fifty thousand square kilometres and a population of nine million people.

The American Capital of Culture, created in 1998, aims to promote Inter-American integration from the cultural sphere, contributing to a better knowledge among the American continent’s people, whilst having respect for their national and regional diversity, highlighting common cultural heritage at the same time. The American Capital of Culture Organization is a member of the International Bureau of Cultural Capitals, which internationally promotes the cities being named as cultural capitals and establishes new cooperation bridges with Europe, a continent having its cultural capital established since 1985. It is accredited at the Organization of American States (OAS) and has been recognized by the Latin American and European Parliaments. To date, the following cities have been designated as the American Capital of Culture: Mérida (México) 2000; Iquique (Chile) 2001; Maceió (Brazil) 2002; City of Panama (Panamá) and Curitiba (Brazil) 2003; Santiago (Chile) 2004; Guadalajara (México) 2005; Córdoba (Argentina) 2006; Cusco (Peru) 2007; Brasilia (Brazil) 2008; Asunción (Paraguay) 2009, and Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) 2010.

The International Bureau of Cultural Capitals (www.ibocc.org) is a body that brings together the American Capital of Culture (www.cac-acc.org); the Brazilian Capital of Culture (www.capitalbrasileiradacultura.org); the US Capital of Culture (www.culturalcapital.us); and the Catalan Capital of Culture (www.ccc.cat); as consolidated initiatives, plus other planned cultural capital projects such as the Capital of Spanish Culture (www.ccesp.org). Xavier Tudela is the President of The International Bureau of Cultural Capitals.

Photos:

Should you wish, photos can be downloaded from the web site of the American Capital of Culture (www.cac-acc.org). Thanks.

2009-03-11