Singer Promotes Culture for National Self Esteem

(Acapulco, JG 6 November) Popular Mexican song artist Susana Harp visited Acapulco to perform for the IV Nao Festival, which concludes this weekend. Upon her departure, the native of neighboring Oaxaca state, made a plug for local culture. She asked the youth of today to fall in love with the culture of Guerrero and Oaxaca, in order to spread the word more widely. She said that cultural promotion is something that can contribute to recapturing the “national self esteem” in the face of political corruption and criminal violence. “In violent times,” she said, “human contact with the arts is really important.” She added, “I believe that no matter whether dramatic things are occurring or not, we human beings need moments of disconnection in order to continue living our lives; it would be a terrible thing to have to think only about the current situation. Obviously, we cannot cover the sun with a finger, so we have to work together, all of us, as a society…. Culture does not have to be boring; it is something that can be very enjoyable, a lot of fun in fact, and it lets us touch something that transcends us, that which we call our national self-esteem.”

The singer recommended that the youth of today first fall in love with their own roots, so that they can later focus their minds and emotions to bring to life artistic expressions. The national sentiment can be revived through the arts; she said, “it seems to be that being the rich country that we are, it is terrible to think that we will only be happy if el “chicharito Hernandez” scores or doesn’t score a goal. I love soccer and goal-scoring bicycle kicks; but I also love the indigenous languages that we have, I love the native-embroidered dresses, and also the sunsets in Acapulco.” Her Thursday night show in Parque Papagayo was to show the closeness of the Oaxacan and Guerrerense cultures.