The deputy delegate of the Government in Ourense, Eladio Santos, visited the space of cultural creation "A Casa Vella", located in the municipality of Amiadoso, in the City of Allariz, to learn the history of this project from its promoters, Nuria Sotelo and Rubén Vilanova.
“A Casa Vella” is a space that seeks artistic creation and the social and cultural dynamization of the territory. Due to its privileged situation in rural Ourense, it serves as an ideal workplace for artists and cultural professionals, improving their performance, inspiration and capacity for innovation. At the same time, it dynamizes the territory and values its own heritage and resources, establishing a relationship with the local community, in which they are inspired and for which they offer activities, exhibitions and other initiatives, carried out in schools, institutes and in the nucleus of Amiadoso and other borderlands.
The deputy delegate of the Government showed his recognition to this initiative and highlighted the work of its leaders, “carrying out with effort a cultural space of unique quality in Galicia, integral and linked to the territory”. On the one hand, it is a residence of artists, created in an old farmhouse, which is in the process of rehabilitation, with “absolute respect for the traditional Galician heritage,” he said. On the other hand, among the creators that it houses, many of them of lyric and dance, are consecrated names such as those of María Muñoz, Mónica Valenciano and Luz Arcas (national dance awards in the years 2009, 2012 and 2023, respectively), along with Ana Vallés, gold medal of the Performing Arts in 2024. All the artists, emerging and consecrated, participate in activities for the neighbors, share their experience with other creators and get rich from the Galician rural world. “It is an innovative cultural experience, which permeates the countryside with a top-notch culture, and vice versa, since at the same time artists take advantage of the observation and knowledge of rural Ourense,” said Santos. In fact, “A Casa Vella” has in place the recovery of Galician traditions, such as the slaughter or the use of firewood as heat energy, in a bid for sustainability. “It is a global initiative that is highly valued by the neighbors, since it does not seek the show, but the cultural transformation, bringing the culture closer to the small and elderly of the people, and reclaiming our tradition,” said the deputy delegate.
Grants from the Ministry of Culture
This cultural space was one of the initiatives benefiting, in the call of 2024, from the aid granted by the Ministry of Culture, through the National Institute of Performing Arts and Music (INAEM), with which the Government seeks the preservation of the choreographic, lyric and musical cultural heritage, favoring the equality of all citizens in access to cultural services.
Precisely until March 26, the application deadline for the call for 2025, which has a budget of 8,058,172 euros, remains open. Among the eligible activities are national and international tours; festivals, exhibitions, contests and congresses; scenic and musical spaces with stable dance programming; artistic residences for dance, lyric and music, among many others, but all of them must take place between January 1 and December 31 of this year. Applications must be submitted exclusively electronically through the Ministry of Culture.
As a novelty, this call will grant at least 40% of the requested aid, compared to the minimum 5% established in previous editions.