“El Cabildo”, a space open to culture

The cultural wealth of Paraguay is the product of outstanding sculptors, painters and writers who, with their experiences, have expressed in their works the history of a country. Outstanding poets such as Ricardo Mazó, Roque Vallejos and Augusto Roa Bastos, the latter bestowed with the Cervantes Award in 1989, stand out.

Paraguayan art is a manifestation of the highbrow and the lowbrow: a popular subject matter in all Latin America. The government has dedicated budget and attention to culture. On May 14, 2004, the Republic’s Cultural Center of “El Cabildo” was created, taking advantage of a valuable architectural structure of the capital city, as a means of salvaging heritage and artistic memory. The “El Cabildo” strengthens its activity through the publication of its institutional magazine, which focuses on all the idiosyncrasy of the Guaraní people.

The “El Cabildo” has an emblematic auditorium and temporary exhibition rooms, which add to the “Museum of Immigrants” and a network of “Casas de Bicentenario” with several thematic spaces. It is perhaps one of the few cultural centers that have the full support and follow-up of the National Congress; the legislature functioned there until 2003. On the occasion of its fifteenth anniversary, during the first semester of the year, different activities were organized to involve emerging artists in the plastic arts.