The exhibition “5 Years Friends Casaplan / 5 Años Amigos Casaplan” celebrates the 5 years since founding of Casaplan in Valparaiso, Chile. Casaplan is THE centre for print artists in the region and consists of a gallery, workshop, exhibition space and café. The online exhibition starts on the 10th of August 2020.
I am personally indebted to Casaplan, to Javiera Moreira, Roberto Acosta and all colleagues for their enduring support, professionalism and artistic inspiration. Thank you!
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Here is my contribution:
Says Javiera Moreira, the director of Casaplan:
Today in the month of August 2020, seven years have passed since we arrived in Valparaíso, amazed by the beauty and history of the Port City and in particular with this building which was built in 1917. Its owner, Guillermo Küpfer Timermann, representing the family, offered us to restore it.
After Antonia Jarpa begins the restoration of this place it took two years to recover its origin, its wonderful and great central nave. This nave invites to carry out various activities in such a spectacular and magical space. At the same time Antonia manages, administers and organises each one of four dedicated spaces, seeing it as a whole that works: residence, café, underground and gallery.
We call it Casaplan, the house in the plane of Valparaíso, near Severín Library, Victoria Square, Universities and Technical Institutes, the Municipality’s exhibition hall, the Punta Ángeles hall of the Playa Ancha University hall, the Sala “El Farol”, among other spaces, thus forming part of this interesting circuit of cultural and social events. Cultural space that we once dreamed of and that we celebrate today, August 2020, five years after its opening.
With the great reception of the workers from Valparaíso and everyone we managed to make this place a reality.
During this phase of creation Roberto Acosta appears, an artist and outstanding professor of engraving. He joins the workshop and the entire journey of spatial operation and technical research. Together we began to teach classes and organise all the exhibitions in our Gallery. These were and are a great contribution in techniques and images for the general public and, especially, for the community of university students. With the clear objective to make this place a centre for research and exhibition of prints and other disciplines of the arts. Other wonderful instances that we achieved with Roberto were open engraving workshops in city squares, cultural centres, and in Valparaíso’s ports and hills, thus bringing this discipline closer to all. These were instances of meetings, experimentation and reflection with the Valparaiso community.
Rafael Munita, professor and member of Taller 99 Nemesio Antúnez, joins with this same concern, teaching lithography classes, motivating students with his extensive knowledge of techniques and image analysis. A group of teachers and students begin their path of investigation of lithographic techniques and a great search for their own images, opening the dialogue and analysis between all of us who work in the engraving workshop.
That is a great contribution from Rafael Munita who permeates the workshop with a desire to know, to investigate and to correct collectively. He travels from Santiago every Friday, with the assistant professor Lancelott Belaúnde, who in turn puts all his knowledge in favor of the engraving students of this technique and its contemporary possibilities. Both come to Valparaíso, motivated by the desire to share their knowledge and by the real commitment to Engraving.
Thus, a great team of teachers and artists was formed that, even under the current adverse conditions, we continue, contributing classes, doing exercises and sharing technical knowledge through the new form of online communication.
Another important area is our Underground Room, which during these 5 years has maintained a curatorial profile closely linked to contemporary Arts. This space has been directed by: Antonia Jarpa, Josefina Astorga, Santiago Figueroa, Erick González, Esteban Agosin and Constanza Jarpa. All of them have contributed through their management so that this space remains current by hosting high-level creative proposals, festivals and fairs.
Going up into Valparaíso’s hills, we were lucky to meet people who supported us from day one. They tell us that the the typical person from Valparaíso is very careful with his own and with the city’s dreams and magic in its architecture and culture. Apparently everything in culture is complicated, it seems that it has no importance in our society. To have made it last in time, it has only been with total dedication from the heart and with passion. The engraving workshop, the heart of Casaplan, is a spinning wheel inviting visual artists to participate in classes, internships and exhibitions.
Our café, currently run by Gabriel Astaburuaga, has been a place for meeting and reflection, where books have been launched, and seminars and various activities have been held that nourish the day-to-day life of Casaplan.
All of us today continue trying to raise and keep this project alive. Thanks to everyone, Valparaíso and friends of Casaplan who believed in this space of culture and encounter.
Finally, we thank all the engraving friends such as Jorge Martínez, Loro Coirón, Isabel Cauas, Ximena Lecaros, Nicolás Hill, and so many others and other artists. To our friends Ricardo Romero and Johana Bastías and to all those who in one way or another have helped us to build this project and bring it to life until today.