Tilcara Street, Humahuaca Gorge





Carrying salt and grain by donkey





Children fetching water





The tenderness of Huancar children





Brothers





Portrait of a Huancar girl
 

Cultural center and museum Jorge Pasquini López

There are many who believe that the province of Jujuy harbours the vestiges of a material culture that is not only part of archaeological history but Argentina’s richest and most varied as well. Over most of its territory, people have perpetuated certain native and Spanish traditions whose value has no equal in the rest of the country. Travelling to Jujuy is to venture off the beaten tracks of conventional tourism. In this northernmost region of Argentina, you will find, in addition to a fantastic array of unparalleled landscapes, a peculiar symbiosis between nature and culture.

This phenomenon is rooted in a frontier zone where national identities have become blurred. In this region, the boundaries delimiting the current territories of Chile, Bolivia and Argentina seem devoid of any sound basis, apart from that provided by recent military and political history. The 1,700-kilometre stretch separating San Salvador de Jujuy from the city of Buenos Aires seems much greater when one considers their widely divergent standards of living.

As a result of a progressive decline in its basic industries (ore, tobacco, sugarcane), Jujuy is one of the poorest provinces in Argentina. It also has the highest infant mortality and malnutrition rates in the country

In such a context, the relationship between our museum and its public must be seen in a different light. Although lacking both public and private support, the museum endeavours to work for society as a whole, while remaining inviting and topical.

To this end, we must integrate and use technology without giving the impression of being totally estranged from the social environment. The idea that the deeper the social problems, the less important cultural rights become should be rejected out of hand. In fact, the relevance of a first-class museum is probably all the greater in this case, since it must meet cultural, educational and even scientific needs that are largely unsatisfied.

This is the goal toward which we are working. Centred on research, our work is based on a real commitment to ensuring that the museum increasingly acts as a counterbalance to the social context, and is an engaging, credible and responsible institution. The challenge is great, but so are our hopes. Is it still naive to think that the museum reflects the principles of equal opportunity?

Dr Jorge Kulemeyer, Centro cultural y Museo Jorge Pasquini López, San Salvador de Jujuy (Argentina)