The University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria hosted the third day of its XIII Campus of Ethnography and Folklore, as part of the XXXI International Folklore Festival Villa de Ingenio. The event focused on preserving memory through two key elements: the land and the word, represented by Tenerife vintner Carmen Gloria Ferrera and writer Cecilia Domínguez.
Carmen Gloria Ferrera, head of Bodegas Ferrera in Arafo, shared her life philosophy dedicated to the vineyard under the title ‘Wine: Heritage, Love, and Patience’. She emphasized the significance of native Canarian grape varieties as a source of identity and advocated for ecological, environmentally respectful viticulture, inherited from her father. Ferrera also addressed the challenge of generational succession in agriculture, highlighting the need to attract young people and provide them with the necessary tools.
The vintner recalled the economic sacrifices and the challenging beginnings of the family business, as well as the strategy of showcasing the landscape and the work behind the wine to foster appreciation. She recounted how a fire in Tenerife in 2023, which affected her harvest, led to the creation of a unique sweet wine, born from the fire.
The second part of the day focused on poetry with the presentation of ‘Letters from Cilce and the Young Man of Guerea’ by Cecilia Domínguez. This book compiles the correspondence in décimas maintained for nearly two decades with the poet Arturo Maccanti, who passed away in 2023. The epistolary relationship began in 1995, and both adopted the literary identities of Cilce and the Young Man of Guerea.
Domínguez described the correspondence as a wonderful challenge, with weekly or spaced exchanges, and even in Italian. The presentation included a dramatized reading of several compositions, with Yeray Rodríguez voicing the Young Man of Guerea and Cecilia Domínguez herself reprising the voice of Cilce, recreating the emotion of a conversation suspended in time.
The session concluded with a musical performance by Candelaria González, Fernando García, and Héctor González, followed by a wine tasting from Bodega Ferrera.
