A Medellin historian is on an almost solitary mission trying to conserve his city’s past by collecting photos and independently publishing them in books and magazines.
Medellin, like most large cities in Latin America, has been booming with growth over the last few decades, and it is commonplace to see construction projects underway and new buildings being erected throughout the city. This, however, also means that the city is quickly knocking down, demolishing, and paving over buildings and neighborhoods that were once very important.
Most of this change occurred with the wave of modernism that hit Latin America from the 1940’s onward, “there came a time when we wanted to appear more like the United States, with new additions, new buildings that didn’t have any aesthetic… they destroyed many beautiful buildings because they wanted to create tall buildings without caring about design or social value,” historian Carlos E. Lopez Castro told Colombia Reports.
“The most unfortunate and saddest change is that they have demolished so many buildings that were historic heritage for the city… politicians have done the impossible to erase a neighborhood called Guayaquil… all of the people of the countryside arrived in this neighborhood, and it was the engine of the city, they came [to Guayaquil] to build the city of Medellin, and [afterwards] they deleted it from Medellin.”
For the most part, the entire neighborhood of Guayaquil has faded from the memory of Medellin’s past, the only relics preserved being two buildings, Edificio Carre and Edificio Vasquez, said Lopez Castro. The buildings have been restored by the government and are now cultural remnants for public enjoyment, located next to what is now Parque de Las Luces. However, many Medellin residents feel the preservation effort was too little, too late.
In the last eight years, local politicians have realized the need to protect the remaining architectural and historical heritage left in the city, but there is very little that remains, Lopez Castro laments.
In his book, Historias Contadas de Medellin (Stories Told of Medellin), Lopez gives detail to the vibrant history and making of Medellin, including its fundamental neighborhoods, plazas, roadways, buildings, as well as the social leaders, politicians, and photographers who documented and took part in the change.
Regarding his work to preserve the historical legacy of Medellin, Lopez explained that “it is not a fight against the future, but rather the contrary. We should know the past, so that the bad history does not repeat itself in the future, and so that young people know their roots, have more identity, and a greater sense of belonging to their city.”
In this sense, the historian believes it’s very important to capture and maintain the history of the city that is kept guarded in the minds of the city’s elderly residents, who still remember the great days of the Antioquia railway, public processions in Parque Berrio, and the buildings that once were.
A challenge Lopez Castro and fellow historians face in their work to preserve histories that are quickly erased by new construction works and the passing of time is the social disconnect between older and younger generations.
The historian explained that “it’s not opposition, but it’s the fact that the large quantity of our magazine readers are older adults, young people don’t read as much… not to say all of them, but of the majority we have nearly have no young authors.”
Lopez Castro also works to produce a monthly magazine about Medellin called Historias Contadas, that includes columns by local writers on the past and present of the city, as well as a free copy of a vintage photograph of Medellin.
In addition to a small readership, he feels the magazine “is also an undervalued work, because it is an independent magazine that doesn’t belong to any political party… it’s a cultural matter, it’s not a magazine featuring naked women on the cover, it is community-based, cultural journalism.”
{japopup type=”image” content=”pics/2011/mphoto/med1.jpg” title=”Images of Medellin’s Past” }
{/japopup} {japopup type=”image” content=”pics/2011/mphoto/med2.jpg” title=”Images of Medellin’s Past” }
{/japopup} {japopup type=”image” content=”pics/2011/mphoto/med3.jpg” title=”Images of Medellin’s Past” }
{/japopup} {japopup type=”image” content=”pics/2011/mphoto/med4.jpg” title=”Images of Medellin’s Past” }
{/japopup}
