The Colombian poet Juan Sánchez will visit the UNESCO Chair of Sustainability of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in the Terrassa University Campus. He is the 2016 recipient of the 34th National Literature Prize on 2016 of the UdeA National Culture Awards (Colombia) in Poetry mode and currently teaches at the University of North Carolina Asheville.
Professor Sánchez will present his most recent work “Water Anthology”. From there, he will reflect on an explicit statement found in his texts: the new times are times for woman, times for water.
In this way, an inspiring dialogue will be established particularly, with the participation of the “Water and intangible heritage” working group of the Chair.
Day: Monday, November 19
Time: from 12 to 14 hours
Place: Conference room of the UNESCO Chair on Sustainability
The discussion began with the role of words in indigenous cultures, and from there to address the interaction of the university and academic world with the social reality of several communities, affected by multiple problems such as mining, the irrational exploitation of natural resources or the land tenure.
Juan G. Sánchez Martinez, Ph.D.
Juan is originally from the Andes (Bogotá, Colombia). He joined UNC Asheville in Fall 2016. His interest in indigenous cultural expressions and ancestral epistemologies introduces (into the classroom) old/new ways to approach culture and nature, challenging traditional theories about language, genres, and periods, as well as colonial concepts such as nation, race, and progess. From both his involvement in solidarity networks and his research into the works of contemporary indigenous writers, Juan has built a trans-indigenous corpus, highlighting the tensions between indigenous literary nationalisms, migrant experiences, and expectations on indigeneity. His scholarly efforts are devoted to bringing researchers, students, advocates, elders, and writers together to create intercultural publications, weaving South, Central and North America into one cultural braid.