The initiative is the result of bringing together a good idea with the strategic vision of Rector Nibaldo Avilés, who saw in the "Literary Summits" project a form of linkage with the environment that will bring education and culture to citizens with a sense of transcendence and perpetuity. .

Can you imagine a group of mountaineers, climbing the hills of the region, reading the poetry of Gabriela Mistral and installing a ceramic with their verses on each summit? Well, that is precisely what the Cumbres Literarias Mountain Group will do, a group made up of ULS citizens and officials, motivated to make the art-literature-mountain triad an innovative commitment with high social impact.

The idea was a dream that found fertile ground in Rector Nibaldo Avilés, according to the academic Cristián Ibáñez. "In Cultura Activa -a group to which I belong and from where we have sought to promote the incorporation of culture into university spaces and into the daily life of students and officials- we had the idea of ​​articulating a mountain group that would not only consider the expedition to hills, but to integrate other interests. This is how the idea of ​​climbing hills and reading fragments of a book at each summit or break arose. This practice led us to think that it was not enough to read ourselves, but that it was important to leave something for the posterity".

At that time, they went to the ULS Rectory looking for support to make their dream come true and they found a welcome. "Universities, especially State universities, are called upon to contribute with public goods to the development of the cultural heritage of our communities. In Cumbres Literarias and this project to immortalize the poetry of Gabriela Mistral in ceramics installed on the hills of the region, I recognized a wonderful way to achieve this objective and that is why I supported the initiative that we are inaugurating today", declared Rector Nibaldo Avilés at the project's opening ceremony.

Project Details

The project, whose execution was carried out by the group "Cultura Activa", consisted of the elaboration of ceramic plates with Diaguita influence and messages from Gabriela, made entirely in the institution's Ceramic Workshop. These plaques will be installed on 10 hills in the Province of Elqui, through the Cumbres Literarias Group, in which ULS officials participate.

The hills selected for the location of the plates are Juan Soldado, Cutún-Las Rojas, Gualliguaica, Peralillo, Mamalluca, Gabriela Mistral, Paranao, Fortaleza, La Gitana and Las Tórtolas, all from the Elqui Province.

Before climbing the hills to install the ceramics, the pieces will be exhibited at the Irma Salas Silva Library, between April 10 and 24. "In this way we can reach those who do not regularly climb hills and with this project we intend to encourage them to do so and, incidentally, appreciate the art of the potters that is preserved in the workshops of the University," explained Ibáñez.

For his part, Rector Nibaldo Avilés valued in his inaugural speech the connection that this initiative achieves with our regional roots, also contributing to increasing tourist routes. "Literary Summits invites us to experience mountaineering and the challenges it entails, receiving at each summit an inspiring message that, from the heights of our region, will invite us to reflect. Likewise, it offers the region a new tourist and life in the open air, strengthening our commitment to the environment", stated the highest university authority.

The presentation of the project and the exhibition of the ceramics in the Irma Salas Silva Library of the ULS, are part of the program of activities to celebrate the month of the book, organized by the Library System of the University.

Written by Karina Damke, Rectory Press