(Oranjestad)—Last Wednesday, after a week of activities with the support of the public who have gone to see and hear poetry, the artists also shared a little bit more about their talents in workshops, officially closing the Aruba International Poetry Encounter on May 17th.
From 5pm to 7pm, Jhon Martinez hosted a workshop in which he taught participants to make their own hand made book using paper scraps, or “cartonero.” A cartonero book is based on ancient Japanese book binding methods, where the maker would have no need for electronic devices like printers.
The point of the workshop, according to Martinez, is to help people create things using resources that are readily available at home. “What we really want is to establish a foundation for people who may be interested in literature or poetry, or for people who are interested in arts and crafts, he said.
In terms of the closure of the festival, this took place at 7:30pm at the Rancho Foundation headquarters, where there were many activities organized, including interactive poetry and music. Headlining artists included Randall Luidens, local artist and entrepreneur, as well as Brazilian poet Wilson Alvarez, who both discussed where rhythm and poetry separate and come together. There were also other international and national artists present, who shared their talents and work to the Aruban community.
