FESTIBA 2021

Finding comfort through creative action

Jamejdra Holverstott | THE RIDER

The Festival of International Books and Art is celebrating the theme of “Building Resilience Through Arts and Literacy” this week.

The event was established in 2006 “to promote the importance of literacy, culture, and the arts to students, parents, educators, and community members throughout the Rio Grande Valley,” according to UTRGV’s FESTIBA webpage.

Dahlia Guerra, assistant vice president for Public Art & Special Projects, said this year’s FESTIBA celebration promotes comfort through the arts.

“During this particular year, because of the pandemic, because of all the stress and challenges people have had throughout the year, we are trying to focus on highlighting the use of the creative process to find comfort,” Guerra said. “Whether it be through music or art or dance, this is a time to seek comfort through the arts and to promote a sense of well-being.”

This year, the Center for Latin American Arts showcased four virtual art exhibits to the FESTIBA webpage: “The Virgin Mary: Art, Materiality, and Piety” by Daniel Ymbong; “Stillness” by Carlos Limas; “Pedazos de Ayer” by Angela V. Scardigno; and “Santas: The Feminine Divine” by Carol Lopez. An exhibit titled “Continual Journey – Articulations in Steel” by Brian Wedgworth will also be available for viewing at the Performing Arts Complex on the Edinburg campus.

“[‘Continual Journey – Articulations in Steel” exhibit] is not in yet, but we’re still going to put it in,” Guerra said. “It’s an exhibit of sculpture. It’s going to be neat.”

She said “Stillness” by Limas wants to give his viewers a more intimate look at abandoned buildings.

“[Limas] has a very definite vision of what he’s looking for in these abandoned and old buildings,” Guerra said. “He even says he’s trying to give the viewer a more personal and intimate experience of looking at these old buildings. Are you finding some sort of comfort knowing that they have been there for many years and they have gone through storms? They have gone through all kinds of pandemics and challenges.”

The assistant vice president said Scardigno, who is coordinator of Media Design and Communication at the UTRGV Center for Latin American Art abandoned objects to create a wood collage.

“There’s another exhibit that has pieces of wood, like wood collages,” Guerra said. “[The materials used] are just pieces of trash, basically, but the artist, Angela Scardigno, created a beautiful work of art just by using pieces of abandoned objects. … Particularly wood.”

Other exhibits featured include the “Museum of South Texas History Bearing Witness: Healing Through Story Telling” presented by Melissa Peña and Francisco Guajardo. The exhibit aims to document the stories of people who died during the pandemic. 

Creative writing professor Steven Schneider presented Covid-19: Creative Writing in A Time of Crisis, a talk based on his Summer 2020 class.

“A lot of our students or families have experienced trauma and suffering, and how do you deal with that,” Schneider asked. “And one of the ways that you deal with it is through writing. So, that’s what we looked at in that special course last summer.”

Students of the summer course shared their work during the presentation via Zoom.

“I want [attendees] to feel a sense of connectedness because this is a time when people feel alienated, and I want them to feel a sense of hope and inspiration,” Schneider said. “And … creative writing can give them that experience of hope.”

Schneider gave a second presentation titled The Magic of Mariachi / La Magia Del Mariachi.

“I did give a second presentation from our book,” Schneider said. “It’s an exhibit, The Magic of Mariachi, on Wednesday night, and I wanted those participants to feel the vibrant joy of mariachi music. And I played some recordings made by Mariachi Aztlán during the pandemic and read some poetry and shared the artwork.”

Future performances and presentations include the FESTIBA Mariachi Festival 2021 held today and Saturday, FESTIBA Book Distribution March 5 and South Texas Literacy Symposium March 13, which was rescheduled from Feb. 20. 

For more information on FESTIBA 2021 and the Center for Latin American Arts virtual exhibits visit, https://www.utrgv.edu/festiba/program/booklet/index.htm.