Alejandra Martí, Executive Director of OLA, was invited by Marisol Hernández, General Director of the Teatro Municipal de Iquique, to visit the northern region of Chile. During her visit, Martí discussed, among other topics, the opportunities for culture and the creative industry that the bioceanic corridor—linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through Brazil, Paraguay, northern Argentina, and northern Chile—could offer.

During a recent visit to the city of Iquique, located in northern Chile, Alejandra Martí had the opportunity to exchange views and perspectives on creative industries and economies with regional authorities, cultural institutions, and media representatives.

The meeting took place as part of a visit to the Teatro Municipal de Iquique, facilitated by an invitation from its General Director, Marisol Hernández. Over the course of four days, Alejandra held meetings and interviews covering topics central to OLA’s mission over the past 17 years: the importance of collaborative and networked work for sharing knowledge, best practices, and professionalisation of the sector; the development of sustainable models involving both public and private sectors; the role of theatres in the internationalisation of cities; and, more recently, the creation of creative corridors to connect various cultural institutions from different countries in a network of cooperation.

“One of the interesting aspects of northern Chile is the bioceanic corridor project [connecting Brazil with the north of the country],” Alejandra said in an interview with the local media outlet El Longino. “At OLA, we are working with the Teatro Amazonas and the Festival Amazonas de Ópera because they are connecting with countries like Peru and Colombia and are interested in creating integration circles using the cultural corridor as a space that will naturally be in constant circulation,” she added.

Marisol Hernández, General Director of the Teatro Municipal de Iquique, expressed that “we are honoured to have had Alejandra Martí with us and reaffirm our commitment to continue working towards the growth and excellence of our Theatre. The visit of the Executive Director of OLA not only marks a milestone but also opens new doors for future collaborations. In the future, we aim to implement the ideas that emerged during her visit, with the goal of enhancing the internationalisation of our Theatre and promoting sustainable cultural development. We are convinced that, through cooperation, exchange of experiences, and positioning the Teatro Municipal de Iquique as a hub for the creative industry, we can reach new horizons and provide our community with high-quality artistic experiences.”

In 2022, the cultural secretariats of the Brazilian states of Pará and Amazonas signed an agreement to create the Northern Lyrical Corridor, an institutional partnership between the Theatro Da Paz (Belém) and the Teatro Amazonas (Manaus) for training and capacity building, as well as the circulation of performances and co-productions. The agreement was signed at that time by Secult head, Ursula Vidal; the Secretary of Culture of Amazonas, Marcos Apolo Muniz; the director of Theatro da Paz, Daniel Araújo; the artistic director of the Festival de Ópera (FO), Jena Vieira; the production director of FO, Nandressa Nuñez; and the executive director of the Festival Amazonas de Ópera (FAO), Flávia Furtado.

One of the ongoing projects is the development of bioceanic corridors connecting Chile, Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. In particular, the Bioceanic Corridor Puerto Murtinho-Northern Chile Ports will link southern Brazil with cities in northern Chile (including Iquique), traversing the northern region of Paraguay (Chaco Boreal) and parts of the Argentine provinces of Salta and Jujuy.

Teatro Municipal de Iquique. Foto: Gentileza Teatro Municipal de Iquique.

“We at OLA are working on a cultural corridor from various perspectives,” Alejandra commented in an interview with the Iquique-based media El Longino. “One of the gaps in Latin America is the transport and connection between countries in the region. A bioceanic corridor will facilitate movement and it is clear that artistic projects will also travel along this route in the future,” she added.

During her visit to Iquique, Alejandra also met with local authorities such as the city’s mayor, Mauricio Soria; the presidential delegate of the region, Daniel Quinteros; and the Seremi (Regional Ministerial Secretary) of culture, Rose Marie Acuña. Additionally, she coordinated visits to other cultural institutions such as the Casa de la Cultura de Iquique with its head, Diego Zerricueta; a meeting with local artists Rodolfo Miranda and Bernardo Ilaja; and a visit with the National Heritage Service to the La Palma and Humberstone theatres along with the regional director of the Heritage Service, José Barraza.

In these meetings, they discussed OLA’s activities, including the role of a theatre in terms of its heritage infrastructure and the work of its ensembles, as well as the opportunities of the aforementioned future bioceanic corridor and the role of the theatre as an artistic beacon of the Pacific in northern Chile and the Tarapacá Region (of which Iquique is the regional capital).