The book, edited by the journalists Mirelis Morales and Mariana Cadenas and with the collaboration of Banesco, is made up of 40 chronicles of sites and events that existed in Caracas and that influenced the environment and dynamics of the city.
“Cities are a set of many things: memories, desires, signs of a language; They are places of barter, as all the economic history books explain, but these exchanges are not only for merchandise, they are also exchanges for words, desires, and memories”.
Italo Calvino
An illustration of the main headquarters of the Lugar Común bookstore, made by Carlos Carrenoposted on Twitter, made Mirelis Morales (Caracas 450) will think about the spaces and events that the Venezuelan capital has lost in recent years.
Days later, on his Facebook wall he wrote: “How many places have closed in Caracas?” She received more than 100 responses, some from places and others from events. At that moment the idea for his most recent publication came up: Caracas 455. Memories of a lost city.
* Read: Caracas celebrates 453 years confined by the 21st century pandemic
“The illustration of Lugar Común – a space that I really liked, a space that had become very integrated into the city and made me sad and nostalgic to find out they had closed it – and the responses on Facebook made me remember the experience of Caracas 450 (Banesco publication that brings together 450 stories from the city). Then I commented on this to Mariana Cadenas (artistic director of the book) and in June 2021 we started the project, ”says Morales, from the US, where she currently resides.
Caracas 455. Memories of a lost city It is made up of 40 chronicles of places (bars, restaurants, bookstores) and events (In the middle of the street, the Ateneo Fair, and the Caracas International Theater Festival, among others), accompanied by illustrations.
Anecdotal texts, written from nostalgia, but transformed into something positive, Morales points out.
“The objective of this book is to record the memory of a city, to record what was in these spaces and what dynamics were generated in and around them: a record so that other generations can also experience these spaces, get to know them,” he explains.
28 Venezuelan firms, including journalists and writers, of different ages, some from the diaspora; among them: Eduardo Sanchez RugelesGerardo Guarache, Andrés Kerese, Iván Zambrano, Jonathan Gutierrez, Nolan RadaLuisa Salomon and Florantonia Singer. And 15 Illustrators are the authors of the pieces that make up the book.
Luis Bonilla, Ana Brett, Eddymir Briceño, Carlos Carreño and Michael Zerpa are some of the designers who worked for the publication.
Caracas 455, “a dream”
But Caracas 455. Memories of a lost city It is also “a dream”: in order to print the book, a pre-sale was opened on December 15, which will run until January 15. Those interested in purchasing the publication should go to the page www.caracasciudadperdida.com/ buy it and you will receive it in February 2023.
This first edition of the book is limited: it will be distributed only in Venezuela and the United States. They hope to be able to reach some European countries later.
Regarding the possibility of extending the project to other cities in the country, Morales clarifies that it is not in his plans, but that he would like others to be encouraged to do so.
“We have not considered covering another city because you have to know the heart of a city to be able to make a book like this; but we would like someone in Maracaibo or Valencia; for example, take this idea and replicate it, for us it would be an honor ”, he confesses.
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