Culture Ministry Holds Huge Program in Celebration of María Montez Centenary

Culture Ministry Holds Huge Program in Celebration of María Montez Centenary
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 4/8/2012

The Ministry of Culture and the María Montez Centenary Commission is putting on an intense program of activities in commemoration of the 100-year anniversary of the birth of the Dominican film star who rose to fame and swept Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s.

Beginning on April 10, a Cycle of Conferences on the life and work of María Montez will get underway in schools, colleges and cultural centers in the DR as well the Dominican Culture Commission of New York and the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The program, which will last all this year, began in March with a film series at the Dominican Cinemateque with eight films starring the native of Barahona.

Throughout April, this film series will tour 12 provinces around the country. This films starring María Montez include productions made in Hollywood as well as France. The cities included in the film tour are Santiago de los Caballeros, Barahona, San Juan de la Maguana, Azua, Baní, La Vega, Puerto Plata, Moca, Nagua, Bonao, Higüey and Elias Piña.

Beginning on April 10, a Cycle of Conferences on the life and work of María Montez will get underway in schools, colleges and cultural centers in the DR as well the Dominican Culture Commission of New York and the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

On April 19, with the inauguration of the 15th International Book Fair of Santo Domingo, the María Montez Homage Exhibition will open as a permanent part of this year’s Book Fair. At the beginning of June, the exhibition will travel to Barahona and in July to the Consistorial Palace of Santiago. Following that, the exhibition will travel to New York.

Several commemorative activities will take place during the Book Fair including a colloquium in the Juan Lockward Bar of the National Theater and a conference with keynote speaker Margarita Vicens de Morales, María Montez’s biographer. The latter will be held in the Aida Bonnelly de Díaz Hall.

As part of last weekend’s successful program, Cultural Itineraries of the Ministry of Culture led a tour to Barahona and Pedernales which included the participation of nearly one hundred people who did the María Montez route. This activity was organized by the Office of Cultural Tourism of the Ministry of Culture.

Between June 1 through 9, a theater piece, “María Montez, The Queen of Technicolor,” will be performed by US-based Dominican actress, Dalia Davi. This theatrical piece will be held at the Ravelo Hall of the National Theater and in the Julio Alberto Hernández Hall of the Gran Theater of Cibao.

The María Montez Homage Exhibition will be opened to the public for three months, from June 1st through August 30th at the Gallery of Public Art in Independence Park. This exhibition will be the centerpiece for the yearlong commemoration program.

On June 6, María Montez’s birth date, simultaneous religious ceremonies will be held in Santo Domingo and Barahona. The mass in Santo Domingo will begin at 10 AM at the Church of San Antonio de Padua and officiated by Monsignor Benito Ángeles. In Barahona, at the same hour, a mass will be held at the Cathedral and officiated by the Bishop of that Diocese.

At 8 PM on this same day, there will be a Gala Concert by the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of the maestro José Antonio Molina. The concert will be held in the auditorium of the Southern Region Central University (CURSO) of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo.

Also on June 6 in Santo Domingo, the Grand Collective of Designers in honor of María Montez will be inaugurated in the National Gallery of Fine Arts. This exhibition will be open to the public until August 15^th.

This year’s 3rd National Theater Festival, to be held from June 12-30, will be dedicated to the honor of María Montez. More than 30 plays and theater presentations will be performed on various stages around Santo Domingo.

A Grand Fashion Show in honor of María Montez is scheduled for June 15 on the outlying esplanade of the Palace of Fine Arts and will include the participation of the most prestigious designers of the Dominican Republic and other countries.

Finally, as part of the celebrations, a popular edition of the important María Montez biography by Margarita Vicens de Morales edited by the National Publisher, will be put into circulation. Other programmed activities include the emission of a postage stamp from the Dominican Postal Institute, a performance in the María Montez Studio of CER-TV and the placement of a bust of the actress in the Juan Pablo Duarte Culture Plaza.

The María Montez Centenary Program was developed by a special commission of the Ministry of Culture presided over by Bernarda Jorge, Vice Minister of Creativity and Popular Participation. Other members on the commission include Marlon Soto, Lidia Bastos, Rosa Rodríguez, Japonesa Capellán, Karina Noble, Basilio Nova, Alejandro Arvelo and Carlos Mena Pérez.

Additional organizations of the Ministry of Culture that also took part in this effort are the Dominican Cinemateque, the Office of Training and Education, Cultural Tourism, the Office of Theater Festivals, the Narciso González Cultural Center and the General Directorate of the International Book Fair.

The National Commission for the María Montez Centenary is presided over by the Minister of Culture, José Rafael Lantigua; the Administrative Minister of the Presidency, Luis Manuel Bonetti; Altagracia Corleto de Olmos, from the Ministry of Tourism; Eddy Mateo Vásquez, Senator from Barahona; Noé Octavio Suberví, Mayor of Barahona and congressional deputies from this southern community including Mariano Montero, Noris Medina, Aquiles Ledesma and Fabio Vargas.

Others working in the Commission are Provincial Director of Culture, Miguel Leger, Flavia García, Wilson Gómez Ramírez, Rodolfo Lama Jaar, Oscar López Reyes, Margarita Vicens, Tita Hasbún and General Rafael Leonidas Pérez y Pérez.

Nearly one hundred people visited the place where María Montez was said to have been born in Barahona. The tour in Barahona-Pedernales was held last weekend as part of the Cultural Itineraries organized by the Ministry of Culture.

María Montez