Dominican Customs Foundation Exhibits 30 of its Most Outstanding Pieces from its Art Collection in the Canadian Capital

Ottawa, Canada, February 26, 2020. – The Dominican Embassy in Canada, along with the Cultural Foundation of the Dominican Customs Office and the Ministry of Tourism, opened the exhibit “Modern and Contemporary Dominican Art” in Ottawa’s City Hall.
The Dominican Tourism Office in Montreal also contributed to the successful exhibit.
The exhibit’s catalog brings a message from Enrique Ramírez Paniagua, the Dominican Customs Office Director General, where he highlights that the “…exhibit is a summary of [Dominican] culture, a product of the various cultural groups that founded our society, from the native Tainos, Ciguayos and Caribs, and later with the Spaniards, with the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492.”
Director Ramírez Paniagua explained that the exhibit reflects the vision and sentiments of distinguished Dominican plastic artists. He recognized that this initiative began under the Administration of past Director General, Miguel Cocco Guerrero, a great supporter of local artists.
The Dominican Ambassador in Canada, Pedro Vergés Ciman, delivered the exhibit’s opening remarks where he highlighted the various activities that have been scheduled to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic and trade relations between both nations. Ambassador Vergés also stated that the exhibit is “…the highest expression of what we have been able to accomplish in the visual arts sector.” He also thanked the Customs Office, specifically in the person of Director Enrique Ramírez Paniagua, as well as the members of the Foundation for choosing Canada to exhibit the masterpieces.
Invited guests at the exhibit’s opening ceremony included Canadian senators Jane Cordy, René Cormier and Marie-Françoise; the director of the Ottawa Art Gallery, Alexandra Balzak; Mark O’Neill and Kay Rictcher, executives of the History and War Museum.
Also present were diplomats from Spain, Belgium, Cameroon, El Salvador, St. Lucia, Cuba, Argentina, Israel, Yemen, Colombia, Mexico, Portugal, Austria, Kazakhstan Serbia, Russia, Tanzania, Moldavia, Paraguay, Costa Rica, Rumania, Georgia, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Kenya and Bosnia-Herzegovina, among others.
Representatives from the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Relations, Ottawa’s City Hall, Carleton University, the Autonomous University of Mexico in Canada, the Dominican Aviation Institute, as well as leaders from the Dominican community in Canada, members of the press and the general public also attended the event.
The exhibit, which remained opened until March, is a successful initiative that has been presented with much success in the Organization of American States in Washington, New York City, Madrid, Santiago de Compostela, in Spain, Brussels, Belgium and Havana, Cuba.
The Foundation also sponsors an annual itinerant exhibit in the provinces of the Dominican Republic, so that citizens living in remote areas may become familiar and appreciate these works of arts, produced by the most distinguished Dominican artists.