The video, now available HERE and on the official YouTube channel @LPGC2031, is a powerful sound and visual journey that explores the city’s creative processes and highlights the transformative power of culture. Directed by award-winning filmmaker Gonzalo López-Gallego, who has lived in Gran Canaria for nearly a decade, the production involved nearly one hundred individuals and cultural groups from across the city.

Through a montage of seemingly independent but emotionally cohesive scenes, the 3-minute and 32-second film features a vibrant mosaic of artists in the midst of their creative processes, as well as citizens interacting with culture in their daily lives. As López-Gallego describes it, the film is “minimalist, experimental, and intentionally distanced from conventional corporate aesthetics.”

A Candidacy Built on Participation
During the event, the Mayor of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria expressed her gratitude for the high level of engagement from the city’s cultural and artistic community, emphasizing the importance of creating a new shared social imagination.
“In line with this vision,” she stated, “we want to make it clear that we need both art and culture to be active elements in shaping our city as a shared life project.”

The Councillor for Security, Coexistence and Culture, Josué Iñiguez, reaffirmed the city's commitment to showcasing its immense cultural potential to Europe and to addressing the key challenges of urban life through collaborative solutions. He also highlighted the value of the candidacy’s artistic and cultural programming in renewing the city’s cultural policies.

José Luis Pérez Pont, Artistic Director of the LPGC’31 candidacy, noted that the project is being developed through collective processes of listening and participation. “We are working with a wide range of voices that reflect the multicultural identity of both the Canary Islands and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria,” he said. Pérez Pont also announced that “over one hundred proposals have already been submitted through our website, and we continue to invite participation in the coming weeks. The Rebellion of Geography is possible thanks to the collective talents of this cultural powerhouse waiting to be discovered.”

Independent Creation and the Legacy of 2016
One of the central tenets of the LPGC’31 candidacy is the idea of shifting the center of the cultural map from the margins. This was expressed by Aniba Faycán, artist and member of the LPGC’31 working group, who acted as host of the event.
“Being here in Tamaraceite is not just symbolic,” he said. “It’s a recognition that our city cannot be understood without its neighborhoods, its edges—those places where culture has often been a luxury, but also where expressions of raw, unique authenticity are born.”

The city’s 2016 candidacy to become European Capital of Culture was also remembered during the event, with a tribute to all those who contributed to that earlier project and helped shape the city’s current cultural landscape, both through programming and infrastructure.

Giving Voice to Emerging Island Talent
The event opened with a performance by the Joven CanariJazz Big Band, conducted by renowned jazz soloist and educator José Vera Bello. This youth-focused, nonprofit cultural initiative promotes education, inclusion, and the dissemination of jazz and modern music among young people in the Canary Islands.

Later in the program, Faycán transformed into the voice of the island’s modernist literary tradition in a tribute to the centenary of poet Alonso Quesada, accompanied by verses from Tomás Morales and Saulo Torón. The performance blended tradition with modernity to express, in Faycán’s words, “who we are: a people who, despite adversity, turn culture into an act of resistance and beauty.”

The musical finale featured Lajalada, the solo project of Canarian composer and producer Belén Álvarez Doreste. Her performance took the audience on a journey that fused Canarian folk traditions with contemporary and electronic music, showcasing a vibrant dialogue between heritage and innovation.

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