“El Fogón de los Arrieros” as a factor in the formation of cultural significance and national identity of the Argentines: Cultural heritage and modernitye

Abstract

This paper is the first comprehensive Russian-language study of the concept of the “El Fogón de los Arrieros” cultural institution. The author analyses the context of the institution’s emergence, its activities from the 1940s to the 1970s, and the results of its activity. In Argentina, Fogon has been studied since the late 1980s by L. S. Klappenbach, A. Reiero, M. Giordano, E. Cantero, G. Arqueros.

The author of this paper was the first to translate the works of L. Sudar Klappenbach, A. Reyero and M. Giordano and the memoirs of H. Torres Varela into Russian. This paper constitutes the first analysis of the said authors in Russian research.

The paper analyses the concept “El Fogón de los Arrieros” in the following aspects:

• the historical context of the emergence of Fogon, its participation in the dialogue of the national culture and the culture of indigenous peoples; the cultural centre of Fogon as a standard in the cultural history of the Chaco province;
• the cultural context of Fogon — since the 1940s, the cultural centre has created a modern environment for the development of cultural practices in the city and the region, and has been implementing the City Improvement Plan;
• the results of Fogon’s activity — the work of masters of Argentine and international fame, artists and sculptors Juan de Dios Mena, C. Schenone, C. Dominguez and the Russian-Argentinean master S. Erzya, monumentalists R. Monsegur, R. Brausau.

The creation of a unique cultural landscape through the synthesis of art and regional landscape in the space of the urban environment is the result of the joint efforts of Fogon, official institutions, and townspeople.

The practical result is a change in the cultural status of Resistencia, which is widely known today as the “City of Sculptures” with the status of a National Treasure.