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Aquí se enciende la candela Multimedia. Cubadisco Award has given us a great satisfaction

Autor: Isel Pérez Pérez | Fuente: CUBARTE 09 de Junio 2012

Talking with Ernesto Sierra, vice-director of Ediciones Cubarte, can be an interesting intellectual exercise. Being a young, talented writer, he has been directing the a staff for over 10 years which has been using the new information and communications technologies to promote Cuban culture by means of the multimedia.

This time, a happy news approached us to him. The DVD Aquí se enciende la candela, based on the history of the orchestra of all Cubans, Los Van Van, has been granted the CUBADISCO Award 2012.

Ernesto, what is Ediciones Cubarte?

Ediciones Cubarte is the editorial seal of the Publishing House of the Center for Informatics and Culture CUBARTE, focused on the publication of electronic books and multimedia CDs aimed at promoting Cuban culture in all its diversity through its main exponents. In other words, we are an electronic publishing house trying to launch the most representative of our culture in DVD and CD multimedia formats.

What was the genesis of the project?

The original idea was Rafael de la Osa´s, CEO of Cubarte, the year before Van Van arrived to its 40th anniversary. For this, he invited Guille Vilar, it was a very daring, but successful idea. El Guille is best known for his link with rock and pop music, but he´s 100% Van Van fan. Rafa knew this, so he asked Guille to be in charge of shaping the contents of the project.

To talk about Los Van Van we need to go back over 40 years of history, how do you organize a multimedia with so much information?

It´s a very difficult challenge, as regards to this or any other multimedia. Unlike the book—which is linear—the multimedia allows a radial, multiple reading or browsing. Thus, it assimilates so much content in the most diverse formats: text, audio, photos, music scores, videos, interviews, etc., a work mostly done—as I already said—by Guille Vilar. We spent more than two years gathering information, we had to work very hard before we organized everything and presented it in the most amazing way. Here is where the teamwork became vital, since programmers and designers provided us with their knowledge when handling the new information and communications technologies, to  give shape to the script and the structure of the multimedia; that is, they helped that large volume of information to be attractive and fully included.

What has it been the itinerary of Aquí se enciende la candela? How has the audience reacted to it?

The multimedia was launched last December, at Casa del Alba, having a great acceptance, and later on, in Havana International Book Fair. I think it´s been one of our best welcomed works due to its topic and design in general. In spite of not being presented at Cubadisco; it obtained the award under the category of multimedia. From December up to now, most of the copies have been sold.

Where can it be bought?

At the EGREM´s music stores.

Being awarded with such a prestigious recognition like that of Cubadisco sets high expectations, what other projects Cubarte is working on?

The award is a big encouragement for Ediciones Cubarte´s staff and also for the institution. Two years ago we were awarded with the multimedia dedicated to El Cucalambé; a very  nice surprise, since it is a topic less popular than Los Van Van, though very well rooted within the the country music genre. Awards like this encourage us to keep on working, without neglecting anything during the publishing process, going from the selection of titles, up to the final completion of the multimedia.

We are already working on the design of projects dedicated to the Maestros Chucho Valdés  and Leo Brouwer, our Omara Portuondo and the Aragón orchestra, to just give you a few examples; without disregarding other collections of our catalog that is not related to music.

Cubadisco award has given us a great satisfaction, and it invites us to continue improving our work.

Translation: Roxana Marquez Herrera (Cubarte)