Over Ten Cultural Institutions Join Forces to Celebrate Gabriela Mistral’s Thought Leadership

Original article: Más de diez instituciones culturales participan en un ciclo de actividades para relevar el pensamiento de Gabriela Mistral

Coordinated by the Centro Cultural La Moneda, over ten cultural institutions will host free and open activities from November 13 to December 10 across various locations in the city. The event will feature talks, music, theater, humor, and community gatherings aimed at diverse audiences.

Beyond her poetry, Gabriela Mistral transcended the literary world and became one of Latin America’s most prominent intellectual figures. Her insights anticipated contemporary debates surrounding feminism and human rights, advocating for women’s dignity and the cultural autonomy of the continent’s peoples. As early as the 1920s, she proposed new models for child care and challenged exploitative environmental practices, offering an ethical framework for land protection.

On the 80th anniversary of the Nobel Prize in Literature, the series Lo primero es la tierra, organized by the Centro Cultural La Moneda (CCLM), seeks to celebrate—rather than merely commemorate—Gabriela Mistral for her profound ideas on education, spirituality, nature, and Latin America, articulated in various works with a clear and committed voice. This cycle will include open and free activities such as talks, citizen gatherings, theater, music, humor, and family experiences from November 13 to December 10 in different venues across Santiago.

“We want to celebrate Gabriela Mistral’s ideas as she would have: with teachers, children, workers, elders, and youth; with those familiar with her work and those just discovering it. Her thoughts serve as an invitation to gather and discuss the enduring issues we still face today. Thus, we aimed to revive her voice in line with the Centro Cultural La Moneda’s mission to promote dialogue and interaction through diverse cultural expressions,” states Regina Rodríguez Covarrubias, executive director of the Centro Cultural La Moneda.

A Community Celebration

This initiative brings together over ten cultural institutions, including the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, the National Library of Chile, the University of Chile, the Chilean National Theater, the Violeta Parra Museum, the Spanish Cultural Center, Fundación Palabra, the Vicuña Museum, and the embassies of Sweden and Chile in France. Each institution will contribute activities inspired by Mistral’s legacy, encouraging the public to rediscover her through various formats and media. The aim is for this cycle to be experienced as “a community celebration around Mistralian thought and as a space for dialogue, creation, and collective emotion,” adds Regina Rodríguez.

The inaugural event of Lo primero es la tierra will take place on November 13 at the CCLM, featuring the conference Jardines mistralianos by poet and editor Gladys González, followed by a humorous interpretation of Mistral’s work by Paloma Salas.

In the weeks to follow, participants can engage in various activities: the Spanish Cultural Center will set up a mailbox where children, youth, and adults can leave letters addressed to Gabriela Mistral. There will also be a musical performance by Tryo Teatro Banda alongside the Dissident Lyric Ensemble, based on stories reimagined in verse by Mistral. The University of Chile will host a poetry recital with the Antumapu Folkloric Ballet and a concert by Bordes Ensamble featuring Los sonetos de la muerte. For families, the children’s play Poema de Chile, inspired by her posthumous book, will be presented on December 6 at the CCLM’s Central Hall.

The cycle will conclude on December 10, the anniversary of the Nobel Prize award, with the talk Mistral camino al Nobel, delivered by Ambassador José Goñi at the Swedish Embassy residence.

Key Themes in Mistralian Thought

The programming revolves around four key themes: Gabriela and Latin America; Gabriela and Spirituality; Gabriela and Nature; and Gabriela and Education. 

The first theme emphasizes her advocacy for the human rights of women, children, farmers, and Indigenous peoples, alongside her commitment to regional integration processes. Her role as a consul and support for the continent’s social reforms position her as one of the clearest political voices of her time.

Gabriela and Spirituality explores her connections to sacred literatures of both the East and West, the Bible that accompanied her from childhood, and a dogma-free spirituality translating into an ethics of compassion and respect for diversity. In texts such as Iniciática, astral y precursora (Libros del Cardo, 2020), Mistral delves into Buddhist and Hindu thought, fostering a practical spirituality that also infuses her educational proposals. 

Through the theme Gabriela and Nature—which shapes activities like a route through Mistral’s life’s seasons in the Alicia Cáceres Arts Park, organized by Fundación Palabra—her connection to landscape and the plant world is addressed. In her early writings, Mistral claimed that “God is nature,” revealing one of the keys to her thought: understanding the divine through life itself. 

Finally, Gabriela and Education offers a reinterpretation of her pedagogical reflections founded on tenderness and learning in connection with the natural environment. From her involvement in the Mexican educational reform alongside José Vasconcelos to her texts on rural schools, Mistral advocated for public, humanist education focused on experience. Her pedagogical thought—inspired by Tagore and Tolstoy—shaped 20th-century Latin American education and continues to serve as a reference point.

*The images and photographs contained in this note are courtesy of the National Library, specifically from the Gabriela Mistral legacy collection of the Writer’s Archive-National Library of Chile*

Program:

Inauguration | Conference + Stand-Up
November 13, 18:30 | Central Hall – Reader Space CCLM
Plaza de la Ciudadanía #26, Santiago.
Organized by: CCLM and University of Chile.
The cycle opens with a conference Jardines mistralianos by poet and editor Gladys González, dedicated to Mistral’s publications by Editorial El Cardo, closing with stand-up by comedian and actress Paloma Salas.
*Open invitation with registrations.

Installation | The Gabriela Mailbox
October to December 1 | Monday to Saturday, 10:00 to 20:00 | Central Patio, Spanish Cultural Center (CCE)
Av. Providencia #927, Providencia.
Organized by: CCE.
A space to share your letters and reflections inspired by the poet.

Family Activity | Mistralian Route
November 22 and December 6 – 12:00 | Alicia Cáceres Arts Park
Calle Ventura Lavalle #470, Santiago.
Organized by: BILIJ and Fundación Palabra.
A journey through five stations with moments of reflection and play, specially designed for families and children.

Talk | The Voice of Gabriela Mistral in Digital Repositories
November 25 – 12:00 | Ercilla Room, National Library
Av. Alameda Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins 651, Santiago.
Organized by: National Library and CCE.
A meeting with Núria Girona, professor in the Department of Spanish Philology at the Universitat de València.

Launch | Journal Mapocho
November 27 – 12:00 | Garden, National Library
Av. Alameda Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins 651, Santiago.
Organized by: National Library.
Special edition dedicated to Gabriela Mistral.

Recital by TryoTeatrobanda: Musicalized Classic Stories
November 29 – 16:00 | Central Hall, Centro Cultural La Moneda
Plaza de la Ciudadanía #26, Santiago.
Organized by: CCLM.
An invitation to enjoy the music and poetry of Gabriela Mistral with TryoTeatrobanda, which will perform classic stories written in verse by Gabriela Mistral: The Sleeping Beauty of the Forest, Snow White in the House of the Dwarfs, Little Red Riding Hood, and Cinderella.
*100 spots available with registrations.

Installation | Opening of the Gabriela Mailbox
December 2 – 18:30 | Central Patio, Spanish Cultural Center (CCE)
Av. Providencia #927, Providencia.
Organized by: CCE.
Opening ceremony of the mailbox and public reading of the letters sent by the public.

Poetry Recital | Ballet Atumapu
December 5 – 19:30 | Master Room, University of Chile
Av. Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins 1058, Santiago.
Organized by: Chilean National Theater and University of Chile.
Poetic act with Ballet Atumapu, readings with the Chilean National Theater, and a musical closing by the Bordes Ensemble, interpreting Los sonetos de la muerte, femininely.

Activity | Mistralian Creation Day
December 6 – 11:00 | Violeta Parra Museum
Av. Vicuña Mackenna #3, Santiago.
Organized by: Violeta Parra Museum.
Creative and family gathering open to the whole community.

Children’s Theater Play | Poema de Chile
December 6 – 12:00 | Central Hall, Centro Cultural La Moneda
Plaza de la Ciudadanía #26, Santiago.
Organized by: CCLM, Chilean National Theater, and University of Chile.
Children’s theater play Poema de Chile, produced by the Chilean National Theater and the University of Chile.
*100 spots available with registrations. 

International Conferences
December 9 – 10:00 to 18:00 | Central Hall, CCLM
Plaza de la Ciudadanía #26, Santiago.
Organized by: CCLM and the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage.
Participants to be confirmed. Talk | Mistral camino al Nobel
December 10 – 18:30 | Swedish Embassy Residence in Chile
Organized by: Swedish Embassy and residence in Lo Curro.
Talk Mistral camino al Nobel by the Chilean Ambassador to Sweden, José Goñi.
*Closed event by invitation.