The Margot Loyola Palacios 2024 National Lifetime Achievement Award in Traditional Culture was presented – 2024-09-17 04:27:16 – 2024-09-17 04:28:29 – 2024-09-17 04:29:39 – 2024-09-17 04:30:41

The Montt Varas Hall of the La Moneda Palace was the setting where this morning the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage, Carolina Arredondo, together with the Undersecretary of Culture and the Arts, Noela Salas; the Undersecretary of Cultural Heritage, Carolina Pérez and the director of the National Heritage Service, Nélida Pozo, led the ceremony to present the Margot Loyola Palacios 2024 National Career Award in Traditional Culture. The award with which the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage annually recognizes people, representatives of collectives or groups with an outstanding career in the creation, training and research in traditional culture and intangible heritage.

“The Margot Loyola Palacios Lifetime Achievement Award was created to honour and recognise Chilean traditional and popular culture. The award was created by us as the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage and has been presented for nine years, recognising those who, like her, have followed the path of creation, training and research into traditional culture and Chilean intangible heritage,” said the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage, Carolina Arredondo.

In 2024, the award went to the musician, poet, artisan, leader and indigenous cultural manager José Segovia Vergara, “Patara”, from the Metropolitan Region; to the singer, popular poet and payadora María Cecilia Astorga Arredondo from the Valparaíso Region; to the journalist, writer and researcher of traditional culture and intangible cultural heritage, Juan Guillermo Mauricio Prado Ocaranza, from the Metropolitan Region; and to the Mapuche potter, María Isabel Cachaña Machacan, from the Araucanía Region.

Meanwhile, Osvaldo Cádiz, president of the Advisory Committee on Intangible Heritage of the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage and widower of the teacher, said: “On September 15, 1918, Ana Margot Loyola Palacios was born in Maule, in the “mauchos” area, and she would dedicate her entire life to rescuing what it means to be Chilean. Today, representatives of that secret and profound Chile that this woman, considered the teacher of Chile, loved so much have been awarded. They are faithful representatives of that cultural heritage inherited for hundreds of years and that have been reflected in their work, in their being.”

About the award winners

After analyzing more than thirty applications received from different regions of the country, the jury decided to recognize the outstanding indigenous poet, artisan, leader and cultural manager, José Germán Segovia Vergara, “Patara”. With a career spanning more than forty years as an artistic director and member of Andean musical groups such as Arak Pacha, Guamaru and Khantati, he is also the creator of poems and stories that connect the life of the legendary highlands and the Chilean desert. He has also stood out for leading the creation of the National Indianist Coordinator (Conacin) and the Cerro Blanco Cultural and Spiritual Development Center project.

María Cecilia Astorga Arredondo was also the winner of the 2024 Margot Loyola Prize. She is a singer, popular poet and payadora from the Valparaíso Region with more than forty years of experience. A culturer and teacher of the art of paya, she is considered the first Chilean woman to professionally take up this profession and a pillar of the new generation of Chilean payadoras.

Juan Guillermo Prado Ocaranza was also awarded this recognition for his career of more than 40 years as a journalist, writer and researcher of traditional culture and intangible cultural heritage. He has published research on the history of folklore and popular religiosity, receiving national distinctions and serving as director of institutions such as the Chilean Society of History and Geography.

Finally, María Isabel Cachaña Machacan was awarded the prize for having built a career spanning more than thirty years as a Mapuche potter from the town of Trovolhue, commune of Carahue in the Araucanía Region. Thanks to this craft and art, she has preserved knowledge of the clay culture and the ancient tradition of women potters and indigenous people from the area.

About the Margot Loyola Prize

This is the ninth consecutive year that the Margot Loyola Palacios National Lifetime Achievement Award in Traditional Culture has been presented. This award is a national recognition for those individuals, groups or collectives that, through their activity, trade or profession, enrich our traditional culture and intangible cultural heritage, allowing their work and knowledge to contribute to promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity.

The award ceremony is part of the celebration of the National Day of Traditional and Popular Chilean Culture, which is commemorated every September 15 in honor of the birth of Margot Loyola.