Interview with Álvaro Carmona López
SACRUM'24 - Technical Director
Álvaro Carmona López
SACRUM'24 - Technical Director
Álvaro Carmona López has an extensive career in the religious and brotherhood world, linked to various brotherhoods in Seville, Cordoba and Jerez de la Frontera. He has played prominent roles within the corporations and has been an active collaborator in newsletters and brotherhood magazines, including the magazine Saeta de la Cope and publications of various Andalusian and Spanish brotherhoods in general.
His participation in cofrades events includes the organization of talks on foot care during Holy Week, integrating his experience as an expert in podiatry with the cofrade tradition. He has been a presenter of cultural events, presenter and editor in the media, is administrator of the page “Rocieros en el Mundo” with more than 200k followers on social networks and has collaborated in radio and television talk shows on Cadena Cope, Trece, Onda Cero and Canal Sur throughout all these years.
Alvaro Carmona has been a pregonero and exalter on almost two hundred occasions, standing out for his oratory in cities like Seville, Cadiz, Madrid, Jerez and much of Spain. In addition, he has moderated cofrades events and has narrated the Holy Week in Seville and Madrid in various media, consolidating his figure in the field of cofrades and his contribution to the dissemination of religious culture, being one of the current literary references in the Sacred Art.
What is for a person like you the cofrade world?
Popular Religiosity in Seville is the reference that we inherit, choose and live in the city of Seville and also within Andalusia. The cofrade world is wide, rich and vast in knowledge, therefore it generates an ecosystem where Sacred Art, Religion, Faith and personal development touch. I believe that after being a Christian, being a brotherhood is a real pride and privilege.
How has your experience as a podiatrist influenced your active participation in Holy Week, especially in the care of the costaleros?
Being part of the first podiatric experience within the Centro de Atención al Costalero and then also being the first podiatrist within a medical team of a rociera brotherhood, has allowed me to know the ins and outs of the physical activity of costaleros and pilgrims. Walking towards the Virgin. Being the feet of Christ is an arduous task that requires preparation and commitment and being able to help others with your knowledge, is undoubtedly being where you want to be and live as you want to live.
Throughout your career as a town crier and exalter, is there any moment or intervention that you consider particularly special or significant in your brotherhood career?
All moments are significant. I started very young with 19 years and now with 35 years I can recognize that I have been very fortunate to have the support of brotherhoods of much of Spain. To proclaim means “to announce what is coming” and I was able to do it in my city, Seville, when I was 26 years old in the Cathedral, proclaiming the Gloria brotherhoods of the city. After that, I began a path of books, kilometers and poetry. A lot of study and also a lot of innovation to maintain a genre that deserves poets and Christians committed to God in his word.
What are your expectations about the relevance of Sacrum 2024 for the projection of religious culture at an international level?
Spain deserves an International Fair like Sacrum. Because we are exponents, creators and above all, the great claim of Sacred Art worldwide along with Italy. That is why Sacrum comes to fill an existing gap and is the great demand of a group that not only speaks of artisans and consumers, but of families and people who live by and for the natural expansion of religious culture in the world.
What impact do you think Sacrum 2024 will have on religious tourism in Malaga and Andalusia?
Torremolinos is the city chosen for this edition due to its strategic position within Andalusia and Spain. The Costa del Sol is a reflection of the great moment that Andalusia is experiencing as an exporter and creator of Sacred Art. The social impact and within the productive fabric is brutal, inviting even more to believe and invest in the sector.
How do you see the integration of the brotherhood tradition in an event like Sacrum 2024?
They are one. Brotherhoods and Sacred Art are part of the same ecosystem that handles beauty, faith and craftsmanship. But not everything is confraternities, tourism and pilgrimages, culture, documentation, an exhibition of sculpture and painting are the total integration within a space that is much more than a Fair Cofrade to use.
What role do you think new technologies will play in the experience of those attending Sacrum 2024?
They are the loudspeaker of Sacred Art and at Sacrum 2024 they are present because they generate movement. Giorgio Maldonado's brilliant work in charge of them during these months has made us see that we would arrive at the first edition immersed in the wave of the image. We have to make an impact on Sacred Art because new technologies and AI have come to change the world in a disruptive way. And this sector could not be less and Sacrum is the true reflection of reality: union, knowledge and work are the levers of Sacred Art.
What is the importance of collaboration between the brotherhoods and an international event like Sacrum 2024?
They must avoid falling into skepticism. The beauty made Sacred Art must be exhibited wherever it is required because it is a worship to God. Heritage is not made to be kept in closets with keys. If the brotherhoods understand that their heritage is an intelligent and didactic tool to know their history and functions, we would all gain in value and visibility. We should understand it this way. Thank God dozens of them have contributed heritage and will make Sacrum, a universe of the sacred.
What previous experiences in other religious events would you highlight as preparation for an event of the magnitude of Sacrum 2024?
It is clear that the great reference was Munarco, which was held for the last time 20 years ago. But it was necessary to complete the action with all aspects of Sacred Art. Peregrina, for example, is the great reality that speaks of the pilgrimage to holy and religious places. Spain needs to value cities like Merida (the first Christian flame of Spain), Totana, Guadalupe... that have so much to tell about our religious tradition.
How do you think that the media projection of Sacrum 2024 could transform the international perception of the Andalusian cofrade heritage?
And Spanish. There is an enormous tourist and media projection when Holy Week is celebrated in Spain. The hotel occupation and the restoration are objective indicators of the growth and boom of the world-wide interest. We have to attract the whole world so that it visits us because we are in Spain a true mirror where to look at the celebration of the Holy Week. We have the raw material and we have set the perfect stage for visitors, the curious and the main actors of Sacred Art to come face to face with the Holy Week in Spain and all that surrounds and participates in sacred art.
What kind of activities or exhibitions within Sacrum 2024 do you expect to generate the most interest among cofrades?
When a cofrade sees a piece of his brotherhood, he understands that the effort has been worthwhile. But the brotherhoods need “Erasmus cofrades”, that is, to know heritages and cultures of other places since everything is celebrated at the same time in a week. Now they will be able to see and feel things from many parts of Spain and listen to the story of artists and speakers of first level that generate value. A lot of value.
What measures are being taken to ensure that the event maintains the respect and solemnity that characterizes religious traditions?
We should not be confused at any time that Sacred Art is a song of spiritual and plastic praise to God. That is why it cannot be defined as a Feria Cofrade. It is an integration of all the sectors of Sacred Art with a neat and exquisite admiration to the religious tradition.
We would like to thank Mr. Alvaro Carmona Lopez for his reflections on the future of the cofrade field and its relationship with events such as Sacrum 2024. He highlights the importance of continuing to merge tradition with innovation, without losing sight of the essential values that define the brotherhoods and confraternities, and his affirmation that Sacrum 2024 will not only be a meeting place for devotees and experts in religious culture, but also a platform to make visible the importance of religious tourism and its impact on local communities.
The authors are responsible for the choice and presentation of the facts contained in this document and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of Tourism and Society Think Tank and do not commit the Organization, and should not be attributed to TSTT or its members.
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