Dylan were here

En español

Bob Dylan were here. Not live in person, as many people wish, but he did. His life, his songs and, specially, his music, were the topic of a lecture organized by the Faculty of Architecture of the Federico Villarreal University. The organizers were gentle and invited me to participate there as a lecturer, so, I can tell that, this activity (maybe the first one about Dylan made in Peru) was very well organized and was one of the most interesting meetings I have ever seen.

Before a very crowded auditorium, the session was opened by the architect Manuel Zavala who explained the reasons about why a faculty more related to civil-construction (that is the way people non involved in such topics, can see it) decided to organize a symposium about the songwriter from Minnesota.

He said that, against all believings, architect’s interests are not only about structures and maps, but this career implies an artistic way of seeing things, a moment of creation based in inspiration. And that was why they started to look for poetry beyond their works and designs. And they found Dylan.

“Bob Dylan, poetics of the transgression” (that is the name of the event) had as a lecturers (besides who write this), the following people: the musician and TV host of the celebrated local TV program “Disco Club”, Gerardo Manuel, and the TV host Cucho Peñaloza. This last participant couldn’t be in the meeting, so, only Gerardo and me, said some words of our own vision about Bob Dylan. The mine, was very academic: I read a work, written in 1998, about the poetic of Dylan (this lecture is posted in this blog). And Gerardo’s intervention was about his appreciation, plus a very nice story about how he run into Bob in a flight to Brazil, among other things.

But, time before, we had the chance to watch excerpts of No Direction Home, the Martin Scorsese’s documentary, which gave to the public, some idea about the author of "Knockin on heaven's door".

Finally, the meeting was closed with a musical segment. Several youngers from this university played some of the most known songs of Dylan, for a public who had fell down, already, under the inevitable enchantement of this ancient , modern and universal trovadour who is Bob Dylan.

Spanish version