Tacoronte to Host Fifth Historical Research Conference on Art and Identity

This Friday, the Tacoronte House of Culture will host the fifth Historical Research Conference of the Tacoronte-Acentejo region. Titled The Language of Images: Art, Fashion, and Identity in Tacoronte-Acentejo, the event is coordinated by Professor Antonio Marrero and researcher Tamara Toledo from the University of La Laguna’s Art, Fashion, and Identity research group.

The conference, held in the Óscar Domínguez hall from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., aims to make academic research accessible to the public. It highlights how local history can be understood not just through documents, but through visual and material culture, using clothing and religious art to reveal how social structures and tastes have evolved in the Canary Islands.

The program features five presentations on regional identity:

• Carlos Javier Castro Brunetto will discuss the iconography of the Nazarene at the Sanctuary of the Christ of Tacoronte within the context of Modern Age traditions.
• Ayoze Esver Ramos will examine how the male body is represented in contemporary art through the figure of Saint Sebastian.
• Tamara Toledo will explore the symbolism of clothing found in the paintings of angels at the Church of Santa Catalina.
• Denis C. Santos González will use the illustrations of Alfred Diston to explain the social hierarchies and customs of past Canarian society.
• Elia Cuairán Castells will conclude the event by analyzing how painter Álvaro Fariña used clothing to capture cultural shifts and modernity.

By looking at art and fashion as historical records, the conference underscores the importance of preserving our artistic heritage to better understand the region’s history and collective identity.