Rendibú 2024: «An opportunity for an entire generation to demonstrate their creativity»

What does Rendibú mean to Esther Baeza? The graphic designer, creator of podcasts, columnist and film and series critic, possessor of an unmistakable liveliness and ease, signs as Rosa Palo in the newspapers of the Vocento group, to which LA VERDAD belongs, and chairs the jury of the Short Film category , in which she will be accompanied by Carlos Martínez, film critic for this newspaper, and Natalia Benito, actress and journalist for LA VERDAD. For Esther Baeza, “Rendibú is a commitment to the youngest and most innovative talent, a call for creators to come out of the cave and show what they are and what they do, a unique opportunity for an entire generation to demonstrate their creativity.” . Regarding the potential artists to whom this creation contest is aimed, the former director of the Cartagena International Film Festival (FICC) between 2008 and 2021 perceives that “they are less afraid to experiment, to know, to create. They are much more open, more tolerant and more aware of the world in which they live, which makes them socially involved in the fight against inequality, climate change, homophobia, xenophobia, machismo or any type of harassment. What do you value most in your discipline? «A unique and different voice. And the capacity for risk, for transgression,” she adds.

“Rendibú is a window where young artists and creators can look out and project themselves towards society,” says Consuelo Mengual, president of the Short Story + Podcast category. Lawyer, doctor in Literature from the University of Murcia with a doctoral thesis on the multi-award-winning authors of the Meteorite Order of Molina de Segura and promoter of cultural cycles such as 'Winged Dialogues' at the Real Casino of Murcia and 'Bound Geography', in the Cajamurcia Foundation, Mengual states that these LA TRUTH contests promote fundamental values ​​”such as freedom and creative innovation, trust in new talents; “They are an opportunity for young people to encounter the arts, and they provide an open and respectful view.” She will be accompanied by Jesús Boluda del Toro, director of the Murcia and Lorca book fairs, writer and president of the Palin Association of Creators and Artists, and by Juan José Lara, director of the Murcia Regional Library and writer. Mengual says that in the short story category, “good narrative style, the importance of good use of vocabulary, a novel structure, and a striking final touch that breaks with everything” will be valued.

The photographer Mar Sáez, who chairs the jury of the photography category [estará acompañada por Enrique Martínez Bueso, jefe de fotografía de LA VERDAD, y Mónica Lozano, licenciada en Ciencias de la Imagen Audiovisual por la Universidad Complutense y doctora en Teoría de la Fotografía por la Universidad de Murcia], believes that competitions like Rendibú are “breeding grounds where Murcia artists can be discovered” and celebrates that they promote and give all the prominence to young talent. “Rendibú is a space for creativity, it represents recognition and promotion of their careers,” and highlights as positive “innovation, change, the discovery of new trends…”. Multidisciplinary artist who works with photography, text, video and sound [su obra se ha mostrado en la Academia de España en Roma (donde fue becada en 2021), TheGabarronFoundation de Nueva York, London Art Fair y F22 Foto Space de Hong Kong, entre otros], Mar Sáez has published two photobooks: 'Vera y Victoria' (2016) and 'Gabriel' (2018) with the French publishing house André Frère Éditions. She believes that contests like Rendibú open doors to new discourses, transformation, experimentation and create social awareness and resilience. «What I value most about young people today is the incredible opportunity that photography gives them to tell stories and discover new realities. “It is a tool for social transformation.”

Columnist (Rosa Palo) for Vocento, series critic and president of the Shorts jury

Esther Baeza

For Esther Baeza, today's young people are “less afraid to experiment, to know, to create. They are much more open, more tolerant and more aware of the world in which they live, which makes them socially involved in the fight against inequality, climate change, homophobia, xenophobia, machismo or any type of harassment. The graphic designer worked for years in advertising. From 2008 to 2021 she directed the Cartagena International Film Festival (FICC).

Doctor in Literature and president of the Short Story + Podcast jury

Consuelo Mengual

“Literature is a way of encountering the lives of men, an intellectual concern that plays with symbology to delve into the questions we ask ourselves,” says Consuelo Mengual, for whom the strength of all the creative voices of Rendibú represents “our current cultural cartography. «These short stories will become part of all human stories, which are unfinished, and thus will contribute to strengthening the ties of attachment to the land we walk on, which is what gives rise to everything we are as beings of culture» .

Multidisciplinary artist and president of the Photography jury

Mar Saez

He does not doubt the “incredible opportunity that photography provides to tell stories and discover new realities, and as a tool for social transformation.” With work present in museums and private collections in Europe, Asia and the United States, Mar Sáez, represented by the Daniel Cuevas gallery in Madrid and FiftyDots in Barcelona, ​​celebrates values ​​of youth “such as the creation of new discourses, transformation, experimentation and social awareness, and the capacity for resilience.

Director of the Higher School of Design (EDI) and president of the Design jury

Armando Cano

«When there is no culture there is barbarism. We already know what barbarism has meant, and means, in humanity. Culture is the antidote,” says Armando Cano, architect from the Higher Technical School of Architecture of the Polytechnic University of Valencia since 2001 and doctor of architecture from the University of Alicante since 2017. Cano is a professor of Plastic Arts and Design, specializing in Design. of Interiors, at the Higher School of Design of the Region of Murcia since 2006, and director since 2022.

Musician, writer, columnist for LA VERDAD and president of the Music Jury

Aaron Saez

Three solo albums as a singer-songwriter, different projects such as Piyama, Dúo Orquesta Regalizes, Neoverbeneo… Recently arrived from Cuba after recording his second work with Carey, and about to release his sixth album with Varry Brava, he is preparing a solo project. What will you value about the candidates for Best Song? “Freedom. Projects that do not marry anyone or anything, that are not afraid, that seek to truly be who they feel they have to be. “You have to make mistakes again and again to find yourself.”

Design and music

For Armando Cano, director of the Murcia Higher School of Design (EDI) and president of the design jury (he will be accompanied in the deliberations by Mar Saura Rosique, head of Art at LA VERDAD, and Sergio Porlán, artist and director of the Párraga Center from Murcia), «Rendibú is a party. “A celebration of creativity that is already part of the history of arts and design in the Region.” He assures that the values ​​of youth have not changed in thousands of years: “Freedom, will and solidarity, love and passion.” Of the works submitted to the competition, he says that the ability to solve problems using complex creative and communicative strategies will be valued, adding cultural and intellectual value to the result.

The musician and writer Aarón Sáez, columnist for LA VERDAD and member of Varry Brava y Carey [junto al productor, profesor y concertista de guitarra clásica Antonio Turro], presides over the Music Jury. «Rendibú is a space in which to play, it has always been differentiated by its playful, surprising, innovative character, that is the essence that I hope it continues to maintain and where the compass always has to be calibrated, that is where the best proposals can be find space and young people can enjoy without pressure and launch braver ideas. Sáez will have the collaboration of Alberto Frutos, music critic of LA VERDAD, and Rubén García Bastida, journalist and columnist of this newspaper and musician, on the jury. «Today's young people are the generation with the most pressure in history, people who call young people the glass generation should understand what it is like to live exposed to social networks and the demand continues almost since they go out into the world. What young people demonstrate every day is perseverance, strength and the ability to fight, always moving forward,” says Aarón, author of the novel 'Videoclub' (La Fea Burguesía, 2021).