The Puntarenas Tourism Promotion Board and the Jale al Puerto campaign invite Costa Ricans and foreign visitors alike, to visit the Itinerant Museum of Isla Venado. It is a large-scale, open-air photographic exhibition that seeks to rescue the cultural value of fishing and the trades that men and women develop around this activity.
“From the Gulf to the Island” presents a sample of 28 photographs on 14 meter and a half fences, which portray 10 traditional fishing trades and two more innovative ones, related to shrimp and oyster aquaculture.
The exhibition not only captures artisanal fishermen, but also other trades of the fishing community: filleters, rope keepers, trasmayeros, linemen, piangüeros, decabezadores, cevicheros, crawlers, among others.
What the sample portrays
“This museum is a sample of their life and work, the main point is the profession and the person,” explained Luis Gonzalo Chaves, historian and developer of the project, who is also part of 5 in Yunta.
It is a group that seeks to promote, preserve and disseminate the culture and history of the communities. This from the management of research and communication projects of a historical and cultural nature.
The initiative arises from a study that was carried out to revalue the cultural dynamics of fishing, an aspect that has been neglected, according to Chaves. “There is a cultural void, it is necessary to look back at the importance of the life experience and knowledge of seafarers, despite the fact that fishing is of great relevance to the community, we see that there is a lack of appropriation of the cultural type by themselves.
“Most of the studies carried out on the island have to do with the economic and social vulnerability of the population, but it is not only about the economic part, but about rescuing and perpetuating the intangible value of what they do”, explained.
Free and for a short time
The museum is free to enter and will be available from September 10th for 22 days at the Florida school, Isla Venado. People interested in visiting Isla Venado can find out about the available options of local tour operators at www.jalealpuerto.cr/tours-operadores
With an area of 440 hectares, Isla Venado stands out among the other islands in the Gulf of Nicoya due to the marine green color that characterizes it. There are abundant seabirds that nest on the island or in the mangroves near the Jicaral estuary.