Today, finally, the parliamentary groups of the Chamber of Deputies, Ahora Nación (AN) and Juntos por el Perú (JP), presented the bill repealing Law No. 32645, which creates the Professional Association of Artists of Peru (CPAP). The bill seeks to repeal it “because it violates the right to freedom of cultural creation and transgresses the principle of equality, insofar as it promotes the exclusion of artists who do not have a university degree and carry out their work self-taught or through ancestral knowledge” (Sole Article).
Since its enactment, Law No. 32645 has faced massive rejection from institutions and groups in the sector, because it excluded thousands of self-taught artists and artists with ancestral and popular knowledge who create and maintain a living culture in the country, would affect freedom of creation and work; and also because it provided that those disqualified from holding public office cannot join professional associations, clearly targeting the position held by the current dean of the CAL, Delia Espinoza.
It should be noted that, on August 7, Representative Rossana Alayza Maccera, together with co-author representatives from the Buen Gobierno (BN) caucus, also presented Bill No. 00012-2026-2031-CD with the same objective: to repeal Law No. 32645, demonstrating the social demand and its timely representation by opposition representatives.
“Art also organizes itself”
On the other hand, in parallel with the submission of bills to repeal Law No. 32645, the population has been organizing itself “for the cultural rights of the Peruvian population”, some groups state.
Thus, this Wednesday, August 12, at 6 p.m., in the café-bar of the Toy Museum, in the city of Trujillo, department of La Libertad in the north of the country, an in-person meeting called “Who decides who is an artist?” will be held, in a space for dialogue where artists, groups, cultural managers, teachers and students; as well as art workers and the general population, will come together.
Likewise, next Sunday, August 16, in Lima Sur, a Creative Day & Discussion will be organized in Lima Sur, “a space to share our experiences, express our concerns and think together about how to defend freedom of creation and the right to make art”. This is in response to “the proposals that seek to regulate artistic practice and that have generated concern among artists and cultural groups. We are coming together to create, inform ourselves and talk about what is at stake”, the organizers state.
“Because art cannot be controlled: it is lived, created and organized!” they added.