The Banco de la República Cultural Center in Popayán, located in the historical city center, is a place for research, reading, and contact with the arts and music of the region. Its objective is to provide tools to generate transformations in the city. The center provides local and departmental communities with spaces and programs for accessing information and interacting with diverse cultural expressions. Its three main areas are the library, the Gold Museum, and music and arts programming, all of which are supported by the bibliographic and digital collections.
Throughout the year, a wide and varied cultural program is offered, including reading promotion workshops, poetry recitals, concerts, visual arts exhibitions, and traveling education exhibitions from the Gold Museum, among others. All this programming is aimed at promoting cultural consumption habits, autonomy in access to information, and a sense of citizenship.
History
The building where the Banco de la República Cultural Center in Popayán is currently located was built by Belgian architect Joseph Maertens and sponsored by President Pedro Nel Ospina during his administration (1922-1926).
The Cultural Center began activities in 1985 alongside the treasury, but in August 2000, Banco de la República’s board of directors ordered the closure of the banking section and the public library was planned, with the aim of offering the citizens of Popayán a space commensurate to the city’s moniker as the “the Cultured City.”
The library opened its doors on February 6, 2002, with a collection of 8,000 volumes. The collection has grown since then and the Cultural Center has promoted several projects by which the population can enjoy all the benefits offered by Banco de la República’s cultural network.
