With a closing event featuring the participation of the National Children’s Choir of Peru, “Lima en V.O. – The City in Its Original Version” came to an end. The project was promoted by La Combi – Arte Rodante and the Cultural Centre of Spain in Lima (CCE Lima), with the support of UNESCO Peru, the National Library of Peru and the National Children’s Choir of Peru of the Ministry of Culture of Peru. The initiative aimed to strengthen the appreciation and visibility of Indigenous or native languages in urban educational contexts.
The project was developed within the framework of the Week of Cultural and Linguistic Diversity, held from 18 to 27 May, and the Week of Cultural and Artistic Education, held from 25 to 31 May. The latter is an international celebration promoted by UNESCO since 2011 to highlight the role of the arts in educational processes and in the construction of more inclusive and diverse societies. The initiative is also aligned with the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022–2032), led by UNESCO.
The project had two main components. The first consisted of workshops for teachers from public educational institutions in Metropolitan Lima that are part of UNESCO’s “Learning Without Barriers” programme, specifically in the districts of Comas and San Juan de Lurigancho, in coordination with UGEL 4 and UGEL 5. During these workshops, fifth- and sixth-grade primary school teachers participated in training sessions aimed at incorporating Indigenous languages into the classroom through creative and audiovisual pedagogical tools.
Drawing on La Combi – Arte Rodante’s experience in creative methodologies and Community Audiovisual Dictionaries (DAC), the project promoted participatory strategies to bring children and adolescents closer to the country’s linguistic richness, recognizing that Peru has 48 Indigenous languages spoken by more than four million people. In Lima, a city shaped by multiple migratory and cultural processes, these languages are a living part of the daily experience of thousands of families and communities.
The second component consisted of a public closing activity, carried out with the support of the National Library of Peru and the Directorate of National Ensembles of the Ministry of Culture. The event featured the concert Tinkuy: Multilingual Songbook of Peru, performed by the National Children’s Choir of Peru. This closing event brought together teachers, cultural managers, students and families in a celebration of the many voices, memories and cultural expressions that coexist in Lima.
During the activity, a facilitation guide for primary school teachers was presented. This tool brings together pedagogical resources to promote and activate the use of Indigenous languages in schools through artistic and community-based approaches. The guide will be available through the website of the Cultural Centre of Spain in Lima. The event concluded with an open-air screening of audiovisual capsules created by children and adolescents from different communities across Peru, in various Indigenous languages.
“Lima en V.O.” is one of the projects selected under the 2026 call for proposals of the Public Spaces Project Programme of the Cultural Centre of Spain in Lima, which promotes the implementation of artistic initiatives designed to highlight public space as a place of encounter, creation and civic participation.
Through this project, the organizing institutions reaffirm the importance of working in coordination across culture, education and community to promote more inclusive and participatory education, as well as the recognition of Indigenous languages as a living part of the country’s cultural heritage.
READ MORE: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/lima-en-vo-concludes-educational-and-cultural-project-promote-indigenous-languages-schools-lima?hub=701
