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| The City Council presents the new sceptre of the Carnival queen |
Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council, through the Autonomous Organism for Festivities and Recreational Activities (OAFAR), presented this Wednesday the new sceptre of the Carnival queen. An exclusive creation for Santa Cruz carnivals that will replace the current one, which dates from the second half of the 1960s. The new piece made by jeweller Juan Gil, luthier David Sánchez and wood turner Rubén Expósito, is made up of various stones that have been part of the costumes of the Carnival queens between 1979 and 2020.
The act was presided over by the mayor of the city, José Manuel Bermúdez, who was accompanied by the Councillor for Fiestas, Alfonso Cabello; the director of the Carnival, Enrique Camacho; and the craftsman Juan Gil and his team.
In his intervention, the mayor recalled that "tonight the Queen's Gala would have taken place if we had respected the traditional dates of our Carnival before omicron appeared and to replace it, in a modest way, what we have done is present a new sceptre. Carnival is our sign of identity, it is a feeling that is deeply embedded in the hearts of our people. For me, one of the most beautiful things that there can be as a chicharrero is to deliver the sceptre to the queen of the Carnival”. "Linked to the Carnival is the largest associative movement that this city has, almost 10,000 people, who need their performances, so it is key that they can have an objective such as rehearsals and competitions," added Bermúdez.
The Councillor for Festivities, Alfonso Cabello, stated that "it is a privilege to be able to have an exclusive artisan element that will be delivered for the first time at the Election Gala to be held this June." According to the person in charge of OAFAR, "the sceptre perfectly represents the idiosyncrasy and the feeling of the Santa Cruz festival".
Juan Gil, creator of the new carnival baton, acknowledges that "from the first moment this piece has been a real challenge, in which I have tried to capture the Santa Cruz festive heritage, combining the brightness and illusion that this celebration exudes". He also referred to the "multidisciplinary work with the craftsmen David Sánchez and Rubén Expósito, essential to have made the creation of this unique piece possible".
The sceptre has a length of 42.3 cm and is formed in its upper part by an element reminiscent of the añepas, a symbol that represents the power of the Mencey (Guanche Kings). This element is made up of 7 pieces with 6 welds made of sterling silver with sheets between 0.7 and 1.2 mm thick. The central body is a cold fusion by casting high-density epoxy resin on an African Makassar ebony support that brings together the stones of the different carnival reigns. The lower part is made up of 5 pieces joined by 4 welds, also in sterling silver with 0.6 and 1.2 mm sheets that show a design inspired by the traditional Canarian ring. Both this section and the central body show a turning to the axis and another eccentric that allows you to achieve a transition from circular to oval section.
The costumes that have contributed an element of their precious stones to the new sceptre are: “Tangerine Dream” (1979) by Justo Gutiérrez and Leo Martínez; “Frivolous Paris” (1983) by Miguel Ángel Castilla; “Tajaraste” (1987), “Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile” (1988), “Miss Dior” (2007), “Bewitched” (2009), “In Wonderland” (2010), “One Hundred Years of History” (2011) by Leo Martínez; “Pim, pam, pum… fire” (1993), “Diva” (1994) and “Palabras Mágicas” (1995) by M&M; “Manila Yerichana” (2000) “Wednesday of the full moon” (2004), “Touching the skin of the sky” (2005) and “The Chariot of Glory” (2006) by Juan Carlos Armas; “Láchesis” (2003), “The Golden Age” (2008), “Empire” (2012), “Volare” (2013) by Santi Castro; “Powerful Amazon” (2014) and “White Sand of the Desert” (2016) by Daniel Pages; “Áurea” (2015), “Madame Soleil” (2017) and “Renacida” (2018) by Jorge González; “La Nuit” (2019) and “Sentir” (2020) by Sedomir.
El Ayuntamiento presenta el nuevo cetro de la reina del Carnaval (Via)
Lovely as it is (better picture here) - no detraction is intended and the symbolism and re-use of elements is inspired - HOWEVER, as there was no carnival and no new carnival queen in 2021, Santa Cruz instead elected three Guardians of the Sceptre at the virtual only gala. So as the sceptre that the Guardians of the Sceptre have been elected to guard until a new queen can be chosen in 2022, isn't the sceptre that will be presented to the new carnival queen in June, doesn't this (presumably accidental irony) make it into something of a Trigger's Broom Paradox (Ship of Theseus for the academics)?
