Brooklyn-based Colombian composer and visual artist Julián De La Chica has been honored with the AWA (Award-Winning Author) prize for Best Historical Fiction Novel in English (silver medal) and has also received an Honorable Mention for Best LGBTQ+ Themed Book at the 25th edition of the International Latino Book Awards 2023 (ILBA) with his book, God’s Punishment. According to the festival’s website and newsletter, the awards featured a competitive selection of over 3,000 submissions from around the world, evaluated by a panel of 220 judges.
God’s Punishment is based on the small Colombian town of Agua de Dios and its extensive history in the 19th and 20th centuries as an isolated community created by the Colombian government to house people with leprosy and those suspected of having it. The book, whose title references the biblical doctrine that leprosy was a divine punishment, is based on real events and includes authentic dialogues from the era.
De La Chica explains that the novel addresses human rights violations in a dark chapter of Colombian history and culture while highlighting the power of music. Leprosy, a topic still stigmatized today (as recently commemorated on World Leprosy Day on January 28), became the inspiration for the classical/minimalist composer De La Chica to explore in his writing.
The composer stumbled upon the story by chance while spending a weekend near Agua de Dios. Knowing that the romantic composer Luis Antonio Calvo had lived there in the early 20th century, De La Chica, who had not only played his work but also read about his life, decided to enter Agua de Dios that summer day. This marked the beginning of his gradual exploration and discovery of many aspects of the theme. “I have also been able to interview several people, including to this day, the director of the leprosy museum, Maria Teresa Rincon, and Jairo Sanchez, director of Calvo’s Museum. Additionally, for the research, I had the support of beloved people in the town, such as Patricia Devia, José Israel Castañeda, and Efraín Oyaga. I also engaged with professionals in the medical field, like Hugo Armando Sotomayor, MD, and exchanged words with Nancy Patricia Gutiérrez, the former mayor of Agua de Dios.
Puente de Los Suspiros (Bridge of Sighs) & Police, circa, 1932-1935
Photo Courtesy: José Israel Castañeda
Agua de Dios, Colombia
De La Chica is not just content with the award; he feels fulfilled, particularly with everything that has unfolded around it. “For me, it’s very gratifying to feel that this story is out there, beyond, and that it has transcended our Colombian surroundings. Preserving historical memory and documenting what happened in Agua de Dios is crucial. To achieve this, we had to take the story out of its locality and bring it to the world,” he expresses.
Professor Dainius Pūras, MD, Psychiatrist, and human rights advocate, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to health, stated: “God’s Punishment is not just about a painful past. Even now, people often suffer not as much from the health conditions they have as from the public health measures that are supposed to manage those conditions. The fate of people affected by leprosy, and its impact on entire generations, is one of those sad stories. With powerful language, author Julián De La Chica reminds and warns us of what can happen when human rights are taken away from people.”
On another note, his role as a curator and editor in the debut album of the virtuoso Cuban, Ahmed Alom, and the recording of all four intermezzos of Calvo together for the first time was already a significant success. De La Chica remarks, “There were few recordings about Calvo. For the day we released Ahmed’s album, there was no existing recording with all four intermezzos, let alone at this level, both in execution and recording quality. Now there are more, and it brings me joy to know that we are opening doors, taking Calvo’s music to another level, and showing it to the world.”
While the book may be a bit intricate at the beginning as it shifts from one side to another, resembling a movie revealing traces of time, music plays a crucial role. Therefore, it’s not surprising that soon we will witness this book in an opera performance. Yes, before the book, there is an opera (which makes sense) since De La Chica is a composer before being a writer, where we will witness all these characters. This is not surprising because, in addition to De La Chica being a prolific composer ranging from symphonies, ambient music, to string quartets, he also composes for opera singers. This is evident in his latest commission, Dispersed and Transcendental Chants, Op. 18, performed by the opera star and current Metropolitan Opera singer, mezzo-soprano Briana Hunter. An exquisite album with a contemporary sound that converges tradition, religiosity, street life, and ancestral themes into a sophisticated narrative.
Photo Courtesy: IGM
Julián De La Chica seems to be one of those Renaissance artists. One can perhaps watch his film Agata, (now available for rent for only $1) heartbreaking and dark, while listening to his music (I recommend his Symphony No. 1 and his latest album Dispersed and Transcendental Chants), or simply read his book. In any form, his name is always written in the material. His name stands as a testament to artistic brilliance.
Links:
Connect with De La Chica on Instagram and Facebook.
Purchase the book signed by De La Chica.
Buy the book on Amazon.
Published by: Aly Cinco
