On 16 October 2020, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), based in Costa Rica, inaugurated the regional virtual museum "AgroArt", as part the celebration of the 78th anniversary the Institute. The inauguration took place in a virtual ceremony with the participation of UNESCO.
The virtual museum "AgroArt" is a space that will allow artists from the Americas to exhibit their works related to agricultural practices and the rural world, and it will be accessible on a digital platform. Maintaining access to culture through innovative means has been one of the main concerns of UNESCO in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which over several months has led to the intermittent closure of around 90% of the world's museums.
The event was a good occasion to highlight the intrinsic and ancestral relationship between the arts, culture and agriculture. It was also an opportunity to highlight that both culture and agriculture play a transversal role on achieving the goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and are essential factors in reducing inequalities between urban and rural spaces, gender equality, innovation and resilience.
Agriculture is at the origin of much of the knowledge and cultural practices that define the way in which, as human beings, we have lived together, fed ourselves, and related to the land and natural environments since ancient times
The event was attended by Mr. Manuel Otero, Director General of IICA, Ms. Amanda Fernandez, President of IICA's Community Outreach Association, Mr. Octavio Líster, President and Dean of the Group of Ambassadors for Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC), and Ms. Esther Kuisch-Laroche, Director of UNESCO Cluster Office in San José.