A Peace Festival de Arte will stretch out over five months with activities for everyone, starting with an inauguration on Wednesday, September 23 and going on until January in the Juan Santamaria museum in Alajuela. More than 100 artists, poets, musicians, actors and others will participate plus cooks and bakers. This is going to be a grand festival to promote peace. And it is all free.
The idea of a festival for art and peace comes from a Costa Rican artist, Juan Carlos Chaverria, who creates art using parts of the guns decomissioned by the Ministry of Security, and he has shown his work at the international level, including a show at the Organization of American States headquarters in Washington D.C. He believes in art as a means of changing society from violence to peace and he has done workshops in prisons, schools, and on the street.
His foundation, Transformacion en Tiempos Violentos, was created in 2010 with the premise of useing art to “change negative to positive, dark to light, or to “turn the tortilla” and make a fresh start”, he explains. “Many of our museums, the national museum and the museums in Alajuela, Cartago and Puntaenas are former army quarters now used for education.”
Through international contacts Chavarria was able to bring artists who share his idea to Costa Rica for the festival “They are from South America, Central America and Europe mostly. Some others are unable to appear due to restrictions in their own countries. The inauguration on Sept. 23 at 6:30 p.m. is a chance to meet the artists, listen to music and poetry and wander through the galleries to view paintings, drawings and sculpture for peace.
Thursday, 24th of Sept will be an exclusive event, Art and wine for Peace at 7 p.m. Reservation required. Friday, September 25, presentation of books by Inéz Alonso Ares de Argentina in the auditorium of the museum, at 6 p.m. and poetry for peace at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept 26 will have activities all day including a gastronomic fair for peace., a concert, and tours of the museum, workshops on different forms of art, and more.
The Juan Santamaria museum and cultural center is located in the center of Alajuela on the north east corner of the Central Park in the old army garrison. It is open Tuesdays to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed Mondays and is free. See exposicion arte por la paz 2026 for activities.
