Tuesday, October 20, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
/ARTS WEEKLY/VENEZUELA: Private Enterprise Behind Successful Cultural Centre
José Zambrano
- The Trasnocho cultural centre is the new home to independent films, theatre, fine arts and even psychoanalysis in the Venezuelan capital, set in a commercial cinema that has been transformed under a private initiative.
The Trasnocho cultural project began in October 2001with the proposal to convert what had served for 20 years as a conventional movie theatre into a venue for exhibiting "art" films and documentaries.
The idea quickly expanded to encompass other initiatives, resulting in an art gallery, two cinemas for experimental film, a theatre and, beginning this month – as Trasnocho celebrates its first anniversary – a centre for coordinating thousands of organisations specialising in human development.
Located in a commercial centre in southeast Caracas, the project is housed in the building’s underground level, where a café, restaurant, art boutique and music shop also operate.
The experience is unique in Venezuela, where other alternative movie theatres operate with the backing of government funds and are not linked to other cultural arenas.
"It all began with the owners of the cinema, the Carrao Group, who wanted to turn it into an art cinema. But because it was located in a retail centre, we thought there should be a café, and if we added an art gallery, even better," filmmaker Solveig Hoogestein, the project’s coordinator, told IPS.
"One of the pillars of the idea was to maintain it as a private project. Although it seemed a bit risky, given the country’s economic situation, a year later we can say that we are financially self-sufficient," Hoogestein said.
This allowed the endeavour to be open to participation by several investors, each with his or her own undertaking, she explained.
As such, Trasnocho rented out space for the café, the art boutique and the restaurant. "These are individual initiatives that drive the overall project," Hoogestein said.
The theatre has a flexible design that allows changes depending on how the venue is to be used. For example, the seats can be removed for a rock concert, or rearranged for a Greek play or a fashion show.
The three film theatres show independently produced works from Europe, Asia and Latin America, and the occasional "quality" film coming out of Hollywood.
Once a month, experts in psychology organise a forum to discuss the significance of a recently shown film.
Soma Café, meanwhile, has a schedule that includes poetry readings on Mondays, video-art projections Tuesdays, and live music on Thursdays.
The art gallery, operated in coordination with the Caracas Museum of Contemporary Art, inaugurated an exhibition this month of sculptures by Venezuelan artist Marisol Escobar.
Also making its debut this month is "Haciendo Caminos" (Paving the way), an initiative to provide news about and support the efforts of more than 40,000 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) specialising in development.
The project includes a weekly radio programme with interviews of some of the development movement’s leaders.
The interviews are to be complemented by conferences at Trasnocho in which the public will have direct contact with the NGO leaders. The information and debate arising from the conferences will be made available on an Internet site produced by the Haciendo Caminos centre.
"We found that there is an incredible variety of groups dedicated to promoting education, children’s rights and health (and other issues related to human development), but there was no coordination among them," Hoogestein said.
"Trasnocho is based on the notion that culture is one of the most important sources of change in any society, and this led us to promote the work of the NGOs," explained the filmmaker.
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/ARTS WEEKLY/VENEZUELA: Private Enterprise Behind Successful Cultural Centre
José Zambrano
- The Trasnocho cultural centre is the new home to independent films, theatre, fine arts and even psychoanalysis in the Venezuelan capital, set in a commercial cinema that has been transformed under a private initiative.
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