The Ministry of Culture (MiCultura), this year made important progress on issues such as infrastructure, inclusion, development of citizen projects, training and empowerment programs and creative industries, among other efforts that seek to get culture to all, and reaffirmed cultural commitment as a development and human rights goal.

The first and second phase of the Reina Torres Anthropological Museum of Araúz and the City of Las Artes advanced with 10 projects, with 90% advanced.

We became the first country in Central America to achieve the repatriation of archaeological pieces, in this case 345 identified in the Netherlands and Italy, as part of our cultural heritage.

The records indicate that 45,843 people visited the 15 museums run by the Ministry of Culture in the national territory where they were able to gain general knowledge about Panama's history

During 2022, MiCultura especially celebrated the 50th anniversary of our Panama National Ballet by performing free presentations in different geographical sectors to reach the highest number of people with about 15,000 people attending.

The Panama Youth Orchestra and Cork Network, supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), had a great year of increasing its membership with 4,950 students enrolled in the various modules that form the programme with the novelties of an "inclusive programme" through which 891 children and youth with disabilities have been integrated into five provinces, who have already been performing 119 presentations in several parts of the country.

The inclusion has been a priority where several programs have been put into place with the aim of enabling people with disabilities to have access to the diversity of cultural events, among them the Itinerant Tocando Learning Exposition, which for the first time broke paradigms with more than 1,500 people with disabilities attending several provinces.

The audiovisual sector continues to grow as a result of the economic resources we have been providing in 2022 for the 20 training and development projects through Fondo Cine as well as to support more than 15 initiatives aimed at promoting Panamanian cinema.

A very important event was the fusion of the Pepina Payasite with the National Symphony Orchestra, which put up with an enthusiasm to the didactic concerts, where more than 3,000 boys and girls from public schools met about classical music, symphony instruments and great composers and motivated them to learn other musical genres.

With the program "El Casco Te Visita," that moves the sites and history of our World Heritage site, we have been passing through seven provinces including Darién, Panama West, Chiriquí, Panama and Ngäbe, Emberá and Madumandi Comarcas with an impact to 2,842 people where some first heard about this place.

We have also been promoting elements that characterize us as a nation and that are accessible to all public and with the City of Knowledge we have developed Seiculture, a public information web portal that promotes better knowledge of the cultural reality of the country.

From October to date 17,462 people have visited the page and have found them on the interactive map and the information section, information about locations, heritage, gastronomy, customs and traditions among other issues that are available free of charge and more than 1,800 people have registered with the platform.

To strengthen our identity and safeguard our heritage we continue with training programs to different communities where more than 1,400 people have been benefitted from different issues have acquired tools to develop programs under the guidance of specialists in issues of immaterial culture and UNESCO.

The creative economy and the artisan sector was also part of strategies to boost the sector after the pandemic, bringing positive results to our cultural artisan and entrepreneurs with some 2,044 accredited.

In terms of Folklore we highlight the path of more than 300 men and women who have helped to maintain and leave a legacy of traditions and culture to the next generations. Similarly as a tribute to artisan work, we conduct the second version of the Paseo de Indumentarias, an annual event with the aim of commemorating World Folklore Day, and with the participation of more than 20 delegations, we have an opportunity to share with them.

The Association of Public Interests Center of Historical, Anthropological and Cultural Research (CIHAC AIP), in 2022, initiated three research projects that allow us to remember our past as they are: The Retirement of the urban seawater: The Past and Future of the Water Harvest in Panama, The Origin of San Lorenzo Castle and the village of Chagres in the Panamanian Caribbean, The Ritmo de Mar: History and Repertoire of the Azuero drum in the Social and Cultural Context.

The second year was followed by the Research Residential Programme (visiting researchers), which links specialists from different disciplines and institutions and makes significant contributions to society.

During the 9th Inter-American Meeting of Ministers and Highest Authorities of Culture, held in Antigua Guatemala, Giselle González Villarrué was elected to serve as second vice president of the Inter-American Commission for Culture, which will contribute to strengthening the culture and artistic expressions of the country.

By 2023 we continued to strengthen current projects and with new programs aimed at benefiting the general public.

We hope to share the culmination of great works of infrastructure that will surely impact and transform the cultural lives of Panamanian and foreign visitors, because culture is a right that we should all have.

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