The Department of Culture of the Club is a very important area in the “Boca World”. Its contribution enhances the educational process as well as the prestige of the institution, and it stimulates the activities related to the shaping of a well-rounded person.

The Department was founded in 1933 with the name of “Secretaría de Biblioteca y Actos Culturales” (The Library and Cultural Events Secretariat), the first president of which was Don Armando Dighero. Further presidents were Alberto López, Pedro Orgambide, Horacio Ghetta, Roberto Bassino and, from 1955 to the present day, Don Osvaldo Roberto Cabano.

The Department of Culture started its activities at the old headquarters on Almirante Brown and since its beginnings it has had an important impact on the Boca neighborhood. After a number of changes it moved to Boca's stadium, to where now the Constructions and Maintenance Department is located, only to be later moved to its present location, where on April 3 of 1997 (the occasion of the 92nd anniversary of the club) a complete remodeling and modernization job was inaugurated, having equipped the installations with comfortable classrooms.

The “JUAN BAUTISTA ALBERDI” library, which functions within the “Comisión Nacional de Bibliotecas Populares” (the National Commission of Popular Libraries) was inaugurated on June 12 of 1933. It is the only one licensed to operate as such within soccer clubs.

The library has been equipped with modern bookshelves which complement the old wardrobes that still exist. It has been computerized by installing a software for the management of libraries named SIGEBI which was supplied by CONABIP, the above mentioned Commission.

About 100 persons attend our library daily, and the most frequently requested books are primary and secondary school textbooks and those that narrate the history of our cherished Club.

The growth of the Department of Culture is a continuous process. The courses which are given in its classrooms at present, which are open to all members of the community, are: chess, reading skills for illiterate adults, school learning support, clothes cutting and sewing, choir singing, Classical, Spanish, Tango and Folklore dancing, drawing, photography and photojournalism, guitar playing, English, radio shop, and drama, for children and adults.

It should be mentioned that through this Department our Club is a member of the FEDERACIÓN ARGENTINA DE INSTITUCIONES FOLKLORICAS (the Argentine Federation of Institutions devoted to Folklore) and to the FEDERACIÓN METROPOLITANA DE AJEDREZ (the Metropolitan Chess Federation).

In a joint venture with various Departments of Culture of soccer clubs which are members of AFA (the Argentine Soccer Association) the ENCUENTRO DE DEPARTAMENTOS DE CULTURA DE CLUBES AFILIADOS A LA A.F .A. –EDC-(Meeting of the Culture Departments of Member Clubs of AFA) has been created. This body organizes joint choir meetings, visual arts exhibits, drama performances,etc., exchanging experience and enrichening the work of the individual departments of the clubs. Since 2003 to this day the president of this body is Mr. Osvaldo Cabano, the president of the Culture Department of BOCA JUNIORS.

Two drama casts have come into being over the last eight years. One is made up of adults and was created by the late director Don Pedro Asquini in 1997, whose name is carried by the theater hall located within our department. The other cast is made up by the young and budding artists of our theater school under the direction of drama teacher Amalia Tavolari.

The invited visual artists Marta Luchenio, Angel Irureta, Eduardo Mac Entyre, Juan José Miranda Hernández, Jorge De Lorenzo, Nelda Wheeler, Celia Chevallier, Daniel Aguirre, Dina Preiss y Verónica Nóbile, among others, have displayed their work in the exhibitions which are held monthly in the central hall of our stadium, as well as at the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange, the central hall of the Argentine Soccer Association, and the Alianza Francesa, among other venues.

Moreover, jointly with the Fine Arts Museum “Benito Quinquela Martín”, we have organized “BOCA CIEN AÑOS”, the first national painting exhibit in the facilities of Boca's prestigious Museum of Fine Arts .

In 1998 the “CORAL BOCA JUNIORS” came into being, featuring more than 40 voices under the direction of choir conductor Silvia Aloi.

The mentioned ensemble has performed at choral meetings at the City's Cathedral, the Law School of BA University, the Recoleta Cultural Center , the San Martín Cultural Center, the Salón Dorado of La Plata 's City Hall , Avellaneda 's Roma theater, the Coliseo theater, and in the rest of the country, among other venues.

Lastly, since 2003 we sport our own ballet named “Azul y Oro” (Blue and Gold), which performs Argentine folklore dances, as well as tangos, waltzes, milongas, under the direction and choreography of María Eugenia Ciluzzo and Sandra Sánchez.

All the above mentioned artistic ensembles, together with conspicuous visual artists and members of the “FOTOCLUB BOCA JUNIORS “ take their art to the vast country beyond the Greater Buenos Aires area at the request of the almost 300 branch organizations of Boca Juniors referred to in this section's title , to organize visual art and photographic exhibitions. The following artists are part of our artistic and cultural embassy: lyric singers Marcelo Palmieri and Carolina, humorists El Gaucho Bataraz and Jorge Plate, Los Giménez (playing music from our coastal provinces); singers Liliana Cassini, Griselda Grenci and Roberto Leiva, accompanied by Tito Ferrari's trio, the special presence of tango performer Oscar Ferrari, and the presentation of our ballet “Azul y Oro”.

Boca's Cultural Concerns

In all cases the performances of this cultural embassy are for the benefit of public institutions in different cities, invariably supported by the local city halls. The folklore gatherings named “El Rescoldo” of our folklore subcommission and “Juan de Dios Filiberto” of the tango subcommission take place all year round. Different types of entertainments are organized, some of them are dance events at the Club´s tearoom, others feature professional singers at our club and at the “Teatro de la Ribera ” (Riverside Theater).

On December 11 of 2004 we organized the yearly party to bid farewell to the elapsed year at the Montserrat saloon of the HOTEL INTERCONTINENTAL. At that event the CENTENNIAL queen was elected.

A record number of 46 representatives from the branch clubs throughout the country were present at the party. Preliminary elections were held in Buenos Aires , Rosario , Córdoba and Concepción del Uruguay, and fifteen representatives made it to the final. After hard work of the jury Mariana Stefani Antoniale, the representative of the city Córdoba, was elected Queen of the Centennial.

As another annual feature of the event, Orlando Barone, writer, journalist and a Boca man at heart, was awarded the DAVID, the symbol of our Department. In previous years the distinction had been awarded to Pérez Celis (visual artist), María Sábato (Director of the Fine Arts Museum “Benito Quinquela Martín”) and Abelardo Castillo (writer). The award statuettes “David”,”Filiberto” (awarded by our tango group) and “El Rescoldo” ( awarded by our folklore group) are crafted by sculptor Juan José Mosca, a member of our Departament.

Furthermore, cultural collaboration agreements were signed with the “Universidad Popular de la Boca ” (The Boca's Popular University ) and with the “Teatro de la Ribera ” (the Riverside Theater), intermediated by the Government of the City of Buenos Aires .

The objectives of the current year are to finish the recycling of the events hall “Juan de Dios Filiberto”, a must for the cultural activities of our institution, namely: the organization of the Feast of the Communities in which the Ucranian, Italian, and our own “Blue and Gold” ballet will take part; to complete the computerization of our library, and the organization of a megaevent related to the Centennial of the Club, the target of which is to bring back the show “JULIO BOCCA en BOCA”, which was so successful on the occasion of its previous presentation.-