IN CELEBRATION of the 400th year of Miguel de Cervantes’ “Don Quijote de La Mancha,” Instituto Cervantes Manila will be holding Variaciones del Quijote starting Aug. 1.

It will feature a selection of cinema adaptations of Cervantes’ novel; a talk by Filipino writer Marjorie Evasco; and a cuisine based on the dishes mentioned in the novel.

José María Fons Guardiola, cultural head of Insituto Cervantes, noted that there had been over 100 film versions based on or inspired by the novel.

“I suppose that’s because [the novel] is universal and successfully appeals to people from any culture,” Guardiola said. “Don Quijote and [his sidekick] Sancho Panza have become icons, paradigms of certain ways of seeing the world and our role in life. What they have to tell us about idealism, realism and life in general is still very valid.”

Read more here.