I know I am much to late with this post, as today was the last day of this exhibition in Fundacion PROA in la Bocca. I hope that many of my readers have checked it out as it was definitely worth it. It was another really nice exhibition as a proof that there is always something interesting to do and to see here in this great city….
I especially like this museum as it has a nice terrace on the roof where they serve good food and nice wine. Especially on a cool day like today it is a perfect place to have lunch.
Keep an eye on their web, or follow me through my blog or on twitter, because there are good exhibitions to come!
A movie by Ariel Winograd with Daniel Hendler (Adrian) and Natalia Oreiro (Leonora).
The wedding takes place in the beautiful estancia Villa Maria. The groom, obviously not the cleverest person in the world, looses the wedding rings, and instead of telling his beautiful wife to be, he tries to postpone the ceremony so he would have time to look for it. This is the beginning of a fun and chaotic afternoon.
The story is quite simple, and I don’t know how many times I told Adrian he should tell his fiancé, but I suppose there wouldn’t have been a movie if he had. In case the story doesn’t entertain you, the setting is lovely
Viudas (widows)
After the wedding comes the funeral. Viudas is a movie by Marcos Carnevale. On her husbands deathbed, Elena (Graciela Borges) finds out that her husband was having an affair with the very young Adela (Valeria Bertuccelli). He asked her to look after his mistress. This is how the unusual situation starts, the widow who is allowed to grieve gets constantly interrupted by the mistress, the mistress who is not allowed to grieve searches for support from the wife. And then there is Justina, the maid, played by Martín Bossi, faithful to the deceased, who tries to get the 2 together and become friends, as it is obvious that not only did the husband love both women, both women are devastated and lost without the man…
Although it seems as if the whole city is empty and sleeping, there is still some movement. Especially if you like photography, there is an not to be missed exhibition in the centre. 320 photos taken by 220 female artists from all over the world can not only be seen, but will be auctioned on feb 14. There is a big variety of styles and subjects so it is hard not to find that one photo you absolutely love.
Although the auction is on the 14th, the exhibition is open until feb 27. Just make sure you don’t miss it!
Until the 5th of march 2012 there is this beautiful exhibition of this great artist in Malba.
I absolutely loved his work. Beginning with paint only, then adding carton, then using plastic and other material. It is as if the images in the works move as you walk past them, as you change position. Not just me, but many visitors were constantly walking back and forth in front of the works to get all the different views, and trying to get a closer look to find out how he has created that effect.
I started to look some things up about this artist from Venezuela, and found that his website is so good that I can’t really add anything. It gives a good explanation about how he created his works, and has beautiful pictures. You can find everything you need to know here.
I didn’t know him, but now I would also love to see his architectural works, as shown on the site, as well as in the exhibition in the MALBA.
Put it in your agenda. It ends march 2012. MALBA, Buenos Aires. And check out his webpage.
Magdalena Ruiz Guiñazo is a Argentine journalist who has a column in la Nación and in Perfíl. She also hosts a radio show “Magdalena Tempranísimo” on Radio Continental, between 6 and 9 am. I came to know her as the writer of “La Casa de Los Secretos”, a book I started and finished in one day, and that I loved.
The main character is a 15 year old girl who tells about things she has experienced in her youth, like the death of Evita, as well as things she imagined that could have happened. It is a story of family life in the ’50s, where the whole world was changing. Magdalena takes you to different places in Buenos Aires and makes you (re-)live the past. A past that has always intrigued me. How was life in those beautiful French style houses?
I absolutely loved the story, and the way it was written. Now I am going to check out her other books.
Tigre has always been a very popular destination for a day out of the busy and noisy city. It is situated in the Paraná delta in the north, about half an hour drive in car/train or collectivo (60).
The name Tigre (tiger) comes from the tigers (jaguars) that were hunted there in colonial times. Until 1940 the Tigre area was the main supplier of fruits. There is still a large fruit market, but this has now been converted into a crafts fair.
It is rowing that made Tigre as popular to visitors as it is today. Rowing had started in the south of Buenos Aires, but bit by bit it was moved to the Tigre area. The first regatta in Tigre was organised in 1873 and from that year on all the clubs moved to Tigre where they were housed in elegant buildings overlooking the river.
Also sailing was very popular, but the yacht clubs later moved to San Fernando. If you like crafts you should visit the mercado the frutas. But you should definitely take a stroll alongside the river on Paseo Lavalle and Paseo Victoria, where the rowing clubs are housed. During the weekends it is vibrant with activities, people going on and off in their rowing boats. People going for a trip in the delta on a catamaran, people sitting by the river under a tree to enjoy the view and the good weather.
Have lunch at Maria Lujan, which is supposed to be the best. The setting certainly is. Sheltered from the sun under a huge plane tree, away from the busy street. The food was expensive and not exceptionally good.
If you want to have a break from the noisy and polluted city, Tigre is definitely an option.
This book, written by the Argentine Claudia Piñero was recommended to my by a friend in Belgium.
It is the story of life in a “country”, also known as a gated community. Countries are very popular here. In the nineties they were mainly in the north of the city, but today, when you drive south, you see one new country next to the other arise. They are so many of them that I wonder who buys them.
The story takes place in the nineties. When 1 dollar was 1 peso and the sky was the limit. Until the big crash in 2001. The book begins with 3 dead bodies in a pool. Only at the end of the book you know what exactly has happened. It is about keeping up appearances. Reminds me of the famous Mrs Boucquet (Bucket) and her candle light dinners. They would rather move abroad then go down on the social ladder. Keep on living and spending in the same way even after they loose their job, so no one would notice a difference.
In fact it is a universal story. This is the way of life in many communities all over the world where the importance of money takes over daily life. Only here it is really striking because of the crisis where everyone seems to loose his job. Even that does not seem to unite them in their misery.
I enjoyed reading it. It is painful as well as funny. Every chapter is written from the point of view of another member of the community.
The book has won the Premio Clarín de novela in 2005. The script has been adapted to the screen, but I am no big fan of the movie. It does not show the underlying social relations which make the book so interesting to me.
It is translated in Dutch, so I am sure it also exists in English, in case you can’t read the original version.
Hernán Piquin is Freddie in the dance performance on Queen’s music.
Hernandez is an outstanding Argentine balerin, who studied el Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón. In 1985 he is invited as honory student in the English National Ballet school and the June Ballet in France where he danced parts as soloist and principal dancer. In 1992 he becomes part of the Ballet Estable del Teatro Colón.
In 2005 he receives the Price of “María Ruanova” by the Argentine Dance council.
Now he is Freddie Mercury, the show is not just a dance performance on Queens’s music. But through dancing Hernán and his dancers represent the life of Freddie. They take you to India and Zanzibar, through his decadent life in the UK to his illness which lead to his death. He is represented as he was : gay, so be prepared to see men kissing and hugging each other. There is also a gay sex-scene that doesn’t leave much to your imagination and which I am sure is shocking to many people.
Maybe just in the beginning Hernán is a bit too much of a dancer and does not express enough force and strength to represent Freddie, who was a very powerful person. But after a while this changes and he becomes one with the singer.
The music is catchy. Although Queen’s best period was before my time, I know most of the songs. It was funny to see al these older people, dressed up in suits, half bald, wearing glasses, singing out loud with the music and clap their hands. It takes just a second to imagine them in their teens in a rocking outfit with long hair. Queen certainly does that to you.
It was a fabulous performance, that I highly recommend.
For years Wim Wenders was planned to make a movie, together with the choreographer Pina Bausch, about the famous “Tanztheater Wuppertal”, and they had already started working on it when Pina died in 2009.
It is a movie about dancing, and is a tribute to the deceased Pina. In 3D it actually feels like you are there, watching the dancers. Apart from a few images out of the archives Pina does not star in the movie, still she is the main character.
Not one scene is similar to another. Every dance is filmed on another location : in theaters, but also outside in the park, in the middle of the city, next to a cliff, on a train. This brings diversity, even though it is all about dancing.
The dances are all about emotions, longing and desire, pain, sorrow, resilience, longing for freedom and resurrection. These feelings are not just expressed through their dances, but also in their faces.
Watching some of the dances dances hurt, others parts are funny. The “Sacré de Printemps” for example, represents a battle between women and men, and is so powerful that it is breath taking.
This movie is not just for ballet lovers, everyone will be fascinated by the way these dancers are filmed. Highly recommended.
When you say Argentina, you say tango. It isnt quite clear how it started, nor when, but it is certain that the first tango-like dances originate around the Rio de la Plata, in Buenos Aires and in Montevideo.
The first tango music was created and became more popular in the years 1890-1900, when people used to go out to bars or brothels to dance. But it was also common to just dance on the corner of a street. In the beginning it were mainly men dancing with each other, trying out some new steps that were called milonguero or canyengue. They were accompanied by only two musicians, a guitar, a flute or a violin. It was not uncommon that these dances ended up in fights.
Around that time Argentina underwent big changes due to massive immigration. In 1869, Buenos Aires had a population of 180,000. By 1914, its population was 1.5 million. The mix of African, Spanish, Italian, British, Polish, Russian and native-born Argentines resulted in a melting pot of cultures, including dance and music.
Most immigrants were men, hoping to earn their fortunes in the new world. They were poor and desperate, hoping to make enough money to return to their family in Europe or to bring them to Argentina. Tango reflects their deep sense of loss and longing for the people and places they had left behind.
The worldwide spread of the tango came in the early 1900s when wealthy sons of Argentine society families traveled to Paris and introduced the dance there. By 1913, the tango had become an international phenomenon in Paris, London and New York. The Argentine elite who had shunned the tango were now forced into accepting it with national pride.
Around the 1930′s the Golden Age of Argentina started, and lasted until the 1950′s.The country became one of the richest nations in the world. Dance, literature, culture in general, bloomed. The tango became to be a fundamental expression of Argentine culture.
During the 1950′s, lyrics reflected the political feelings, and due political repression large dance venues were closed and prohibited. The tango survived in smaller bars only.
The tango decline lasted until the 80′s, until the show “Tango Argentina” opened in Paris, and then toured the world. This revival made Argentina once again the Mecca of tango.
If you an expert dancer, or if you just feel like trying it out, Buenos Ares is the the place to be. You can check out Argentina Tango, and book your whole trip or just the tango classes there. Come to Argentina to dance the tango, and at the same time enjoy the vibrant life in Buenos Aires. Tango. Only in Argentina!
