Latineos - Latin America, Caribbean, arts, culture

The idea that vision is superior to the other senses would explain the commonly held assumption that humans learn better through images, and that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’. When a new technology that reproduced what the eyes see started to be developed in the nineteenth century, its impact was felt in distinct areas such as art, the social sciences and psychology.

MARCELO FIGUERAS, born in Buenos Aires in 1962, is a writer and screenwriter. He currently lives in Barcelona. His novel Kamchatka (Atlantic Books, 2010) was shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.

In 1992, two native Guatinaui Amerindians toured across museums in the United States. The male and female specimens from this little-known island off the Gulf of Mexico roused curiosity in visitors. The visitors’ fascination was matched only by outrage at the manner of these humans’ display – in a cage.

The National Enquirer ran gossipy stories; the exhibit made it onto television and radio. Debates raged. How could America’s respected institutions allow such atrocious human rights abuses?

There was something quietly symbolic in the setting of the ceremony where the I Latin American Literary Prize Arturo Uslar Pietri would be awarded to the previously unpublished Venezuelan writer, Eduardo Sánchez Rugeles. Something not quite enunciated, perhaps not even deliberately sought, in the final product of a long process that had required much time, effort, organization and that, ultimately, would come to its successful end, to its climax, with this very ceremony.

Between 13 and 22 May 2010 a unique celebration of the African cultural legacy in Latin America is taking place in London.

The Cimarrón Festival will bring together the UK’s diverse Latin diasporas along with others interested in the fantastically rich cultural mix created by the slave trade in Latin America.

The festival line-up includes a broad range of events, from lectures on topics as diverse as capoeira and Cuban hip-hop, through workshops for adults and children, including Afro-Peruvian dance and Afro-Colombian drumming, to shows by prominent Latin American artists, whose music and dance celebrate the strong African influence on Latin culture.

Globalisation, national identity and the demise of political filmmaking

This article stems from concerns I have about the label “Latin American film,” or “Latin American cinema,” because the films to which it refers are so diverse, but the label homogenises them – and, by extension, the cultures from which they emerge. My concern is not primarily about the use of the term by people interested in film and culture – such as community members on this site! – but by the global film industry and by cultural theorists (where the former have vested interests in the label, and the latter should know better). In presenting some of these concerns, I describe changes that have lead to the widespread use and acceptance of this label, as well as aspects of the history of films and filmmaking in Latin American countries that makes such a label problematic for me and more generally.

Today, Kiki Machado, was opening an exhibition of new work with fellow artists Julia and Nina Miranda, in this nice and spacious refurbished gallery space, in London. I went to see them while they were putting the final touches.

Her work is often seen as a careful balance between shapes, colours and texture. All this, through the use of recycled materials.

"My work incorporates the contrast of the tropical colours of my native Brazil and the green and gray tones of London my home city. From my years as a graphic designer student, I have developed a passion to reuse materials that would otherwise be discarded. This passion has taken me to acquire through many years a great amount of material which I now transforms into art."

The celebrations of the Day of the Dead in Mexico, Carnival in Rio, Oruro and Trinidad, San Juan in Venezuela, Christmas anywhere – each with their own style and identity – are some of the major festivities in the Americas.
The Fiesta in Latin America is an institution.  For Xavier Albó, a Bolivian culture researcher, the fiesta is a fundamental time in the lives of individuals and communities due to their diversity, the richness in its symbols, the amounts of people they attract and the power of their climax.

‘Tracing the routes of Latin American cultural practices in London
could perhaps start in the Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre with
around eight or nine shops, ranging from hair dressers to food
shops, owned by Latin Americans, mainly Colombians. A short stroll
around the first level of the Shopping Centre might be disconcerting
for many, but welcoming for others. Once in the Shopping Centre
you may be trapped by the sounds of music, the many accents of
people who stop on their way at ‘La Bodeguita’ for lunch or a snack;
by the smells of the food, incense and perfumes; and even more by
the mixture of people wandering around the corridors on a Saturday
morning.

Santiago Gamboa (Bogotá, 1965) is one of the finest Latin American writers of his generation. Last September he was awarded the La Otra Orilla Literary Award for his novel Necropolis. La Otra Orilla is a literary imprint within Grupo Editorial Norma that focuses on Hispanic literature. The prize has been offered since 2005 and it rose from $30,000 to $100,000 in 2009. It is given to an unpublished novel and it guarantees the publication of the work in Latin America and Spain.