Meet the Carteleros

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I met these friendly gentlemen in downtown Buenos Aires while they were sticking posters on walls in the shopping street Florida. They aroused my attention because they were working together hand in hand so well, emphasizing what teamwork is all about. Both were accurate, precise, and pretty fast. It was just half a minute and the whole wall was done. As soon as they recognize me they began to pose to give me a chance to picture them. The posters, by the way, announce a concert with Rolando Paz, "Chato" Arizmendi and Ariel Puchetta to end the year with Latin music. Well, I'm not familiar with any of these musicians but I suppose they are popular in Uruguay because it seems the event is specifically aiming at Uruguayos living in Buenos Aires. Thank you for the picture, guys!

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Female Physicality in the Postmodern Era

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This installation is an exhibit from Catharina Burman's exposition "Corpus". The exhibition showed various parchment paper bodies and photographs representing an intimate female world. The woman's body, its meaning and impression are recurring themes in her art work. Burman is a Colombian artist that currently lives and works in Buenos Aires. The installation has been exhibited in Bogotá at the University of Salamanca (2005) and in Buenos Aires at the Centro Cultural Borges (2008).

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Time Travelling to Buenos Aires’ Past

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I was time travelling last night. Of course, I didn't forget my fancy gadget from the present, my photographicator electronicus, so I could take some pictures. And I did. On my way back to the future, however, all color pixels were set to zero. I can't understand how this could happen. Probably I was travelling too fast. But I was not completely out of luck: I could save the black and white pixels. In hindsight, I think this adds atmosphere and a nice kind of 'artsy' appeal to the image.
To tell the truth, the picture was part of an exhibition about the Amigos del Arte that I saw at the MALBA. It shows the Florida road roughly around the 1920s. In that time the society of art lovers resided at this exclusive address.
If you had a chance to time travel, where would you go and why?

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Creative Elevator Door Decoration in Centro Cultural Borges

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How to pimp a plain, boring looking elevator? Just take a paintbrush, some color and, most importantly, be creative when painting some ornaments on its doors. Well, lift decoration has become very popular over the last few years. You see these artistic works more and more often, at least in Buenos Aires. Even the advertising industry has discovered that elevator ads are one of the most innovative and unique advertising mediums today. This fancy lift door decoration, however, is no advertisement. The elevators are located in the Centro Cultural Borges and were artfully adorned with some black line drawings. Very eye-catching!
What do you think about using lift door for advertising?

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Stop-and-Go and Walking Zig Zag

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Downtown Buenos Aires can get very busy at times, especially during the office hours. Then it becomes quite challenging to make your way through the maze of Microcentro; plenty of people blocking your way with no empty squares to pass through. It's like doing a hurdle race with human obstacles. In the evening, however, the very same area is turning into an abandoned, empty nothing.
What's downtown like in your city?

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Couple Canvas Coitus

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The painting in the middle by Pablo Suárez is part of the fine art collection compiled by Edward Shaw and María Padilla de Shaw. The whole collection comprises 100 paintings of contemporary artists and is considered one of the most important collections of Argentine modern art. The collection is continuously on exhibition in the two sites of the Torcuato Di Tella University in Buenos Aires. This picture, however, was taken in the Centro Cultural Borges. I leave the interpretation of the couple interaction in the picture and in the painting up to you.

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Yellow-faced Thingy in the Centro Cultural Borges

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I don't know if this funny guy is an allusion to Homer Simpson. I guess not. I believe the artist would find this inappropriate. No offense, Homer. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of the artist so I don't know whom to give the credit to. This corroded figure belongs to an exhibition of interesting sculptures made from trash I saw last year at the Centro Cultural Borges in downtown Buenos Aires.
Trash or treasure?

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Vidas Sitiadas - Photo Exhibition in Buenos Aires

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I have a strong passion for documentary photography. The Centro Cultural Borges in downtown Buenos Aires is always a great place to go. The bygone exhibition "Vidas Sitiadas" (Spanish for Life under Siege) was about life and permanent pain, both mental and physical. The exposition showed pictures taken by the members of the FotoDoc 2008 workshop for documentary photography coordinated by Daniel Merle. All photographies were somewhat sad but graceful.

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Free Hug Day in Buenos Aires

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I found these charming huggers in downtown Buenos Aires holding up their Spanish-language Free Hugs signs lately. They were giving hugs selflessly to anyone who wanted. What a fun! The Free Hug Campaign is just a nice idea and furthermore a growing social movement for a better together. So remember, a hug a day keeps the shrink away!

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Cinema of Argentina

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And ... Action! Recently, I was watching the filming of some scenes for an Argentine motion picture. I really like the Latin American Cinema for all its imperfection and lack of special effects. The Argentine film tends often to be sentimental and mostly political and it is primarily concerned with the social aspects of the Argentine society and culture. One of the most depressing movies I've ever seen was "Garage Olimpio" (1999) which is about the brutal Dirty War of the military Junta against the Argentine people between 1976 and 1983. Another and, by the way, Academy Award (Oscar®) winning movie about what happened in that era is "The Official Story" (1985) by Luis Puenzo. However, there is a broad variety of movies from drama to comedy. Nowadays, movies such as "XXY" by Lucía Puenzo and "Encarnación" by Anahí Berneri arouse international attention. Of course, there are plenty of other movies that were shot in Buenos Aires.
And, yes, the camerawoman is pregnant.

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Argentine Contemporary Art

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These two guys seem to be completely absorbed by Graciela Hasper's colorful work of art at the Borges cultural center. I found this glass discs very interesting, too. Graciela Haspers is a well-known Argentine artist who lives and works in Buenos Aires. The "Centro Cultural Borges" offers a bunch of temporary exhibitions and you'll find it inside the shopping mall "Galerías Pacifico" in downtown Buenos Aires. I would highly recommend the visit to anyone who's interested in contemporary art. Check out their present and upcoming programs.

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Wild West in Buenos Aires

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Watching this group of performers preparing their gig on Calle Florida was fun. Normal people turned into the cliché of a Native American Indian tribe. They set up their speakers, put on some kitschy Wild West costumes, and played traditional pan flute music from tape. Buenos Aires has many of these roving open-air performing talents of all kind. A walk through the pedestrian-only shopping street, Calle Florida, is like attending a big buskers festival.

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Tango School in Downtown

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You want to learn how to dance Argentine tango? What you need on top of a gifted teacher is agility, a lot of patience, and a pinch of grace. The tango is not just a dance it is Argentine nationhood and culture.

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Pedestrian street "Calle Florída"

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"Calle Florída" is the most famous pedestrian zone in Buenos Aires. Here you can shop in hundreds of stores and malls along your way. The street is mostly very crowded even after sunset. It's a typical tourist spot and not the place where the Porteños buy.

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It´s do or die

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Yeah, I guess they serve Coca Cola at the "La Casona". Noisy advertisement is typical for Corrientes Avenue, the "Broadway" of Buenos Aires. This street can be very crowded at night.

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The Invasion of Killer Pigeons at "Plaza de Mayo"

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Yes, I'm kidding but they do have pigeons in Buenos Aires too. Yeah, quite a few... and there are even more to come. ;-) The invasion on Plaza de Mayo is because everybody is feeding them. Actually, tourists like them.

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Gran Café Tortoni

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You like drinking your coffee in a vintage ambience? Then you have to visit the oldest and most famous café in Buenos Aires. The Gran Café Tortoni is in Avenida de Mayo, near Subte "Piedras".

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