sábado, 5 de diciembre de 2009

Sengue Dzong or "Fortress of the Lion"

Published in December issue of Panorama magazine:

Ana Carla tells us that in 2000, a Buddhist devotee invited master Rinpoche to spend a few days in the countryside in the Department of Minas, Uruguay. One night, Rinpoche had a vision in which he sensed that all the beings in the area had waited for him for a long time. Since Rinpoche possessed the gift of farsightedness, he decided to purchase 1483 acres of land and build the only Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist retreat in Latin America: Sengue Dzong, which means “Fortress of the Lion.”

Sengue Dzong o "La Fortaleza del León"

Artículo publicado en Panorama de Diciembre:
 



sábado, 1 de agosto de 2009

Three Days of Peace and Music: Woodstock

 Published in August issue of Panorama of the Americas:

This month is the fortieth anniversary of the mythical Woodstock concert, which has been preserved in the collective consciousness as the climax of the hippie movement. Hippies, with the slogan “sex, drugs and rock and roll,” made up the most important counterculture movement in the United States; they spread to communities around the world and influenced current Western culture to an extent that is still the subject of social science studies.

40 años de Woodstock: Tres días de paz y música


Publicado en Panorama de Agosto:
     Este mes se cumplen 40 años del mítico concierto de Woodstock, que ha quedado en el imaginario colectivo como el clímax del movimiento hippy. Los hippies, bajo la consigna de “sexo, drogas y rock and roll”, se constituyeron en el movimiento contracultural más importante de los Estados Unidos, se extendieron en comunidades de todo el mundo e influyeron en la actual cultura occidental en una medida que aún es objeto de estudio por parte de las ciencias sociales.


sábado, 4 de julio de 2009

Farewell to Mario Benedetti

Published in June issue of Panorama magazine:


He died on a Sunday in May, a little after five in the afternoon. What happened next was incredible. There were phone calls, strings of e-mails and text messages. International news channels showed special programs. The presidents of several countries sent condolences. On Monday, the news was on the first page of almost every Spanish-language newspaper, and over the next few days was echoed by newspapers like the New York Times, The Guardian, La Repubblica and many others.

Tráfico de poesía: el adiós a Mario Benedetti

Publicado en Panorama de Julio:

Murió un domingo de mayo, poco después de las cinco de la tarde.
Lo que pasó a partir de ese momento fue increíble. Se sucedieron los llamados telefónicos, las cadenas de correos electrónicos y los mensajes por celular.
Las canales internacionales de noticias emitieron programas especiales. Los presidentes de varios países enviaron sus condolencias. El lunes la información estaba en la primera plana de casi todos los diarios de habla hispana y, en los días siguientes, se hicieron eco de la noticia periódicos como el New York Times, The Guardian, La Repubblica y muchos más. En portales de internet, en blogs, en Facebook y en videos de Youtube los comentarios se contaban por cientos. Eran mensajes de gente de todas las edades. Venían de todas partes. Mensajes conmovidos, llenos de sentimiento y duelo auténtico.

martes, 5 de mayo de 2009

Interview with an artist: Carlos Páez Vilaró

Publish on Panorama Magazine:
Casapueblo is a white town that seems to spill from the slopes of Punta Ballena, a few minutes from Punta del Este, in a chaos of terraces, cupolas and large windows overlooking the green sea. It is the site of the artist’s house, workshop, museum and a hotel.
His assistant, María, guides us through the labyrinth of the still-closed museum to a small staircase leading to his private studio. The anteroom is a large chamber with walls covered with paintings and a big window that opens onto a balcony and the omnipresent sea. A few steps more take us into the workshop, which is almost split in two by an enormous table with a cheerful jumble of piles of books and magazines, canvases, brushes and jars of paint. From a corner near the window, Carlos Páez Vilaró emerges from behind the computer. He is all friendliness. We sit at the other end, near the chimney and the leather chairs.
Páez Vilaró’s conversation is a leafy tree branching out into infinity. He starts on one branch, stops at a leaf, returns to the trunk, descends to the roots and crouches on a knotty bough to suddenly jump to another branch with no warning. It would be nice to have infinite time to listen to him. He is an expert in interviews. One must be very expert to know when to interrupt him and when to forget about the prepared questionnaire, because one does not have infinite time.


viernes, 1 de mayo de 2009

Entrevista al pintor Carlos Páez Vilaró

Esta entrevista, realizada en marzo de 2009 con fotos de Gustavo Caggiani y publicada en la edición de mayo de la revista Panorama, fue reseñada en el boletín del Ministerio de Turismo.
Casapueblo es un pueblo blanco que parece desbarrancarse desde el lomo de Punta Ballena, a pocos minutos de Punta del Este, en un caos de terrazas, cúpulas y ventanales, sobre el verde mar. Alberga la casa del artista, su taller, un museo y un hotel.

Art goes to the street: The Louvre in Montevideo


“Images of the Louvre, Six Centuries of European Painting” is an outdoors exhibit that will be held from February 11th through May 11th, at the Rambla de Montevideo; the Louvre Museum itself, as well as the French Embassy and municipal authorities are the sponsors for this event.

The exhibit features high-resolution digital reproductions the same size as the originals housed at the Louvre. In those cases when the size of the painting exceeds the space allocated for each art piece, measuring at 4’10” by just over 6 feet, the decision was made to keep to the original dimensions of these extra large pieces and to show their details, while at the same time reproducing on one corner a small copy of the whole painting. This way, viewers can study minute details such as brush strokes, and in some cases canvas weaves or even marks of the passing of time on medieval wood pieces.

Experts at the museum specially prepared the explanation texts accompanying each work of art exhibited. Under each painting, together with the title,  the year and the artist, and in barely two hundred words, the painting is placed within its historical and artistic context, and its main characteristics are highlighted. On the subject of these summaries, Marie Catherine Sahut, Chief of the Paintings Department at the Louvre Museum, declared that the exhibit by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, previously presented on the same stage, “proved that very precise texts can be included to provide pretty complex information, and further, that people do read them.”

El arte sale a la calle: El Louvre en Montevideo


Publicado en Panorama de Mayo:
“Imágenes del Louvre, Seis Siglos de Pintura Europea”, se presenta desde el 11 de febrero y hasta el 11 de mayo al aire libre, en la Rambla de Montevideo, auspiciada por el propio Museo del Louvre, la Embajada de Francia y autoridades municipales.


Jazz en Buenos Aires

Publicado en Panorama de Mayo:
Cassandra Wilson es una de las cantantes más respetadas en el ámbito del jazz de la última década.

Ganadora del Grammy 2009 al mejor álbum de jazz, se presentará, por primera vez en Argentina, los días 20 y 21 de mayo, en el Teatro Gran Rex de Buenos Aires. Loverly, el último disco de la artista, incluye éxitos como “Caravan” o “A Day in the Life of a Fool”, versión inglesa de “Orfeo Negro”, del compositor brasileño Luis Bonfá.
www.ticketek.com.ar

Jazz in Buenos Aires

During the last decade, Cassandra Wilson has been one of the most respected singers in the jazz genre. She was the winner of the 2009 Grammy Award for the best jazz album, and for the first time in Argentina, will have shows on May 20th and 21st, at the Grand Rex Theater in Buenos Aires. Loverly, her latest CD, includes hits such as “Caravan” or “A Day in the Life of a Fool”, the English version of “Black Orpheus”, by Brazilian composer Luis Bonfá.
www.ticketek.com.ar

Farewell to Los Olimareños

Nineteen years after their split, Los Olimareños, the mythical Uruguayan duo, will meet again at Montevideo’s Centennial Stadium, this time to give a farewell presentation to their musical career. Of great importance to Latin America’s folklore and the “protest songs” of the 60s and 70s, Los Olimareños represent a definite example of the loyalty of their fans; the 20,000 tickets for the show scheduled for May 8th were sold out in March, just one week after they became available for sale to the public. Therefore, it became necessary to schedule another show for March 9th.
www.losolimarenos.com

Adiós a Los Olimareños

Publicado en Panorama de Mayo: 
Diecinueve años después de su disolución, el mítico dúo uruguayo Los Olimareños volverá a reunirse en el Estadio Centenario de Montevideo, esta vez, para decir adiós a su carrera musical.

A caballo entre el folclor latinoamericano y la “canción protesta” de los años 60 y 70, Los Olimareños recogen la muestra definitiva de la fidelidad de sus seguidores: las 20.000 entradas de la función planificada para el 8 de mayo se agotaron en marzo, a una semana de iniciada la venta. Fue necesario agregar una nueva función el 9 de mayo.
www.losolimarenos.com