Julieta Venegas, Mexican Spring

Julieta Venegas exudes an air of freshness and spontaneity throughout our interview. After the customary greetings, she gives her cell phone a quick glance, anxious for news of her daughter Simona, and we get down to work.
Julieta, tell me about your new album, Algo sucede.

Well, I produced the whole thing with two people: Yamil Rezc in México and Cachorro López in Argentina. To me it feels like a very bright album, with a lot of acoustic instruments, stories of encounters and the way life can twist you around or be nice to you. It’s very springlike. It also contains the essence of the pain I feel for México, which I need to express. And my childhood and adolescence are both present in it.

Nos vamos poniendo viejos... / We're getting old...

Esta vez es una foto lo que me publicaron en Panorama de octubre, en la sección Zoom.

Carmelo: A Town of Stories and Legends

Even though the town of Carmelo makes no claims to fame other than the facts that it is home to the only swing bridge in Uruguay and also the only town in the country founded by national hero José Artigas, its streets are paved with stories, some of which have been collected by author Carlos María Domínguez, who is Argentinean by birth and Uruguayan by inclination.

Anchorena Park - Much More than a Presidential Rest

Thanks to the adventures of a young Argentine aristocrat, Uruguay’s presidents have an enviable vacation residence in the department of Colonia, where the San Juan River empties into the Río de la Plata.

In 1907, Aarón de Anchorena, the son of a wealthy family from Buenos Aires, and Jorge Newbery, a pioneer in Argentine aviation, stepped into the hot air balloon Pampero for the first balloon crossing of “the lion-colored river,” as the poet Lugones would say. Strong winds caused the pilots to lose control of the balloon and Aarón pledged he would buy the land where they landed. They fell on the opposite side of the San Juan River and, since this property was not for sale, the young man's father bought almost 10,000 acres, where the Anchorena estate is now located.

GOES: RECOVERING A NEIGHBORHOOD

During the first half of the twentieth century, the people of Montevideo were proud of the Goes neighborhood, an economic and cultural epicenter. The current restoration project includes renovating the old market and sixteen city blocks, which became run down and crime-ridden in the 1990’s.

Postmodern Pittsburgh

The economy of Pittsburgh rebounded thanks to services, technology, culture, tourism, and sustainability, making it one of the fifty best cities in the world in terms of quality of life.

In and Around Piriápolis

The most popular coastal summer vacation sites in Uruguay are in the departments of Maldonado and Rocha, on the Atlantic Ocean. Although Punta del Este is the best known internationally, there are other, less famous ones well worth visiting. Our correspondent, Gloria Algorta, gives us an Uruguayan perspective on the string of seaside resorts, from Solís to Punta Negra, in the department of Maldonado.

Paraguayan Handcrafts - One possible tour

In this global world, it is often difficult when traveling to tell the difference between traditional handcrafts and those invented to satisfy the tastes of modern tourists. After a week in Paraguay I now know that ñanduti and ao po’i lacework and embroidery are authentic Paraguayan handcrafts, but because of my ignorance I missed out on a number of wonderful opportunities.

Augusto Roa Bastos Foundation

RECOVERING AND SHARING MULTIPLE FACETS OF AN AUTHOR

The Augusto Roa Bastos Foundation seeks to recover and publicize the lesser known works of this Paraguayan writer, including his poetry, screenplays, speeches, prologues, news articles, essays, and children’s stories.

A few days with the Aché

The indigenous Aché people of northeastern Paraguay were originally hunters and gatherers. In the 1970s, deforestation forced them into contact with Western civilization, thus sparking their traumatic transition to an agrarian lifestyle. The Aché community of Kuetuvy has managed to preserve its identity in a village deep in the colorful subtropical forest, growing vegetables and exporting organic yerba mate to the United States.

Salta, the Beautiful

It’s hard to sum up a place as diverse as Salta. Naturally bestowed with mountainous landscapes, gorges, and fertile valleys, Salta, in Argentina’s extreme northwest, is known for its history, culture, gastronomy, and music. This Argentinean capital city also boasts some of the best preserved colonial architecture in the country. Charming old towns, pre-Columbian culture, and astonishing panoramas characterize the province.

Deciphering Gabriela Mistral

In 1945, Gabriela Mistral became the first Latin American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. The poet and essayist became a mythic figure in Chile and Latin America, enshrined in the popular imagination as a modest, rural schoolteacher who wrote children’s verses and love poetry and suffered from the unfulfilled desire to be a mother.

The Sad History of Isla de Flores

One spring Saturday, I went on an excursion to Isla de Flores with a group of photographers I met on Flickr, a photography website. Just two people alternate living on this very small island every two weeks: the lighthouse keeper and his helper.

Montevideo Art Deco

The Art Deco aesthetic was enthusiastically adopted all over Montevideo. Classic examples can be found in buildings in the city center and the Old City, but a stroll through the further reaches of the city will give fans of the Deco style an opportunity to discover many more buildings and homes, some quite modest, that clearly reflect Art Deco design principles.

Joaquín Torres García: “The South is Our North”

Joaquín Torres-García (1874-1949) returned to his native Uruguay after a journey that lasted 43 years, during which he frequented the modernist vanguards in Spain, Italy, New York and Paris, and acquired a vast artistic and philosophical culture. After the age of 60 he was able to create his own aesthetic-philosophical current: Constructive Universalism.

Long live Jujuy!

There exists an Argentina that has nothing to do with milonga and tango, pampas and gauchos or the folk culture of Río de la Plata and the Europeanizing influence of its capitals. The awe-inspiring landscapes of northeastern Argentina are steeped in the millennial culture of the Incas.

Parade of Calls - The Grandest Party of Afro-Uruguayan Culture

The “Parade of Calls” is the most original manifestation of Afro-Uruguayan culture. During two nights of  carnival, dance groups parade through the narrow streets of Sur and Palermo neighborhoods; these areas have historically encompassed tenements and the homes of the descendants of African immigrants. This year, the parade is being held on February 3rd and February 4th.

Uruguayan Wines

Published in Panorma, December 2010.

Even though wine probably came to Uruguay along with the Spaniards, this southern country’s wine industry began with the 19th century arrival of Tannat stock, which left its mark. Originally from the Madiran region of southwestern France, the stock was carried to the austral region of South America by a Basque, Pascual Harriague; Uruguay used it to produce table wines for internal consumption for more than a century.

Vinos Uruguayos

Publicado en Panorma de diciembre 2010:

La producción de vino en Uruguay se remonta, documentalmente, a principios del siglo XVIII, aunque es probable que date de mucho tiempo atrás, desde los tiempos de la colonización española y portuguesa y la posterior inmigración italiana, todos pueblos de larga tradición vitivinícola.

Gramado & Canela - A European Enclave in the "Serra Gaucha"

We leave from Montevideo on a Friday at sunrise, by car. A twelve hour drive awaits us. The previous day an Indian summer unusual for this time of year had begun, after which there came an unexpected wave of polar cold air that would torment us. Before midday, we were at the border.