domingo, 22 de enero de 2012

Buenos Aires, lenguaje, letras y libro



.....how could I possibly not have known this before I arrived?   In 2011 Buenos Aires was rewarded the book capital award - capital munidal del libro - by the UNESCO and living here it is really hard not to see why.   Bookstores of all kinds at each corner,  lists and lists of literary cafes.    In the foto you can see the one where I bought El Aleph by Jorge Luis Borges - one of the most important Argentine writers, essayists and poets born in Buenos Aires - yes in Spanish as I like to challenge myself.  (really?) His work is a an amazing mixture of tale and dreamlike fantasy and no I have not progressed very much with this book as its layers are deep and my Spanish not yet.  Today in class at VOS the cultural center here in Buenos Aires I learnt that this style is called Realismo Magico - it is extremely important to LatAm because it is the first literary style that was created here and that is being exported quite successfully while in the past all other styles were imported from Europe.   I am proud to announce that I made it through my first tale ba Julio Cortaza equally important as Borges.
"No se culpe a nadie".   I really wanted to give up - this was very challenging to read in Spanish but Pancho our teacher and my classmates would not let me.

my favorite bookstore
at the Cafe Tortoni 
The most famous among the many many literary cafes in Buenos Aires is of course El Tortoni 
http://www.cafetortoni.com.ar/
another time machine you can step into in this city.   So many places to still go and explore,  to have coffee and read or write or just feeling inspired in this special energy.  My favorite bookshop it is 15 steps away from my apartment it never fails to amaze me how they find anything in there within seconds of my asking.    I always think of my Mum when I am inside...  Incredibly also I discovered only a few weeks ago I live near he National Library which is heaven inside and such an interesting building historically as it was the residence for some "governments" in Buenos Aires at some point.   http://www.bn.gov.ar/faq.    

And then I made the newspaper.   A little over a month in the country and I am being interviewed while in class at VOS on Lunfardo of course,  a sort of dialect or secret language of the Tango.   So when I came to the office on Monday Maria Gabriela says - estas en el diario!! - you made the newspaper - of course this is not just any newspaper La Nacion is what you read in BsAs when you take pride in your education - so here is the article in La Nacion.   (More on the war between the government and media another time - winds of change here) Mind you I am not that anxious to learn Lunfardo as they cite me quite liberally - as this feels like another deep world of complexity I could easily get lost in....so Tango has its own language.  Of course here is my link between my love for dancing and my love for words.  Of course Tango has its own words.   So this week I need to buy yet another dictionary and yes I am learning a fifth language - Lunfardo.  Jose Maria the CFO of Telmark spoke to me about this language when we first met and since our discussion was in Spanish I thought maybe I misunderstood - no, no Tango has its own language.  Claro.

My bario has one more particularity I want to mention and that is I live in medical headquarters.   This is somewhat puzzling to me - at first I only noticed the dermatologists who seem to reside on the Recoleta side of Avenida Santa Fe - walking to my Tango Studio however I discovered really via the bookstores that Dentists cluster on the other side of Ave Santa Fe only to find all major hospitals and university faculties only steps from my home.    So the energy of the healing profession has been all around me.  Another little fact that is curious - Buenos Aires has more shrinks than New York and I am not a bit surprised by that fact either.   Bario Freud - this is also what some have  called  my neighborhood.   I cannot help but smile at the sheer concentration of all that is important and available to me at this stage in my life.  So is this true - it is always all there in abundance and we just notice it more clearly as we heighten our awareness?  Buenos Aires is just what the doctor ordered for me - books,  writers,  journalism,  a potential and people connecting job.   I live in this enormously interesting city,  in summer, light and sun without end, Tango,  calm attitude,  peace of mind,  courage curiosity AND time to indulge in it all.   Any doctor would be pleased with the progress I have been making here.

Buenos Aires - where else would I want to be writing a book....

Comme Il Faut

Just in case you did not know (like me) this is the place for THE most beautiful Tango shoes in Buenos Aires.    So 4 lessons and a handful of Milongas - some of them just sitting and watching - into this amazing world of Tango, Kristin,  passionate and gifted Tanguera from Bergen,  Norway who arrived here a week ago invites me to come along to this magic shoe place.

http://www.commeilfaut.com.ar/historia.php

The salon is in Recoleta.  A first hint.
You go into a backyard that looks like a part of Paris.  The second hint.
It takes attention to find the entry and sign.   Third hint.
You ring the bell and are greeted with attitude and a raised eyebrow.   Si?
By now you get the picture - this is serious Tango shoe business and not just for anybody.   Pero no.

Shoes are nowhere in sight but several sofas and mirrors.   We are being sat on one of the posh sofas with the speed of light - not a second to breathe or take in the salon.  Immediately being asked for color, style and material desired.   Out come boxes upon boxes of the most exquisite,  elegant,  extravagant, shiny,  sexy, seductive, feminine Tango shoes.  No doubt this is THE SHOE PLACE.
I am reminded of the scene in Pretty Woman where the gorgeous Julia Roberts shops on Rodeo Drive (the shop where Richard Gere and his credit cards come along only that in our case Richard could unfortunately not make it)  It has some 40 degrees outside -  health warning is still orange - our feet are huge as they are swollen from the humidity all the walking the shop manager rolls her eyes slightly how can you come so late in the day we are about to close and it is imposible to try shoes in this weather "my Darling" - and we just have to try on these shoes....

A pair of black, white striped, signature tango shoes with a golden heel call my name - very high - and  they do not fit 100%.   My spine is screaming when I walk in them - yet dancing and walking in heels are two different kettle of fish.  The design is stunning.   Impossible to wear for me now as this pair signals every serious dancer:  experienced, self confident bailarina.  Well, not quite yet.  Of course it is possible to have them tailor made and fitted exactly to my feet ... I have a week to think before I go back to Comme Il Faut.   The shoes change weekly - Saturdays.  The salon is in walking distance of my place.  What great practicing ground for my newly designed principles around making all choices in my life from a new level of consciousness.  VERY tempting.  VERY good.

Of course it is strictly forbidden to take pictures inside of Comme Il Faut.  Of course I took one and kept it.   Kristin is in a world of her own.   The amount of information she spills out onto the salon floor around soles, suede pads,  extra padding,  additional holes in the straps, shapes, widening,  enhancing legs, steps,  heels blending into the dance floor,  color matching skintones, outfits,  what type of Tango and Milonga requires what type of shoe -  it feels like an explosion - she clearly is in her element.   Beautiful to watch her joy over the perfect pair she finds.   

I find myself  happy just to share the experience and this feeling of complete certainty.  No.  Not my pair today. Completely holding my own even in ever luring shoe paradise.  Freedom.  Joy. 


Kristin in love....
yes - very very very hot.....


After Comme If Faut we head out to Palermo to pay a visit to Greta Flora - what a different experience - they have maybe 3 pairs my size - and the style is very different to CIF.   We discover the clip on flowers - great idea - you turn a basic black Tango learning shoe into a fun expressive one by clipping on leather flowers - perfect.  Immediately makes every shoe look like a Greta Flora design.  Clever.  I get a pair of clip ons - in Tango red - of course.  Kristin explains that really serious and good dancers often wear the most worn shoes - you can tell by the location of the traces of wear and tear if the shoes belong to a good dancer.   So of course I have to examine this and - indeed apparently I keep my ankles close together quite nicely - clear wear and tear in the right spot!

Actually this light hearted fun experience I so needed after a horrible night in Palermo at the Club Villa Malcom experiencing true embarrassment on the dance floor on Friday.   What did I do that after two really nicely danced,  intuitively managed Tangos (oh that works well he says) ouf of the blue my partner feels he now he will  turn into a teacher and needs to explain things to me.   Why? What signals did I send to elicit that from him?   I did not ask for this.   No thank you - I do have a very good and lovely teacher whom I trust - I am here to enjoy myself.   Of course now the magic is gone I am out of my body and into my head.   Now it feels heavy instead of light.  To top it all he now says - all the Germans do have problem with being too much in their head - where he is from is unclear - he most certainly is not Argentine I notice I do not care enough to ask.

I can feel my irritation turning into intolerance with my next partner and I decide to focus all my energy on this is the last dance with this partner.   Cortina.  (musical break between two tandas or rounds of Tango) Thank you universe.   The bad breath (garlic and onion) offends me - why not use a mint if you know you will be physically so close to somebody and I am thinking of what I can say in a self honoring non offending way next time I run into the phenomenon of bad breath in Tango.   Then I decide this was the first and last experience of that kind.   That should do it.   The next partner clearly has no feeling for rhythm and music.  Worse than lecturing and smell.   Way worse for me.   True - so true I only have few steps in comparison to what is out there in Tango AND my body cringes when music and movement are disconnected so completely.   And no this was not a style.  My body cannot tolerate it.  So - all this is also out there in the Tango world.  It certainly clarified what I will not tolerate.   So I embrace it as sharpening my focus on whom to pick to dance with.  Good.

Still it took me a while to work through this I felt quite frustrated and thought maybe I just do not go  to Milongas for a while.   The good dancers will not ask me and I cannot expect them to really as they are there to have a great dancing experience on their own level themselves.   Dancing with beginners I am afraid I will pick up dancing that will be very hard to correct later on.   So,  how does one progress then - I know I want the miles under my soles to improve.   More classes as long as I still live in the cradle of Tango and Practicas and doing the homework.   Good plan.   No more Milonga until I have more technique - but then it is not about technique only... and Milongas can be so much fun and I can learn from watching and just absorbing it and ....

So I am back at the Pavilion in Glorieta at the Milonga on Saturday night I cannot help it.   And in Kristin I have a new friend who is a Tango crazy so of course we go.  For a while I keep my flip flops on to signal "no dancing with this chica tonight"  there are some who would even dance barefoot so I am asked anyway.  The shoes are not always a clear sign.  A very strong looking man in his forties invites me to dance and I sense ok he is the right one to get back on the floor - I put on my shoes in the speed of light and off we go.  Its ok.

I ask the universe to dance with empowered, experienced and sweet partners and I get asked by 5 different dancers I am not choosing yet.  This is the next level of learning.   So I go in with the intention to simply surrender and enjoy the perfect summer night and all the Tango has to offer and tonight I just want to be held for a while and this feels so lovely - I assume my partners will make me look beautiful according do where I am on my skill level and most of them do and this works well.   I am just happy.  As we are also close to the bario chino there is a Chinese fair and all sorts of distraction around the Pavilion tonight - while dancing I do not even notice it.   Cuando bailas,  bailas.   When you dance you dance.

Then Emilio asks me to dance.  At first I am taken aback - a challenge - Emilio must be in his 70s his face tells so many stories - bright, alert eyes smile at me knowingly - the surprise comes when he holds me in a very close embrace as his energy feels like that of a very young man.   He loves the Tango clearly - then I sense his tremor - he has Parkinsons his hand moves uncontrollably along my back.

I am aware of my insecurity - how do I read his lead with this hand shaking so much I will not know what he wants me to dance.  What to do with this?  My back however stays really soft and somehow I do not mind this on a physical level.   I am surprised.  Then I breathe and remember all I know in my heart and just ease into the dance - it moves me emotionally - the sheer humanness of this moment and I tear up a little inspired by this man's humble courage.

All the shiny shoes and the fun glitz and glamour of the morning fade out at the other side of the Tango rainbow compared to this experience.   Tu pasas muy lindo con la musica he says and indeed Emilio and I dance a whole tanda together and he is the best dancing partner I have all night.   Que maravilloso.  Be courageous and open,  lean in to the unknown trusting it will be just fine and exactly what is needed in each moment while I hold my own, eyes closed, and we just dance and enjoy ourselves.   Ah - back in Tango heaven.   Of course,  I might have those shoes fitted at Comme Il Faut next Saturday.  And why not.  It is about range.

Kristin and I chill and chat for a while after the Milonga and it finally starts to rain.   I am completely happy and filled up when I get out of the taxi in Avenida Santa Fe and there she is - teenage Mum,  deep black rings under her eyes,  carrying her baby through the rain,  the bare feet black with dirt,  begging - when I spot her she runs after two men almost screaming at them to please help her.   I have a challenging time managing my cringing body and heart as I witness her in her despair.  I hand her what I have left which tonight is a not even the equivalent of a Euro and receive the sweetest blessing for happiness in my life in Spanish.

Argentina keeps moving me to tears in exactly those moments when I feel I could not be happier.
I ponder a little on arcs,  this day and at what point happiness and sadness meet and what the quality of that space has brought to me lately.



lunes, 9 de enero de 2012

on dedicating time to what I love doing .....

I am back at school.

http://www.vosbuenosaires.com/es/contacto/

At VOS language school and cultural center for the Spanish language - and "vos" is of course the lovely way Argentine people address each other.   The school was recommended to me by a friend of a friend ..... gracias a Pedro Rubio y Roxane!!!  These days I just love asking for help and following recommendations it has never ever failed me - it leads me exactly to where I need to be in my life.
And so of course the lady who runs the school Magdalena happes to be very good friends with Mercedes who  works for  Alejandrina the Director of the Telefonica Foundation in Buenos Aires.  Connecting people - it is a Latin way of being.  I love it.  Me encanta. Perfecto.

So as planned two years ago,  I made it my reality -  the next couple of years in my life would be dedicated to exploring what I always wanted to explore and expand and learn - leaving behind tactical and strategic planning and thinking - just following my heart.  No more will this be good for my career,  is this pragmatic etc - no - I dedicated these years to joyfully learn what I always wanted to learn.  Explore my desire to engage deeply with people via Coaching,  (re)discover Contemporary Art,  explore my deep love for creative writing, speak a third language fluently ideally Spanish,  learn to dance the Tango and yes - live in a Latin country for a while.

I get to combine it all and one area benefits from the other while I work 3 days a week for this incredible company Telefonica in a setting where I can apply all of my skills and all I learn now,  deepening our relationship with our Buenos Aires based partner Telmark.   Really looking back on what I envisioned 2012 to be I could not be happier with the arrangement.  It has been so much joy and learning working with the Argentine colleagues here and as I learn more about this country and nation their history, my admiration keeps growing.   In my generation in most European countries - we do not know what crisis means.   My generation and the ones following can learn from this mentality here and as I wrote in an earlier entry,   the level of maturity of the next generation is astonishing.  Most Argentines carry a European and an Argentine passport and there has been a new awareness in younger people - some now for the first time consciously opt to be Argentine.  

At VOS I get to learn with an international group of people and it goes way beyond the language of course -  the topics we discuss are wide spread.  I love the change of perspectives and looking at the world through the eyes of my Brazilian fellow student or my Argentine teacher.   The first movie  watched during movie night they put on optionally after class was Esperando en Mesisas  by Daniel Burman starring Daniel Hendler an Argentine movie that captures the years of the economic crisis perfectly.

Who would have thought that 10 years later Spaniards would come to Argentina to work,  when in 2001 a whole wave of Argentinians moved to Spain fleeing the dire situation in their own country.  Just a decade and things have been reversed.   An amazing turnaround.   Now 46% of young people are unemployed in Spain - I have no idea of how many that might be in Greece.   The new lost generations.   The Brazilian girl explains to me she will be a lawyer and she studies in Sao Paulo and in order to be admitted to the exams she will have to be fluent in 3 (!) languages this is not counting her native tongue Portugese.   I look at her in amazement what a powerhouse she and so many in her generation will be. This continent equals potential.   I truly enjoyed Esperando en Mesias - have a look....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiHjMQ_0qCw



In class we started with a rather tough subject - Argentina 1975 - 1983 - "el proceso de la reorganizacion nacional" - really a military Junta took over like in so many Latin American countries at the time. I doubt it is really clear how many people the nation lost then.

Each Thursday in front of la Casa Rosada,  the City Hall on the Plaza de Mayo you can still speak with the abuelas (grandmothers) who gather there to demonstrate - they are wearing white headbands reminding the world of that period.   Pancho our teacher distributed this essay about this topic - the essay is meant to test our level of comprehension -  I did quite ok language wise and not so well emotionally - after reading the essay I had tears in my eyes it touched me and of course recalled current experiences in my life that happened over the last two years.  A reoccurring theme so close to me these days - people whom I love dying or dropping out of my life without a trace.

I know of a piece of Photography Art by an Argentine photograher Gustavo Germano collected family pictures of various families who lost members during this period in time - he then took pictures in the present at the same place with the same background displaying the remaining family members only.
When I had first read it it was engrained in my memory immediately - it is a very moving piece so brutally showing the gap left behind by a lost human life and it is strangely healing at the same time to see it so clearly.

http://www.zeit.de/wissen/2010-08/fs-verschwunden-2


Ending for today on a lighter note.  Dear reader of my blog - for you to get the full picture.   Today we had some 40 degrees and it has been super humid.   I try to breathe so slowly that the hot air will not hurt inside of my nose so much.   Even the locals faint and I have now definitely run out of ways to cool me down so I am just hot.   Period.   Hot.  Somewhere I read the Mate would help .... well it is an acquired taste... It just started raining finally - now I am experiencing my first thunder storm in Buenos Aires and it feels heavenly.




miércoles, 4 de enero de 2012

eine Nacht im El Beso

El Beso - Der Kuss

http://www.tango-club.com/elbeso

Prima,  denke ich,  ist ja auch in meinem Barrio also Stadtviertel  und er steht im ultimate guide for Tango Lovers to Buenos Aires,  den mir Leni dagelassen hat und den wir beide als reisendes Weitergabebuch für jeweilige Neuankömmlinge deklariert haben.

El Beso - klingt doch einladend,  auch da kann ich ja hinlaufen,   also wie alle hier die Tangoschuhe in das dafür angefertigte Beutelchen,   flache Laufschuhe und den neuen Tangorock an und losgezogen.  Dreimal vorbeigelaufen,  am Eingang,  weil so unscheinbar, vor allem im Vergleich zu den touristischeren Orten - das hätte mir doch schon ein Hinweis sein können....

Geht doch - denke ich mir während der vor der Milonga stattfindenden Tanzstunde,   Javier meint er kann nicht glauben,  dass ich erst angefangen habe und so bleibe ich ganz mutig zur Milonga.  Die Stunden kosted umgerechnet 5,50  mit Milonga 7,30  Euro.  Also zücke ich die 10 Pesos mehr und denke toll meine ersten Milonga in meinem barrio.  

Das war ernüchternd gestern.   Mit den Milongas,  die ich bislang besucht hatte,   hatte diese wenig zu tun.   Hier tanzen weitestgehend Porteños y Porteñas und solche die ihm verfallen sind, dem Tango.   Wow.   Allein das Zeremoniell, bis man einen Platz zugewiesen bekommt.   Zweite Reihe auf der rechten Seite,  was soll das denn,  denke ich mir,   wie so nicht in der ersten.  

Nadine,   eine Tanzexpertin und begnadete Tänzerin zu der ich gesetzt werde,  man gibt hier acht auf die Frauen und setzt sie so,  dass sich sich nicht unangenehm fühlen,  schon mal wunderbar.    
Also Nadine,  meint, wir stehen in der Gunst schau mal gegenüber, wer alles in Reihe drei und vier im Dunkeln sitzt.   Mein weißes Oberteil ist der totale Fehlgriff,  auf keinen gar keinen Fall ist das die Farbe für Tango.   Das ultraviolette Licht macht die Sache nicht angenehmer.  

Aha denke ich mir,  auch die falschen Schuhe,  unter 8cm super Bleistift Stilettos geht hier nichts.  Solche Schuhe habe ich noch nie besessen und es ist fraglich ob ich das jeh werde.... Die Damen sind alle wunderbar angezogen - schöne Kleider oder Röcke,   super gepflegt ebenso wie die Herren.  Es gefällt mir gut.   Hat einfach Stil und Klasse.  Nadine sitzt wie eine Sphinx im asymetrischen kleinen Schwarzen mit Mohnblumen lacht mich an und sagt auf Deutsch,  du kommst mir so bekannt vor ich habe vor einem Jahr meinen 50sten in Nürnberg gefeiert -bei der xxx Tango Nacht, warst du auch da?
Ich glaube es nicht - nein ich denke nicht.   Da brech ich alle Zelte ab zur unmöglichsten Zeit in meinem Leben,  reise nach Buenos Aires und Tango gibt es überall.   Sie lebt eigentlich in Seattle und ist zu einem Tanzseminar hier,   na ja dann schaust du eben mal eine Nacht lang zu...  und ganz schön mutig von dir dich hierher zu trauen.   Mmmhhh.  

Ich schaue den Paaren zu und weiß,  dass sie recht hat.   In der ersten Reihe sitzen nur Stammgäste,    sie kommen zu jeder Milonga,   seit Jahren,  oft seit Jahrzehnten.    3-5 Stunden Tango 3 bis 4 Mal die Woche seit Jahren oder Jahrzehnten.    Das Niveau ist hoch hier tanzt eine Klasse für sich,  einige Paare sehen aus wie aus einem Hollywood Film  - das müssen einige von den Legenden sein.   Die Tango Legenden haben hier Pseudonyme, Künstlernamen.   Sie heissen El Indio,  El Chino usw.  angeblich sagt man beim Tangotanzen auch nie seinen richtigen Nachnamen.  

Mir bleibt echt die Luft weg.   Es ist traumhaft schön nur dazusitzen und zu sehen zu dürfen.    Demut.
Demut und noch mal Demut.    Sie gleiten übers Parkett hier und doch nicht hier,  die Schrittfolgen sind nie nachvollziehbar,  wie sie das alles im Moment zu erfinden scheinen ist mir nach wie vor ein totales Rätsel.    Mein Tanzpartner aus der Stunde vor der Milonga unterhält sich mit seinem Nachbarn ich bin in Hörweite ...hat ein schönes musikalische Gespür und ist weich zu führen aber sie hat keinerlei Erfahrung.  Stimmt - ich werde nicht aufgefordert.

Ich überlege zu gehen,  weil das schon schwer fällt,  wenn ich doch so gerne tanzen würde,  gar nicht weiß wie und sich hier keiner mit einer Anfängerin auf der Tanzfläche sehen läßt,   das geht hier einfach nicht.  Dann zögere ich es noch eine Weile hinaus.    Nadine erklärt mir was zu vermeiden ist z.B.  auf keinen Fall tanzt man zwei Runden mit dem gleichen Partner,  das bedeutet das Einverständnis zum anschliessenden Geschlechtsverkehr.  Das Auffordern geht so -  3 Sekunden anstarren,  wenn der andere nicht wegsieht und irgendwas macht in der Mimik -  was bin ich mir nicht sicher und man weiß es einfach irgendwie - nickt man ummerklich und schon kommt er herübergelaufen der Tanzpartner doch  manchmal gibt es lustige Verwechslungen,  dann stehen drei Damen gleichzeitig auf.  

Es ist offensichtlich mit viel Peinlichkeit verbunden für die meisten Frauen - als Neuling sehe ich das entspannter,  das hoffe ich mir beizubehalten.   Ausserdem was fällt mir ein aufzustehen,  bis der wirklich vor mir steht,  ohne Brille im Halbdunkel sehe ich sowieso so schlecht.  Die Tanzenden sind jeden Alters und Herkunft - Tango ist für alle.   Das gefällt mir sehr gut.  

Aus welcher Stadt in Italien bist du?  Fragt mich die Dame auf der anderen Seite neben mir - sie hat einen wunderschönen Fächer dabei (sehr klug) und lüftelt für uns beide,  ach so Alemania,  sie war gerade in Weimar auf einem Tango Festival.   Ich lache, in Weimar auf einem Tango Festival,  na dann,  dass die Finnen und die Japaner auch Tango verrückt sind hatte ich schon gelesen und Weimar ist neu - und mein Akzent hat sich also von undefinierbar,  über spanisch zu italienisch entwickelt.   Wie schön.  

Auch die Veranstaltung selbst,  wer die Organisatoren der Milonga sind, die Entscheidung wer wann wo platziert wird , welche Stücke gewählt werden,  all das hat eine Bedeutung und gibt den Eingeweihten Hinweise....

Nach der fünften Runden kann ich es dann aber nicht mehr aushalten -  eine Oma mit Gipsarm kommt herein und ich denke,   das glaub ich jetzt aber dann doch nicht - oh doch,   sie schlüpft in goldene mindestens 10 cm Super Stilettos mit einem Hauch von Riemchen,  das war erst der Anfang,  sofort kommt einer der Top Tänzer jung und gut aussehend und fordert sie auf.   Omi gleitet wie eine Gazelle unbeschreibliche Figuren tanzend in den Armen des Adonis an mir vorbei.   Mir sind Lenis Worte im Ohr - bei uns sitzen sie im Altersheim und vegetieren dahin,  hier tanzen sie Tango.  

Ich habe jetzt vollkommene Klarheit - this is not your league (yet),  führ heute reicht es -  ich packe meine Tasche und gehe.   Dezent in einer dunklen Ecke wechsle ich die Schuhe,  nie am Tanzboden,  hab ich gelernt.   Ja ausser du bist Stammgast,  Omi, hast Gipsarm und bist begnadet im Tango. Dann darfst du alles.

Tranquila,  Amor,  tranquila.    Das wird noch etwas dauern, bis ich im El Beso tanze...



on my way to Malba and more

http://www.malba.org.ar/web/home.php

It is a must see for each Art lover.   Contemporary Art Lover.   Incredibly so they opened this Museum ten years ago at the outbreak of this country's most horrible economic crisis that left more than 60% of all Argentines below the poverty line.  Amazing.  So on this splendid December 31st 2011 my daytime programme was to see the exhibition of Carlos Cruz Diez - color in space and time.  


 Gorgeous work and applied all over the world in music halls,  on zebra crossings,  as fences etc - I love it when Art gets integrated into every day life into seemingly unimportant situations or events to enrich,  inspire and deepen our experiences.   When it is all around us,  when we live with it.   And this exhibit was an experience.  His wall pieces are a an experience as you walk along them altering your pace and perspective you can emerse yourself in the changing patterns and colors.   A little difficult do describe - I guess you have to do it and be there...  the only thing I wondered was why not more people walked backwards along the walls or ran and jumped -  like I did - such a child in me - such a girl.
His Art really comes alive by moving the body in different directions and speed along it.
Food for my soul.   Gorgeous.  How happy this made me.

In the section of Latin American Art I found the cross over between writing,  letters,  paper and Art.   The attentive reader of my blog knows paper and writing,  the letters and the word have been in my focus lately - I still am not sure where it will take me and I was moved to tears by a piece called PQBD by Mira Schendel and the ovo novelo by Augusto Luis Browne de Campos.   These days Art moves me that deeply - I "get" it with every cell of my body.    

Lilian Porters Wrinkle from 1968 was my link back to Buenos Aires and its special relationship with paper.   What a curious day.


Liliana Porter "Wrinkle" 1968 - YouTube



On my way to the Malba - quite a few blocks too many really to walk in this blistering heat and thanks to my Nikes,  sunblock on my sensitive skin and that ever with me bottle of water - I made it.   Walking down the Paseo de Recoleta you pass the sweet stalls of the market of course - recommendable and then  BsAs television studios.  









This Billboard made me  pause and ponder.  This very sensual looking woman hosts a show called - time to think.   And so I thought.  First what a contradiction.   Such alluring contrast.  Ah, how much European women can learn about integration - combining femininity or sensuality with brain power.  
Oh - you cannot take her seriously dolled up like this - really? - Argentine men seem to do exactly that.    This country has its gender roles down at least that is what I can see so far.   Men are men - women are women everything is possible for both.  A woman runs the country.  Does she polarise wide parts of the population - of course she does.   Someone once said to me this is possible only because of the strong Italian influence - more than 40% have Italian roots - the matriarchy - it is a country run by "La Mama" - That is way to one dimensional and easy for me,  especially since I think all the other equally as strong influences give Argentina this unique very special flair.   The government- La Presidencia - runs an ad here in their quest to build national pride and identification.    It goes like this:  Argentina - un pais con buena gente -  a country "with good people"  - and I wish them well with their endeavor to slowly but surely built a national identity that is grown up with severed cords from Mama Europe.  Argentina can very much hold its own as I was allowed to experience exactly that today in the most inspiring conversations with the generation that graduated from university during the economic breakdown.   I ran a coaching session with a few of their young leaders.  Wow - what a mature,  wise,  grown up and elastic group of talent this is!   Watch out Europe and other parts of the world for that matter -  LatAm is coming of age.