The 21 Marvels of Lima

Lima’s Newspaper Peru21 comes today with a superb supplement called Las 21 Maravillas de Lima (Lima’s 21 Marvels).

Online you find this great map of Lima with the exact location of the 21 attractions, including Lima’s Main Square, the Cathedral, the Chinese Quarter, the Aliaga House, the Bar Cordano, and the Cevichería La Buena Muerte (The Good Death).

Add comment October 31st, 2006

Cusco’s III Short Film Festival, 2006

Cusco’s III Short Film Festival (Festival Nacional de Cortometrajes) will be held from November 2nd to 4th in the former Inca’s capital. This third edition of the festival is expected to surpass the previous one, which attracted more than 160 shorts from 18 countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Ecuador, Germany, France, Ireland, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Spain, Uruguay and Venezuela.

In the 2005 edition, winners were Besando a tu papá” by Aristoteles Picho (Fiction) and “Vilcabamba” de Darwing Adrianzén (Documentary).

The Festival accepts shorts with an extension below 30 minutes, in three categories: Fiction, Documentary, and Animation. This edition will also confer a special award to the works, both Peruvian and International, that best depict the Andean native culture and its values.

The event, organized by the Cultural Association Delluc and Cusco’s Municipal Authority, also includes a series of conferences, workshops, and round-table meetings regarding moviemaking and the audiovisual industry.

For more information, check Cusco’s III Short Film Festival website (shortcut for the Festival’s Program)

Add comment October 27th, 2006

Martin Chambi in New York

A selection of Martín Chambi’s images, Peru’s greatest photographer, are currently exhibited in New York’s Throckmorton Fine Art Gallery. The exhibition, “Vista de Peru - Photographs by Martin Chambi”, can be seen until November, 11th. Press release follows.

Throckmorton Fine Art is pleased to announce our Fall photography exhibition, Vistas de Peru. Highlighted in this exhibition are vintage photographs by Martin Chambi. Generally considered to be the greatest Peruvian photographer, Martin Chambi is now ranked among luminaries like Eugene Atget, August Sander, and Walker Evans to name only a few. Virtually unknown outside his native country, his work became widely shown abroad some years after his death culminating with the retrospective exhibition held at The Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1979.

Martin Chambi (1891 - 1973) was born near Coaza, a small Quechua Indian village to the north of Lake Titicaca in the high Andes, to a peasant family. He accompanied his father who went to work for a gold mine in the Carabaya Province. There he had his first contact with photography, learning the rudiments from the staff photographer of the mine. This chance encounter planted the spark that he might support himself one day as a professional photographer. With that idea in mind he set out for the city of Arequipa and became an apprentice and later assistant to photographer, Max T. Vargas. Nine years later he opened his own studio in the busy market town of Sicuani. In 1920 he moved to Cuzco and after a brief collaboration with Juan Manuel Figueroa Aznar, Chambi set up his studio in the Calle Marques. Over the next twenty years he traveled extensively throughout the region and became widely known within Peru as the only major indigenous photographer of his time. Writers, artists, journalists, and others made a point of visiting his house when in Cuzco. In 1950 a massive earthquake devastated Cuzco. Chambi’s health began to worsen during this period, which subsequently led to the decline of his photography output. Several exhibitions followed over the next few years. He died in his old studio on Calle Marques in Cuzco in 1973.

Throckmorton Fine Art
145 East 57th Street, 3rd Floor
New York, New York 10022
Phone 212 223.1059 | Fax 212 223.1937
Hours: Tue-Sat, 11am-5pm

Add comment October 27th, 2006

Peruvian Criollo Music’ Day

On every October 31st, Peruvians celebrate the Día de la Canción Criolla. This year’s commemorations, organised by Lima’s Municipality together with renowned private companies, will spread out for a whole week and include concerts, recitals, art events, and culinary fairs. The setting of this upbeat festivity is Lima’s historic centre.

Some of the program’s highlights include the closing concert by Eva Ayllón (Tuesday 31st, Paseo de los Héroes Navales) and, on Sunday 29th, a gastronomy trio: a Limeño Dessert contest (Plaza Italia, 11am- 2pm), a Cocktail contest (Parque de la Muralla, 12- 6pm) and a Anticucho Festival (Alameda Chabuca Granda, 6 p.m.).

Add comment October 27th, 2006