Art, Music and Culture in Uruguay

I found this great page listing arts and cultural events in Uruguay.

Stealing from their website, they say "even though (Uruguay) it is one of the smallest country in the Americas, (slightly smaller in size than Washington State), Uruguay has its own cinema, its own poetry, its own literature, its own culture, its own unique food, and in its way, its very own architecture. It is said that the Tango originated in Uruguay, not Argentina. Uruguay is unique in many ways. There is no nation in the world of similar size that is so culturally rich, and certainly no state. Uruguay's economy is characterized by an export-oriented agricultural sector, a well-educated work force, and high levels of social spending; hence it is not a very rich nation, but a highly educated nation. Its experiments with socialism have produced a decent society of wonderful people, but not a very productive society, except in the field of art. Sadly, the lack of sufficient industry pushes many young people abroad in search of jobs. They go abroad with excellent educations, which drains Uruguay of brains. The problems created by socialism, and the benefits created by socialism are clear for all to see. Many people in Uruguay turn to art; probably because they are intelligent, and there are no opportunties to use that intelligence in commerce. The bottom line is, that Uruguay is rich in art; perhaps, per capita, one of the richest in the world."

An example of the Tristán Narvaja Feria

I did not create this video, I found it on You Tube. Thanks to the person that created this and I hope there is no offense to me placing it within my blog.

New Art

This past sunday Ruy, Lucy, Mari and I visited the Tristan Nervaja feria. It is hosted every sunday in the Tristan Nervaja neighborhood. It is quite large, spanning 7 or 8 blocks in both length and width, perhaps more. I am unsure, we walked a lot of it and still missed quite a bit of it as well.

The feria has a bit of everything, pets, books, fruits and veggies, clothes, pirated movies, music and software, antiques, junk, tools and much much more. It was quite incredible to see the amount of stuff thats set up in the street for sale.

I found this beautiful object among the brick a brack, and fell in love. As you may know, I am an art lover. This jewel stood out like a diamond in the rough and I knew I had to have it.

As you can see, it is a hand carved face on a natural block of wood, spanning roughly 8 or 9 inches in diameter. The face is of José Batlle y Ordóñez - an old Uruguayan President.

I love the deep, dark honey color glow of the wood.

I love the relief work of the face and the suit, all set on the thick natural block of wood.

And I love the fact that this only cost me 180 Uruguayan pesos.

$1 USD = 20 Uruguayan pesos.

Thus this wonderfully hand carved antique piece of art cost me a whopping $9 USD.

This feria is the place to be to find great deals on miscelaneous objects. If I had a home here, this is where I would furnish it with furniture, windows, knick knacks and more. It is a wonderful street fair and I can tell where I will be every sunday for the next few weeks.