After leaving Patagonia we head north towards Paraguay, visiting the Northeastern Argentinean provinces on the way. Rosario is famed for its bohemian riverside feel combined with its sophisticated atmosphere. MACRO Contemporary Art Museum, on the picture, is a good ilustration of Rosario's attitude towards conventions, as traditional agricultural structures are turned into pop art. Over 15 years of continuos socialist government may have something to do with the issue.
Rosario has also been nicked as the capital of sexual diversity. This mural was in the news last week, when annonymous hands washed it off the walls where activist Analí Chanquía had painted. Since the government itself encouraged the creation of a "boulevard of diversity" all suspects go towards conservative groups closer to the catholic church.
En route to Santa Fe we hitched a lift in this Fiat Strada pick up. The driver was low voiced and too respectful towards traffic lanes. It was raining on and off all the time but somehow we managed to make it dry all the way to Resistencia.
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| Christian and Western civilization - by León Ferrari |
We arrived in Resistencia on March 24th, the anniversary of the military coup of 1976, date which inaugurated a dark period in Argentinean history. There was a colourful program of events been carried on in the new "Casa de las Culturas" (House of Culture). Besides local chamamé musicians there was an exhibition by world famous León Ferrari (above).
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| Obra de Milo Lockett |
Resistencia and Chaco province alltogether are not precisely well known for the artistic skill of their men and women. But they should. Milo Lockett (above) is right now Argentina's best selling contemporary artist. Fundamentally, the city is known for holding a World Championship of Sculpture every two years. Winning works are installed across the city. Considering they live in a year round warm region it's surprising to learn that artists from Chaco have won several World Championships in Ice sculpture!
Our Couchsurfing hosts Andrés and Gustavo together with mica and Sara, two biologists making fieldwork deep in the Impenetrable forest. We talked for hours about those cultures being menaced by globalization and soybean.
When we made it to Formosa the calendar was showing its 28th leaf of March, which means it was my birthday. We were received by Lili, a friend of my family. She was able to put together some sort of celebration comprehending beer and ice-cream. We stayed four days in her comfortable airconed house, while getting ready to enter Paraguay.
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