Instead of photographing hordes of tourists, forests of street vendors, yet another curbside tango, and garishly over painted old conventillos (housing complexes made from corrugated iron sheets) - I wandered a couple of blocks away, direction La Bonbonniera, the sacred altar of Boca Soccer.
Houses are not 'renovated', but rust quietly into ever increasing decay, boliches (little bars) do not have tango shows, mattresses of homeless people wait for their nightly occupants, and apartment block walls are covered with paintings - in the name of beautifying the neighbourhood.
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| Here a lively scene of a girl riding a horse through a fiesta crowd |
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| Paintings re-invent themselves every few years, when suddenly a new work appears, the old wall art forming a base layer for the new painting... |
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| Quite a few 'tricky' ones as well...at first sight, this one appears to be a shuttered window looking out upon a cruise ship. But it is nothing, but a flat wall, skillfully painted. |
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La Bonbonera, soccer stadium, where the 'two faces everyone in the world knows' (according to the Argentinean Presidenta) have battled it out in the beautiful game: Maradona and Messi. Now it is more often the locale where hinchas leprosas (ugly fans) battle it out in the stands or quite often on the turf.
Here, a couple of steps from the hustle and bustle of Caminito, the tourist trap par excellence, side walk bars are less flashy. This one is behind a hole in a corrugated iron fence, with a couple of tables - with tablecloth - and a few chairs: perfect meeting place for the hinchas after a game. |
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Praying for victory maybe?
A couple of Praying Mantis clutching their rosaries. |
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| Another skillfully executed trompe-d'oeille on a perfectly straight wall. Years ago a railway line ran along here, the rails and signal towers covered with weeds are still there, all else is in disuse. |
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Gauchito Gil, a martyr of the paysanos, truck drivers and general public looking for miraculous cures to every imaginable ill.
Beside the rusting rails, another shrine to the pagan saint, with offerings of cigarette stubs, empty pop bottles, and paper cups filled with unidentifiable gifts |
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| And beside the REAL shrine, an idealized wall painting of Gauchito Gil |
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Corrugated iron has survived in many of the local houses. Almost all are painted in bright colours to lessen the depressive impact of the materials, albeit not as 'photogenic' as the ones converted into tourist shops in the next block.
With Buenos Aires summer temperatures, these homes must be veritable ovens. But, one can always enjoy oneself in the postage stamp sized street side cafe. |
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| A whole wall is dedicated to the Desapericidos of Boca, victims of a dictatorship not that long ago. |
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Usina del Arte, a theatre that used an old factory building in the poorer area of Boca, and converted it into a modern art complex, with auditorium, exhibition venues, dance floors and reams of comfortable upholstered settees inside and chaise lounges in the open courtyard.
I had the rare pleasure of attending a concert: Raul Lavie, one of the tango greats, who at 75 years of age still has a powerful baritone voice, which would be the pride of an opera singer. His sensitive, passionate and moving interpretations of old tango songs enthused a packed house. Part of Verano en La Ciudad, a series of performances which happen in all parts of the city, and offer the public free access. |
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| At first glimpse one is shocked, seeing this young family with their babe in arms, performing daring circus feats on a building wall - until one realizes, that it is a reflection from a gigantic mirror. It hangs at 45 degree above a piece of floor art, in the shape of a building front, balconies, windows, doors, even lighted rooms behind the windows. People crawl all over it and watch themselves in the mirror above their heads. |
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27 January 2013 - Disco El Kiss, Santa Maria, Brazil
A tragedy....238 young people aged between 18 and 30 years succumbed to to toxic smoke during a disco fire, more than a hundred others are in critical condition in burn units in Porto Allegre. A member of the rock band - some say a guest -had lit a 'bengala' firework on stage during the performance, it set the ceiling material on fire.
Two thousand young students from a nearby Agricultural University were having a privately organized party in this small town. The one emergency exit door inside the disco was poorly marked, and closed.
Neighbours and firemen attacked the outside walls with sledge hammers to get the youngsters out - too late for too many.
Brazil is in mourning....
And Argentina is mourning with them, eight years ago a horrific similar fire in the local disco Cromagnon claimed the life of 192 young people. Almost eerily similar circumstances - the emergency exits were chained shut. |
