Arts & Culture Archives - Page 18 of 27

The Food World’s Hottest Ingredient Has “Roots” in Seduction

This article is adapted from the Fall 2015 print edition of Americas Quarterly. To subscribe, please click here What began as an aromatic oil used by indigenous tribes in the art of seduction has quickly become one of the Brazilian Amazon’s most popular exports. At first glance, it’s easy to dismiss the priprioca, a grass-like … Read more

Books

A train through the Amazon, what could possibly go wrong? Plus: the perverse justice of São Paulo’s slums; the disappearing Chile – California connection.

A Train through the Amazon…What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

This article is adapted from the Fall 2015 print edition of Americas Quarterly. To subscribe, please click here Mad Maria, by the Brazilian author Márcio Souza, is not a new book. But 35 years after its publication, this historical novel about building a railway through the Amazon feels more relevant than ever. Brazil, Peru and … Read more

Festival: Tango Buenos Aires Festival y Mundial

Tango is loved the world over, but if you’re looking for a city to host a competition for the world’s greatest dancers, there’s really only one candidate: Buenos Aires. Every August, Argentina’s capital draws thousands of dancers, musicians and enthusiasts from around the world for the Tango Buenos Aires Festival y Mundial from August 17 … Read more

Film Review: Vestido de Novia

One warm Havana afternoon, Rosa Elena checks up on a transgender friend, Sissy, who is suffering from the complications of a black-market breast augmentation. Rosa’s husband, Ernesto, expresses his disapproval of Sissy, and she pleads with him to understand and sympathize with transgender people—a plea that is secretly for her as well. Later, Ernesto will … Read more

10 Things to Do: Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

Walk in Columbus’ footsteps. Just outside the present-day port, Christopher Columbus founded La Isabela, one of the earliest European settlements in the Americas, in 1494. Visitors can see the ruins of the explorer’s first house and a reconstruction of El Templo de las Américas, where the first recorded Catholic mass in the New World was … Read more

Is Brazil’s World Cup Next on the List?

The U.S. Justice Department accused more than a dozen people this week of being involved in a massive FIFA corruption scandal that spanned more than two decades. Several high-level officials were arrested in a luxury Zurich hotel Wednesday, including former Confederação Brasileira de Futebol (Brazilian Football Confederation—CBF) President José Maria Marin. “Our investigation revealed that … Read more

FIFA Officials Arrested on Corruption Charges

Swiss authorities arrested fourteen people—including a number of top FIFA officials—in Zurich on Wednesday on corruption charges involving the international soccer governing association. Twelve of those arrested are from Latin America and the Caribbean. The U.S. Justice Department in New York issued the charges, which included accusations of money laundering, wire fraud and racketeering. Those … Read more

Film Review: Pelo Malo

As his mother, Marta, pounds on the bathroom door, nine-year-old Junior stares at himself in the mirror, slicking his hair back with water in an effort to undo his tight curls. Junior’s determination to straighten his hair so he can look like his idol, Venezuelan rock star Henry Stephen, is an ongoing source of tension … Read more

From the Think Tanks

Social spending and tax policy have emerged as two of the most common tools to combat high levels of poverty and disproportionately low access to education for Indigenous and Afro-descendent populations in Latin America. In their report, Fiscal Policy and Ethno-Racial Inequality in Bolivia, Brazil, Guatemala and Uruguay, the Inter-American Dialogue analyzes the effects government … Read more

Festivals: Brazil’s Boi-Bumbá

If Rio de Janeiro’s Carnaval is the greatest party in the world, then Boi Bumbá (beat the bull) is a close second. Every June, thousands of Brazilians flock to the small Amazonian river town of Parintins, Amazonas—halfway between Santarém and Manaus—to celebrate Brazil’s second-largest annual festival. Boi Bumbá pits the city’s two samba schools—the Garantido … Read more

10 Things to Do: Arequipa, Peru

Peru’s second-largest city, Arequipa has been a breeding ground for rebels and intellectuals since its founding in 1540. Among its famous residents is Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa. The rich architecture of this UNESCO World Heritage site is worth the long journey from Lima. All prices are in U.S. dollars. 1. Treat yourself to a … Read more

Spreading the Arepa Love

Over the past decade, hungry U.S. diners have increasingly grown to love the Venezuelan take on a popular dish introduced by Latin American immigrants: grilled cornmeal patties called arepas that are stuffed with everything from cheese to pork to fried plantains. New York City has at least one Venezuelan restaurant serving arepas in each of … Read more

2015 Pan American Games

This July, world-class athletes from North America, Latin America and the Caribbean will descend on Toronto, Canada’s most populous city, to compete in the third-largest international sports competition, the 2015 Pan American (Pan Am) Games. Surpassed in size only by the Summer Olympics and the Asian Games, the quadrennial event will feature baseball, wakeboarding, waterskiing, … Read more

Arts Innovator: Andrés Levin

Andrés Levin built his first multitrack recording device at the age of eight in his parents’ home in Caracas. It was an appropriate start for an artist who has gone on to weave musical skill and technological precociousness into a career that has made him one of the most striking experimental artists of his generation. … Read more