Topic: Peru | VivirLatino

Peru Wants Treasures Returned

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:24:35 -0500

Can colonialism ever really be over if invading/dominate countries own all the cultural possessions of invaded/weaker countries? The theft of indigenous artifacts by 'prestigious' universities and museums in the Western world is not just a common occurrence, but a given--something that is *expected* to happen--does anybody know where the historical artifacts of Iraq are?

So it's great to see that Peru is fighting to get their own historical treasures returned:

Peru plans to sue prestigious Yale University in the United States, to recover storied Inca archaeological treasures which Lima says the school refuses to part with.
Labor Minister Jorge Villasante on Sunday confirmed the plans to pursue legal action. He is on a government panel leading the charge, along with Education Minister Jose Antonio Chang and Foreign Minister Jose Garcia Belaunde.

...

Lima is demanding the return of more than 46,332 documented pieces. Yale, in the northeastern US state of Connecticut, has proposed returning a much smaller number.

View from Abroad: Latin America's Eyes on Election Results

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 04:53:34 -0500

Continued from a previous post.

No one feels the effects of what happens in the U.S. as much as Mexico. It's as if the fault line we share were a conductor of not just seismic energy but also shared grief. And when things get bad in the U.S., they get worse in Mexico. Issues such as border control, the economy -- which affects jobs done by Mexicans and subsequently remesas sent back home (one of Mexico's top economic drivers) -- and trade have Mexican analysts, politicians and journalists waiting with baited breath. The cover of today's El Universal (Mexico City) newspaper could easily be mistaken for a U.S. newspaper. Under the masthead, prime page space is 100% occupied by poll information, predictions, photographs of the candidates.

And the ripple effect of the continues even further south. Buenos Aires' Clarin proclaims, jubilantly, "Obama- McCain: an election that puts an end to the Bush era." In the ranking of most popular news stories according to readers, a story about the death of Barack Obama's grandmother is second only to news about soccer legend Diego Maradona.

And the same story in papers throughout the region and the world. Expectations are high in Latin America, perhaps as high as they are in the U.S., and the disappointment of 4 more years of failed Bush policy will be the same should McCain surprise us all with a victory tonight.

If you know a shaman, give him a call.

Miercoles Morning Musica : Eva Ayllón

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:00:34 -0500

Eva Ayllón who has been called the Queen of Afro-Peruvian soul and the Tina Turner of Afro-Peruvian music, will be on a mini tour starting next week. Stops on the tour include Miami, Boston, New York, and Chicago.

The two-time Latin Grammy nominee, who has made millions of fans around the world over a 30-year career, makes her debut in Miami on Saturday, November 1 at the John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall at Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, followed by concerts at Berklee Performance Center in Boston, Carnegie Hall in New York City, and the House of Blues in Chicago.

She will debut songs from her upcoming 2009 CD, Quimba, Fa, Malambo, Ñeque to be released on Times Square Records.

For more on her music and performance, see after the jump.

Getty Research Institute Opens Peruvian Exhibit

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:42:07 -0500

Two illuminated manuscripts of extraordinary importance, along with books, prints, maps, watercolors, and photographs that illustrate the history and culture of Peru will be on display in The Marvel and Measure of Peru: Three Centuries of Artists’ Histories, 1550–1880, at the Getty Research Institute, the Getty Center, July 8–October 19, 2008.

The richly illustrated manuscripts, written around 1600 by Martin de Murúa, a Spanish Mercedarian friar who arrived in Peru in the late 1500s, form the center of this exhibition, which is the culmination of a collaborative project involving the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty Conservation Institute, and the Getty Research Institute (GRI). Lenders to the exhibition include Seán Galvin, a private collector in Ireland, a second private collector in New York, the Huntington Library, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the University of California, Santa Barbara.

When Francisco Pizarro and his fellow Spanish conquistadors first encountered Peru in 1524, they were shocked by the completely unfamiliar world. The people, flora, fauna, topography and cities begged for description, but observers found the written word inadequate. Early chroniclers—and Murúa was among the first—added richly detailed drawings to their written descriptions, expressing European perspectives on the culture and traditions of the Inca Empire.

One of the Murúa manuscripts in the exhibition, entitled Historia general del Piru (1616; General history of Peru) now known as the Getty Murúa, has been in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum since 1983. The other manuscript, owned by Seán Galvin, has come to be known as the Galvin Murúa. The manuscripts are closely linked—Murúa copied and actually cut out pages of material from the Galvin manuscript, his earlier version (entitled Historia del origen, y genealogía real de los reyes ingas del Piru 1590; History of the origin and genealogy of the Incas of Peru), and pasted it in the later Getty Murúa. Both changed hands many times, always in obscurity, after Murúa returned to Spain in 1616, until they emerged in the late 20th century.

“This exhibition and the surrounding research project will provide an unparalleled opportunity to study these two magnificent manuscripts side by side for the first and probably only time,” says Barbara Anderson, head of exhibitions and consulting curator at the GRI. “As the first fully illustrated accounts in color of the history and customs of the Incas before and during Spanish rule, these complementary manuscripts are unsurpassed historical and art historical contributions by an eyewitness to a cataclysmic moment in world history. Because of its historical importance, the Getty Murúa is among the most frequently consulted manuscripts by scholars in the Getty collection.”

In the two years leading up to the exhibition, experts both within and outside the Getty closely examined both manuscripts, studying their structure, the pigments used in the illustrations, the scribal and artistic hands, the depiction of textiles, and the editing and censorship of the texts, among many other characteristics. The Getty has published a facsimile of the Getty Murúa and an accompanying volume of essays by an international group of scholars.

On display, in addition to the Getty and Galvin Murúas, will be many impressive works from the GRI’s special collections and other Southern California institutions, as well as a private lender. Highlights include textiles, an ancient Inca recording device called a quipu, and an album of 101 watercolors and hand-painted prints by self-taught Peruvian artist Francisco (“Pancho”) Fierro, depicting customs and costumes of Lima from around 1860. Maps, costume, botanical, and travel account books, and a small group of early photographs of Peru demonstrate how European travelers tried to comprehend and categorize the Peruvian world even as late as the middle of the 19th century.

The Marvel and Measure of Peru is curated by Barbara Anderson, head of exhibitions and consulting curator for Spanish and Latin American materials at the Getty Research Institute, and Emily Engel, Ph.D. candidate at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

For more information visit The Getty Website

The Myth of What is Lost or Discovered

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:58:15 -0500

When the story about the "lost Amazon tribe" or the newly "discovered tribe" hit the news, complete with deeply painted bodies pointing arrows threateningly up into a camera lens, I shook my head. The media ran with it and the people ate it up. The idea that people who already existed could be discovered only when mainstream, Euro-North American media found them, wasn't anything new, but that didn't make it any less disturbing. Now the news is that the whole thing was a hoax. But even the context of this "outing" of reality is filled with distortions and stereotypes ranging from the typical noble savage to appropriation of people's very presence.

Peru Negro Tour Hits the East Coast Including NYC This Weekend

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 13:14:09 -0500

Yesterday, the Grammy-nominated 20-piece ensemble known as Peru Negro launched a new CD Zamba Malató. To accompany the release they have 45 U.S. City three month tour.

The name of their new album, Zamba Malató, refers to an old chant sung by black women as they performed their daily chores. , The album, released on Times Square Records, is the long-awaited follow-up to their last release for the label, 2004's “Jolgorio”. It continues the wildly celebratory Afro-Peruvian carnival of songs and dances that trace their history to the arrival of African slaves in Peru in the 1600's.

Papa Noel

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 10:11:00 -0500

Students in Lima, Peru made an arbolito de Navidad using 98kg (216 lbs) of potatoes.

Via / Random Citations

Acting Crazy Couldn't Help Fujimori Avoid Jail Time

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 14:07:45 -0500

Acting the fool didn't help former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who was sentenced to six years in prison and fined $92,000. The sentence actually has nothing to do with the human rights violations he so vehemently denied yesterday. The sentence is linked to him ordering the removal of sensitive video and audio tapes from an apartment belonging to the wife of his former intelligence chief.

Supreme Court Judge Pedro Guillermo Urbina found Mr Fujimori guilty of having a military aide pose as a prosecutor and search without a warrant the apartment of the wife of spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos in November 2000.
During the illegal raid, police removed dozens of boxes of videos suspected to contain incriminating evidence of corrupt practices.
The tapes, which the Peruvian media have termed "Vladi Videos", had been secretly made by Mr Montesinos showing himself bribing broadcasters and opposition politicians.

Not surprisingly, Fujimori will appeal the sentence.

Via / BBC

Fujimori has a meltdown

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 12:26:16 -0500

Embattled ex-President of Peru Alberto Fujimori is back in his country after being extradited from Chile to face charges of human rights violations, among others. On the stand yesterday, Fujimori gave quite a performance, screaming "I'm innocent!" and defying the tribunal's requests for him to stop talking.

Though the judges request that he shut up, he continues on. At the end of the video, it looks almost as if he's gloating from the fact that they were the ones who shut up and let him speak.

Via / YouTube

Fujimori's Camp Pulls the Health Card

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 10:25:58 -0500

Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori is pulling a Pinochet. Just like the former dictator of Chile managed to escape justice by claiming ill health, Fujimori's lawyer says that his client is "delicate". Health concerns include Fujimori's blood pressure.

Fujimori is back in Peru facing human rights violations charges. Fujimori's camp is also complaining about his treatmeant, saying his cell is too small and that he's not being given a chance to go outside.

Via / Yahoo! News

Time's Up for Fujimori

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 09:20:15 -0500

Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori is no longer safe in Chile. The supreme court of that Southern Cone nation has approved his extradition to Peru where he will face human rights abuse and corruption charges. 69 year old Fujimori has been under house arrest in Chile since 2005.

"We have awarded the extradition," Supreme Court judge Alberto Chaigneau told reporters on Friday. He added that the court's decision had been based on two charges of human rights violations and five of corruption.

First an Earthquake, Now a Meteor Hits Peru?

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 07:31:23 -0500

The BBC reported this morning that hundreds of Peruanos are falling ill after an unknown object fell from the sky this weekend, leaving a huge gas emitting crater. Some speculate that the object that landed near the town of Carancas in the Andes, was a meteor or a fireball. People who visited the scene have been complaining of headaches, vomiting and nausea after inhaling gases. Scientists have been sent to the area to study the crash sight and what remains there.

Story and Image Via / BBC

Vargas Llosa gets a degree in Spain

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 18:49:10 -0500

I've never really understood what the whole bestowing honorary degrees on celebrities thing is all about. I mean, does Peruvian literary legend Mario Vargas Llosa really need an honorary doctorate from some university in Spain? Well, he showed up to receive it today:

José María Martínez de Pisón, dean of the institution -- which wished to celebrate with this event its 15 anniversary -- emphasized [Vargas Llosa's] his vast literary knowledge, his original narrative tecnique (...) an abundant body of work in the Spanish language, his cultural universalism and at the same time, his identification with Latin America and Spanish culture, and even political commitment.

Peru Update: Thousands Still Not Getting Aid? Por que?

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 07:00:01 -0500

While it's been about two weeks since a grade 8 earthquake hit Peru but yesterday Doctors Without Borders and the Red Cross announced that parts of the country look like the earthquake just happened because aid isn't reaching them.

Aunque el auxilio ha llegado a Pisco, e Ica, ciudades arrasadas por el sismo de 8 grados del 15 de agosto, Médicos Sin Fronteras envió el martes un comunicado a la AP en el que alertó que "decenas" de pequeños poblados se mantenían aislados y sin ayuda de ningún tipo, y sus residentes se encontraban durmiendo a la intemperie, apenas con agua o apenas comiendo algo.

After the earthquake, Alan Garcia = Rudy Giuliani?

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:10:56 -0500

The real fabric of a leader is said to be found in the moments of massive crisis. Peru's president, Alan Garcia, has apparently shined in a moment of great difficulty -- or at least that's how some in the Latin American media are presenting it -- with a hands-on approach to the recent devastating earthquake his country suffered.

García traveled quickly to Pisco after the earthquake on August 15th, and remained in the streets until after midnight, assigning tasks to the ministers of his government, supervising the distribution of water and food, and coordinating refuge for thousands of victims.

He met with foreign rescue teams and thanked them for their help. He urged survivors to be patient and reassured them: "No one is going to die of thirst and no one is going to die of hunger." He witnessed the birth of a baby in a tent hospital and proclaimed: "This is a message of hope in the middle of death and pain."