A vibrant celebration of Argentine arts and culture will spread across Joburg, Soweto and Pretoria this week.
The Argentinean Cultural Week will include exhibitions, dance performances, a theatrical production, and music collaborations, with some events that will run into August and September.
The cultural week marks the first of many events that will run from July this year until the end of 2015 as part of a continuing cultural exchange programme between Argentina and South Africa.
“Sharing our work with South Africa is a new opportunity for growth and a beautiful challenge,” said top Argentine choreographer Andrea Servera.
“With freedom, risk and love, may it be the beginning of a future full of common projects. Our countries, our cultures, deserve it.”
Entrance to most of the events is free, but booking is advised.
Details: 084 226 6556; www.facebook.com/argcw; www.strictlytickets.com
Programme:
22 July:
Film screening: Richard Finn Gregory’s The Last Boers of Patagonia, a documentary about a small Afrikaans-speaking community who are descendants of the Boers who moved to Argentina over a century ago will be screened at The Bioscope, Maboneng Precinct, at 7.30pm. The screening will be followed by a discussion with the filmmaker.
Theatre: Cooking with Elisa tells the story of two women who pluck, slice, skin, carve, chop, boil and bleed all manner of country creatures for their employers while a power struggle between them evolves into a tragedy. At the Auto and General Theatre on the Square, Sandton, at 8.15pm.
23 July:
Public talk: Lucia Laragione will discuss Argentine theatre at the University of Pretoria at 11am.
Theatre: Cooking with Elisa is at the Auto and General Theatre on the Square, Sandton, at 8.15pm.
24 July:
Exhibition: Lo Que Se Ve (What Can Be Seen), an exhibition by award-winning photographer Adriana Lestido, and Ausencias (Absences), an exhibition about the people who ‘disappeared’ during Argtentina’s military dictatorship by Gustavo Germano, will open at Museum Africa, Newtown, at 9am.
Theatre: Cooking with Elisa is at the Auto and General Theatre on the Square, Sandton. This performance will be followed by a discussion with Lucia Laragione, hosted by Dr Brett Pyper of the University of the Witwatersrand, at 8.15pm.
25 July:
Workshop: Silvia Barona will host the workshop, The Role of the Producer in Independent Theatre, at the National School of the Arts, Braamfontein, at 9am.
Exhibitions: Adriana Lestido’s Lo Que Se Ve and Gustavo Germano’s Ausencias is at Museum Africa, Newtown.
Public talk: Photographer Adriana Lestido will talk about her life and work at Museum Africa, Newtown, at 11am.
Dance: Argentina’s Combinado Argentino de Danza (CAD) and South Africa’s Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative will perform a dance collaboration to live music by Argentine DJ Villa Diamante. The performance will offer a fusion of contemporary, street, urban, hip-hop and traditional dance. Performances will take place at the University of Johannesburg at 12.30pm and at Soweto Theatre at 4pm.
Music: La Musica del Tango with the Rodolfo Mederos Trio and the New Skool Orchestra will take place at Soweto Theatre at 8pm.
Theatre: Cooking with Elisa is at the Auto and General Theatre on the Square, Sandton, at 8.15pm.
26 July:
Exhibitions: Adriana Lestido’s Lo Que Se Ve and Gustavo Germano’s Ausencias is at Museum Africa, Newtown.
Public talk: Photographer Gustavo Germano will discuss the use of photographs of the disappeared in the search for visibility for the victims, at Museum Africa, Newtown, at 11am.
Dance: Combinado Argentino de Danza (CAD) and South Africa’s Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative will perform a dance collaboration to live music by Argentine DJ Villa Diamante, at Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton, at 12pm, and at Diepkloof Square, Soweto, at 3.30pm.
Music: La Musica del Tango with the Rodolfo Mederos Trio and the New Skool Orchestra will take place at Brooklyn Theatre, Pretoria, at 8pm.
Theatre: Cooking with Elisa is at the Auto and General Theatre on the Square, Sandton, at 6pm and at 8.15pm.