Jesuit Legacy In Argentina Is Now Civic Cultural Center

South America; A cultural Kaleidoscope
By Garry Burns

The city is adorned with colourful kiosks of flower sellers,

and is filled with the sounds of salsa and tango music from cafes. Both appear on almost every street corner.
Sitting on a four-block area of the city's most expensive real estate, the 183-year-old Recoleta Cemetery is an historical document for the people of Argentina. It is filled to capacity with the grand architectural tombs of the nation's most prominent citizens, including that of Eva Peron. We visited this amazing cemetery and the presidential Pink Palace where she lived in the Plaza de Mayo, the centre for the most important political and social events which take, and have taken, place in Argentina. Buenos Aires is an intensely cultural city filled with theatres, galleries, museums and historic neighbourhoods.

Housed in one of Buenos Aires' oldest architectural ensembles is the Centro Cultural Recoleta. This building was converted in 1980 from a 17th-century Jesuit monastery into a cultural centre; now, it houses exhibitions, concerts, theatre, dance, book presentations, film and video, classes, and seminars.

Some of our group had the opportunity to meet contemporary Argentinean artist Ana Maldonado. Her exhibition, "The Static Activist," about women who protest while waiting for something to change or happen, had just opened in the centre. The stunning architecture and collection at the Museo de Arte Latinamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA) - opened in 2001 for the collection of Argentine businessman Eduardo Costantini - is definitely the jewel in the crown of Buenos Aires galleries. More than 200 pieces by about 80 artists - including key works of art from 20th century Latin America - are housed in this award winning architectural masterpiece by three young Argentinean architects: Gaston Atelman, Mart¡n Fourcade and Alfredo Tapia.

Link to the full travel piece (here)