In Praise of the Transitional
The half-Argentine, half-Chilean journalism student turned film-maker is emerging as one of a generation of Latin American directors taking over Hollywood. With his deeply moving film 'A Fantastic Woman' about love,…
Latins in London - The Photographs of Julio Etchart
Julio Etchart first arrived in the UK from Uruguay in the 1970s and has worked as a photojournalist for the national and international press ever since, winning prestigious prizes such as World Press Award, First Prize, for his…
Hecho a Mano: A Celebration of Textiles
Spanning across three quarters of a century and eight countries, Hecho a Mano at Cecilia Brunson Projects celebrates, commemorates and interrogates the past and present of textiles as a creative medium.
Bodegón meets fine-dining at Amina, Buenos Aires
Amaranta Wright visits the happy love-child of two Argentine chefs with complimentary inspirations. Presenting classic bodegón dishes, reinterpretted and elevated, the result is a reflection of their passion for traditional…
Total Eternal Gozadera
It’s not unusual for someone who’s never been to an ‘Amigos’ concert to emerge saying ‘that was the best concert I’ve ever been to.’ The energy and commitment to ‘total party’ in the live performances of Venezuela’s most popular…
THE SEPTEMBER REGGAETON RECAP
September brings a temperature drop but the artists’ this month are still making some fire records. From a bossa nova song performed in Portuñol to a track with six artists taking their turns to show off their fast and sharp flow…
Reggaetón’s Songsmith
Justin Quiles is not your average reggaetón star. The US-born Puerto Rican is not only one of the hottest urban singers out there, with over five billion combined streams, but also one of the most sought after songwriters in…
'City of a Thousand Trades', 'Imminent' and the 'Chacona'
Consisting of a 3 piece performance, including the works 'City of a Thousand Trades', 'Imminent', and the 'Chacona', a new piece curated by Carlos Acosta, this enjoyable and thought-provoking triple…
Capicua - 20 years taking feminist hip-hop to the rappers' boys' club
Ana Matos Fernandes, the rapper known as Capicua, Is one of Portugal’s most well-known hiphop lyricists. Born in Porto in 1982, she has a degree in Sociology and a PhD in Human Geography; her lyrics are as sharp and informed as…
Spanish in Spain ¿pan comido? Think again
Just when you think you’ve mastered the textbook basics, reality rudely interrupts with slang to turn those so useful words on their head. Throw away those textbooks! Here is your alternative guide to what you thought were the…
LATIN LONDONER #14 Carlos Cruz - Union Leader
Carlos Cruz is Union Learning Organiser in United Migrant Workers Education Project (UMWEP), which is a non-profit organisation that provides support and informal education to migrant workers in Great Britain. His inspiring…
Arsenio Rodriguez - Como se Goza en el Barrio. Havana & NYC recordings 1946-1962’
Grosso! Recordings Arsenio Rodriguez, aka the ‘Marvellous Blind man’ is one of Latin music’s greatest unsung heroes. A true genius, he created the roots s of what eventually would become Salsa. He died poor and forgotten in the…
The Sum of Tribes
What happens when three friends get together in a hut on a beach to jam? A best-selling album of course. Well, perhaps only if you are already best-selling superstars. Felipe Botelho Correa talks to Marisa Monte, Arnaldo Antunes…
Bolsonaro Turns Queen’s Funeral into Election Rally
The Brazilian President's attendance at The Queens funeral had everything to do with politics and little to do with grief, argues Clorrie Yoemans
THE AUGUST REGGAETON RECAP
As we enjoy the last few days of sunshine and blue skies, artists have been dropping some upbeat melodies that are catchy enough to clear any summer blues. An American R&B songstress has decided to team up with a Baile funk…
The New Latin Hit-Makers
The last article in our series on Latin Hit-making, Jose Luis Seijas spots the emerging talent from Latin America who, with luck on their side, will be the Latin hit-makers of the next few years. These are the names to look out…
Black Horses Are Massive - A Striking Tribute and Work of Power
Black Horses Are Massive, written by Bárbara Esmenia Rãé, showed as a reading for one night only at the Royal Court as part of their International Programme. Set in a Brazilian prison, this play was written in response to the…
Seeing Double in Central America - Part 2
In part two of his trip to Central America, Russell Maddicks continues his journey in Honduras exploring the culinary and musical delights of the Garífuna culture in Roatán, enjoying a Robinson Crusoe moment on a coral island in…
"The Gallery Will Be Fumigated of Art"
Finally getting a well-merited solo show at the prestigious Richard Saltoun Gallery in Dover St., Paolo Bruscky, one of Brazil’s most important and influential contemporary artists, talks to Corina J Poore about his challenging…
Colombian elections 2022: Petro or Fico?
Colombia’s presidential elections are just around the corner (with a second round in June if no candidate obtains more than 50 per cent of the vote). With two main candidates on opposing sides of the political spectrum, what do…
Blood Wedding, by Gabriel Garcia Lorca at The Courtyard Theatre
Beautiful, affecting and credible, The Courtyard’s production of Blood Wedding does more than justice to Lorca’s sublime play about love at its highest levels of intensity.
Re-Birth of the Cool
For a long time, salsa music was the music of the street and, when we think of the ‘Golden Age the Salsa’ of the ‘70s and ‘80s, we think of cool. The ascendance of bachata and reggaetón seemed to mark the end of salsa’s reign…
Sergio Mendes' Fantasy Island Tracks
If you were stranded on a desert Island, which tracks would you absolutely need to have to get you through those times of loneliness and despair? Man cannot live on sun and fish alone right? Our castaway, Brazilian music legend,…
Taking Selfies with Shotguns: Transcending Violence in Bolsonaro’s Brazil
Luis Octavio dos Santos Gouveia Junior reflects on the bittersweet experience of returning to his native Brazil after seven years. He argues that, in Bolsonaro’s Brazil, guns have expanded from being an instrument of self-…
The Amazon: Biden and Bolsonaro's no- deal
The United States and Brazil have been conducting closed door negotiations to broker an Amazon rainforest protection agreement — with the U.S. and other nations tentatively to provide significant funding, and Brazil possibly…
Favela Aesthetics: From the periphery to global fashion reference
Brazilian culture is a dazzling celebration of life, bringing together music, dance, and vibrant community spirit. At the heart of this energy lies the favela aesthetic — unexpected beauty blossoming in urban neighbourhoods,…
Lenacay: A New Chapter
Ramón Giménez El Brujo talks to Latino Life about the transition from Ojos de Brujo to Lenacay.
Danilo Perez' Fantasy Island Tracks
If you were stranded on a desert island, which tracks would you absolutely need to get you through those times of despair? Our castaway this month is Danilo Perez, the composer and pianist who has put Panama on the map of…
‘CORINA’ Dir. Úrzula Barba Hopfner
20 -year-old agoraphobic Corina, works for a publishing house. She has lived for years within a tightly-confined area of the town. Trying to be courageous leads her to make a massive mistake and to fix it, she is forced to leave…
Wild Tales (2014) Damian Szifron
A box office and critical hit, both in Latin America and outside, this anthology of short stories linked by themes of rage and restraint in post-modern living, is Argentina's most recent example in a long tradition of…
Finding Brazilian Dance in the UK
In few cultures around the world is dance such an important expression of identity. Through Forró, samba and Capoeira, Brazil shows itself to the world and reinvents itself abroad. Experiencing Brazil in London is, in many ways,…
A Fantastic Woman (2017) DIR: Sebastian Lelio
Last week's Oscar winner for Foreign Language FIlm, this deeply moving film about love, sorrow and the resilience of the human spirit, will have you feeling like rushing into the film to help.
Is the coronavirus epidemic worse in Brazil or in the UK?
Jan Rocha proposes the question ahead of an online discussion hosted by Latin America Bureau: Brazil is certainly suffering terribly, but is the UK's mortality rate higher?
“Che had the voice of a brother”
Ciro Bustos was Che Guevara’s right-hand man in Argentina and survivor of Che’s Bolivia campaign. Once accused of betraying Che, in his new book ‘Che Wants to See You’ Ciro relates what really happened and his life beside the…