Galeano’s Sea of Little Fires

I’ve always loved this tale, ever since I first heard it on a Brazilian series called Sangue Latino.

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Spanish

“Un hombre del pueblo de Neguá, en la costa de Colombia, pudo subir al alto cielo.
A la vuelta, contó. Dijo que había contemplado, desde allá arriba, la vida humana. Y dijo que somos un mar de fueguitos.

 – El mundo es eso — reveló —. Un montón de gente, un mar de fueguitos.
Cada persona brilla con luz propia entre todas las demás. No hay dos fuegos iguales. Hay fuegos grandes y fuegos chicos y fuegos de todos los colores. Hay gente de fuego sereno, que ni se entera del viento, y gente de fuego loco, que llena el aire de chispas. Algunos fuegos, fuegos bobos, no alumbran ni queman; pero arden la vida con tantas ganas que no se puede mirarlos sin parpadear, y quien se acerca, se enciende.”

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English

“A man of the town of Neguá, on the coast of Colombia, was able to climb to the high heaven. On his return, he told a story. He said he had contemplated, from above, human life. And said that we are a sea of little fires.

The world is that—he revealed—A cluster of people, a sea of little fires. Each person shines with their own light among all others. No two fires are alike. There are large fires and small fires and fires of all kinds and colors. There are people of serene fire, unaware of the existence of wind, and people of crazy fire, who fill the air with sparks. Some fires, foolish fires, do not shine or burn; but others burn life so heartily you cannot observe them without stopping to blink, and whoever gets close, flares up.”

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Colombia Magia Salvaje

Colombia Magia Salvaje is a jaw-dropping experience. One of my favorite aspects of Colombia has always been the natural diversity, and this film reaffirms exactly why.

The inspiration for the film was the documentary Home, from 2009, which portrays the natural resources of 54 countries, but Colombia does not appear, even though it’s the second most biodiverse country in the world.

As of October 2015, Colombia Magia Salvaje is the highest grossing and most watched film in Colombian cinematic history. A sequel was supposedly set to be released in 2018.

Below is the trailer.

Musical roadtrip to Colombia’s coast

“Explore the vibrant culture of the contemporary Caribbean music scene in this Native Instruments original documentary. Producer Mauricio Alvarez takes us on a trip from Bogotá to the Colombian coast in an attempt to understand the spirit of Caribbean groove, highlighting the soundsystems, the artwork, and a generation of musicians and producers creating a new music all their own.”

Tracklist:

00:00 Bota candela :: Sultana (unreleased Kobra edit)
00:26 Danza de los mirlos :: Los Mirlos (live Dengue Dengue Dengue Refix)
01:17 El Preferido :: El Remolón (ZZK)
02:00 Bye Bye :: Cero39 (Polen records)
03:17 Brisa :: Cero39 live (Kobra edit)
06:20 Saludos a Kamisama :: Cero39 (unreleased)
07:50  La guitarra que llora :: ?  (n/a)
10:19 Descarga tacones :: Pollo Burbano (Private press)
11:11 El Agua :: Dj Rata Piano (n/a)
14:01 Cero39 a lo Ratista :: Cero39 & Dj Rata Piano live (Kobra edit)
15:17 La Orejera Coleta :: ? (n/a)
17:16 Amanecer :: Dj Dever feat. Lil Silvio (Passa Passa)
19:13 El vacile de la nevera :: Cero39 & Dj Dever live (Kobra edit)
20:17 El Manimal :: Anne Zwing (Kuky)

Two sides of Bogotá

“Bogotá’s urine smell said to be medicinal.” Actualidad Panamericana is like The Onion, by the way. Jokes aside, below is BBC’s take on Bogotá today.

Building homes differently in Colombia

“Building homes using recycled plastic bottles – that’s the innovative idea of a design school in Colombia specialised in sustainable habitat. The inspiration came from the ancient “wattle and daub” housebuilding technique: the idea is to stack recycled bottles filled with sand and earth. The design school offers courses to teach students how to empower communities by using alternative and accessible technologies.” – Source, Source 2

La Casa Vergara

“Colombian architect Jose Andres Vallejo is the inspired genius behind La Casa Vergara, an innovative dome-shaped residence built with sustainable earthbag solutions. Constructed in Bogota in 2011, La Casa Vergara uses traditional earth (superadobe concept from Iran) to create a naturally cool residence with a gentle environmental impact. Covered with concrete finishing, building from earth is not only cost effective, but also offers seismic resistance and peace of mind.” – Source

Yo me llamo Cumbia

“Yo me llamo Cumbia” (“My name is Cumbia”) is a documentary that goes in the search of Cumbia’s origins. We’re going to identify the geography and history of the rhythm, within which the entire story of the cultural melting pot that ended up creating what today is Latin America. In over 52 minutes, we’ll know the different versions about the Cumbia’s origin, we want to contribute to the discussion on where and how Cumbia was born, traveling across the geographical locations where (according to research) originated this ancient rhythm. Our main interest is to compile, document and most importantly share the various manifestations around this ancient rhythm, an initiative that hopes to assist in the dissemination and preservation of the Cumbia.

The Barranquilla Group – “La Cueva”

From Wikipedia…

The Barranquilla Group was the name given to the group of writers, journalists, and philosophers who congregated in the Colombian city of Barranquilla in the middle of the twentieth century; it became one of the most productive intellectual and literary communities of the period.

Among the most influential and notable members were Gabriel García Márquez, Álvaro Cepeda Samudio, Germán Vargas, and Alfonso Fuenmayor, all of whom also comprise the fictionalized Barranquilla Group referred to as the “four friends” of Macondo in Cien Años de Soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude) (1967), by García Márquez. They were all journalists at the onset of the informal group, working mostly for El Nacional, El Heraldo, and El Universal; most were also novelists and poets, often publishing their own literary work in the hitherto-mentioned newspapers. Another “itinerant” member, as García Márquez refers to him in his memoir, Vivir para contarla (Living to Tell the Tale) (2002), was José Félix Fuenmayor, the father of Alfonso, who was also a journalist, as well as an acclaimed poet and novelist. Referring to the group in his memoir, García Márquez writes

Never did I feel, as I did in those days, so much a part of that city and the half-dozen friends who were beginning to be known as the Barranquilla Group in the journalistic and intellectual circles of the country. They were young writers and artists who exercised a certain leadership in the cultural life of the city, guided by the Catalan master Don Ramón Vinyes, a legendary dramatist and bookseller who had been consecrated in the Espaca Encyclopedia since 1924.

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The Youtube-based documentary that retraced the history of the Barranquilla Group and their hang-out spot, La Cueva, was taken down some years ago, but I found what seems to be another documentary (ES) on the Group here (there’s a video download link on the page, too).

Hay Festival, Colombiatex, Festival de Música

Here’s a few recent videos from ProExport Colombia.

Spanish documentary on Cali

As of the time of this posting, the Callejeros Viajeros – Santiago de Cali video has almost double the dislikes than likes on Youtube (since been removed). The main criticism seems to be that the Spanish crew didn’t search out enough of the good aspects of Cali. At the same time, after having watched the entire 50 minutes, I can say that if you know Colombia, Colombians and how outsiders tend to treat both subjects, it’s easy enough to find the documentary enjoyable by knowing how to filter it properly.

Here’s a link to see it (in Spanish only)

Two Afro-Colombian Documentaries

On Youtube, I found parts of two musical documentaries made in France (and/or with French subtitles). One is about the famous Palenquero percussionist Paulino Salgado, otherwise known as “Batata”, and the other is about champeta music and San Basilio de Palenque (which I’ve discussed in other posts). The second video shown has English subs.

Another Part

Another Part