Some photos from the popular cajón festival that takes place every year in Lima to celebrate the lively and upbeat percussion sounds of the wooden cajón (it's basically a box with a hole in the back, simple yet wonderful).  The event is amazing because it's open to anyone who is a fan of the instrument and provides a great experience for those learning or experienced to gather and play.  This year had a great turnout, though smaller than the previous years. 

All the photos were also posted on Living in Peru.com

Just like all over the world Peru being a very religious, like many Latin American countries, has been celebrating the holy week and boy has there been a turn out.  Downtown (Cercado) Lima was literally packed with thousands of devote (at least during the religious holidays, that is) Catholics who flooded the streets on Good Friday to take part in the tradition of visiting seven churches, a holiday that commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, including his death at Calvary.  Here are just a few of the photos that were taken yesterday I traveled with Zdenka to visit some of these churches. 

Just saw this on the internet a few minutes ago.  The Lima photo event was started last year apparently and has returned for it's second year along with a photo competition for any interested photographer who would like to enter one of their works.  The Spanish oil company Repsol is sponsoring the competition and will be giving away to prizes to the two top finalists.  First place offers a prize of $3,500 while second place receives a fairly modest $1,500, all in all not bad for just submitting one of your best photos.

I may just very well be participating in this competition since it would be my first time competing in a photography event.  Those of you who are in Peru and are photographers should definitely consider competing in this event.  The deadline for submissions is June 15th and must be sent to Centro de la Imagen located on Av. 28 de Julio in Miraflores.  If you are interested checkout the rules on their website here.

So a few weeks ago a bunch of my co-workers, Ryan, and I headed out to the famous Plaza San Martin in downtown Lima to produce a small film about the highly underrated nightclubs.  I personally had no clue that there even existed nightclubs in the Plaza, aside from the well known bars and pubs.  Some of the bars turned out to be really cool while others were nothing more than average dark and crammed meat markets. I was in-charge of photos that night and with the constant flow of free drinks that I received while working I can honestly say that the quality began to take a downward spiral fast.  The video was taken by The Break's very own videographer, Carlos who did an excellent job putting the film together. 


Noches en el centro de Lima from The Break on Vimeo.

Saw this really well put together video by limafotolibre.com.  The video shows footage of many Limeños celebrating day of the dead at Santa Rosa de Lima cemetery in Chorrillos.  The photos used in the video were taken November of 2010.

It's February here in Lima and for those living below the Equator's belt it's summertime, but Marco you say "what makes summer in February so special?"  The answer is simple my loyal readers, CARNIVAL!  Now I'm not going to go into detail about carnival in Lima just yet but I have managed to find a few videos that provide a good visual base to what I will later discuss in more depth.





 

Last Saturday I had agreed to help paint one of the bathrooms at Zdenka's parents home in Breña (a task which turned out to be more trivial than I had anticipated).  The day was perfect, the sun was out and the sky was clear as far as the eye could see.  I took a colectivo as I normally do however lately it has been fairly difficult to find many due in part to the increase in police activity (these are either official and therefore legal or they are the more common batida which is illegal since the police are only looking for an excuse to harass and extort citizens, tis the season!).

Arriving at Plaza Grau in downtown Lima I saw several guys performing some pretty amazing displays of acrobatics in front of stopped vehicles.  These were just a few of many street performers that take to the city streets in order to earn a living or often just some extra pocket change.  I asked them if they would mind me taking a few photos and they agreed, and as a sign of good faith I donated S/. 2.

Last Sunday was Zdenka's youngest brother's first communion at their church in Breña.  Just like many things related to religion this was something new to me, something I had never experienced before and it was very interesting to witness.  According to Wikipedia (which is probably not a great source to quote in terms of credibility but it should be),

"The First Communion is a Catholic Church ceremony for a person's first reception of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Catholics believe this event to be very important, as the Eucharist is one of the central focuses of the Catholic Church".

  
Read More >>
 

Special thanks to blogger Juancho over at Camina El Autor, for posting this video made by PBS he discovered recently.  The film is from the PBS TV show "A Moment of Luxury" hosted by Bill Stubbs, which has visited Lima to highlight some of the cities beautiful interiors of some of it's oldest buildings, along with other popular sites.  The good news is that it's in English, something not always available on this site when it comes to videos.

The video is fairly interesting for it's footage and information if you can overlook all the additional side commentary.

Yesterday marked the beginning of the annual art exhibition Noche de Arte which was created and is run by the US Embassy Association of Lima.  The goal of this art exhibition for the past years has been to promote Peru's art culture, this is done through the support of over 400 local artists who collaborate each year close to 500 pieces of artwork. 


Noche de Arte has existed for more than 41 years in Peru with the goal of generating funds to support the needs of several social institutions that lack the necessary resources crucial for their development.  A charitable cultural event that has had great success over the years.

This the event was held in the BBVA Banco Continental headquarters office in San Isidro and will continue its exhibition until this Sunday.  Tickets can be purchased through their website and the times for the event are listed below.

Viernes 22 de octubre 7:00 – 11:00 p.m.
Noche de estreno
S/. 50
Sábado 23 de octubre, 7:00 – 11:00 p.m.
Noche del artistas
S/. 25
Domingo 24 de octubre, 2:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Tarde Popular
S/. 10 (niños y tercera edad S/. 5.00)


I managed to take a few photos while inside the bank though I did not have a ticket since I was teaching English there but I might just go this weekend.

Over the past few months Peruvians have been caught up in the political fever that has swept the nation.  In every department of Peru political talk and campaigns have been at the forefront of social interest.  Citizens in each district of the 24 departments (including the constitutional province of Callao) have been preparing to elect their next mayor, with Lima dominating the attention of the public media (which is common of a centralized country)

The streets of the nation´s capital over this period of time have been literally littered with ads, flyers, and billboards, which like graffiti have been everywhere (the comment "leave no stone unturned" is an understatement to quantity of advertising that can be found in Lima)!  Everywhere you went it was impossible to escape someone who wasn´t discussing the candidates, while the newspapers and TV media milked the political race in standard textbook fashion.  Perhaps the most talked about and speculated election was over who would take the coveted seat as mayor of Lima.  For those living in Lima the decision as to who would replace current mayor Luis Castañeda has been of great importance especially with popular candidates like Lourdes Flores (who represents the political right) and Susana Villaran (who represents the "far" political left).  This interest has even manifested fear in many Limeños as well as foreign investors who believe that a politically leftist mayor could hurt the countries improving economical situation.   Read More >>

In a relatively poor country with a centralized capital like Lima (almost half of the countries population resides within Lima) it isn't uncommon to encounter several forms of what I call the micro-economy.  The micro-economy consist of many different forms of ambulantes (street vendors who are usually unlicensed by the city), shoe-shiners, beggars, car-washers, etc. all of whom make up this very visible niche.  These individuals make up a large quantity of the cities population and are common in many other countries as well, mostly visible in third world countries or developing nation (the more PC term).

Living in Lima as a photographer, not to mention working in Lima as a teacher has given me the opportunity to travel all over this monstrous metropolis and one thing I run into more often than not are shoe-shiners.  Once a job only held by young children as a summer gig or on the side to earn a bit of money, now is operated by men of all ages.  A job that used to be common in the US several decades ago has all but vanished from the street scene (shoe-shiners can be still found in some of the larger cities like LA), but shoeshine boys remain a common site in many countries all over the world.  In the US most remaining shoeshine businesses have been moved indoors and off the streets as cities have worked to reduce the number of street vendors in an effort to maintain the aesthetic appeal of their city streets, a task which has been nearly an uphill battle for municipal authorities in Lima.  An article written by the SFGate.com highlights the success of one homeless shoe-shiner who fell under opposition by the Department of Public Works who has shut down his operations until he can purchase a permit.  In Peru the shoeshine boy is often looked down upon by society, even more so when it isn't a child working the position.  While the job doesn't bring in a suitable salary for some it is more than enough to put food on the table for their families.  Interestingly enough some of Latin America's most well known and respected politicians and presidents like Peru's very own former president Alejandro Toledo.  The US also has a few politicians, musicians, and historical figures who also took up the trade when they were young.  Wikipedia has a short article on shoe-shiners which has the a list of famous people who have once held the position. 

In Lima the shoe-shiner can be found virtually anywhere in the city but tends to be more concentrated in places like Downtown Lima/city center, Miraflores, San Isidro, and Callao.  When it comes to such a profession the one thing that matters the most is location, location, location, and these guys pick the most populated and trafficked areas in the city to set up shop.  In many countries like the US and India permits are required for shoe-shiners to operate and in Lima some larger shiners operate under a license/permit from the city especially since their large booths tend to take up a lot of space and aren't as mobile as the smaller compact shoeshine box that others lug around all day. 

However you measure up the work of a shoeshine boy it is hard to ignore their iconic roll in the culture of cities everywhere.  It will definitely be a long time before the shoe-shiner becomes extinct as their niche in the urban market remains strong.  Where their is a need there is a customer, and in a desert central city like Lima the demand is high!

While walking along Jiron de la Union (in downtown Lima) with Zdenka, we passed the famous Casa de Higgins (house of Higgins).  The main wooden doors were open and a sign stating "free entrance" hung above, inside was the magnificent house was an exhibit dedicated to the famous journalist Doris Gibson (28 April 1910–23 August 2008).  She was also the founder and editor of the popular weekly news magazine Caretas.

During the tour of the house and the exhibit I came across a historical timeline of Caretas which had one date that caught my attention.  The date was 1983 and next to it read "Death of Journalists at Uchuraccay", having never heard of this incident I quickly wrote down the date and info for further investigation.

The 90's and 80's were two terrible decades for the Peruvian nation which was left traumatized by the violence and bloodshed caused by the constant fighting between the military and guerrilla forces (MRTA and Sendero Luminoso).  It was during this period of violence that a group of seven photographers/journalists and their guide were killed near the emblematic department of Ayacucho, in the small town of Uchuraccay.  Upon researching the net I managed to find many articles and videos which covered the controversy of the massacre at Uchuraccay among others.  One particular website that I discovered was by an independent film company called Quinoa Films, which has been in the process of producing a documentary based on the tragic events and the controversy surrounding Uchuraccay.  According to their website the journalists were killed while in the pursuit of information regarding allegations and rumors of supposed extrajudicial killings by the military, a dangerous topic to investigate in the first place.  The film centers around Oscar Retto, the father of the murdered journalist and photographer Willy Retto, who travels with a documentary crew to the original crime scene in search of the truth about his sons death.  The film is spearheaded by the director Carmen Valdivieso, who claims to have known a few of the journalists killed in the event.  Unfortunately due to insufficient funds the production of the film has been temporarily halted while the independent company receives more funding.  They are currently accepting any amount of donation that would help to support their efforts to finish the film.

Below is a excerpt from Quinoa Films website that gives more information about the incident, also they have managed to complete a subtitled trailer of the film which can be found below.

"
This is an independent documentary about a group of journalists, who became part of their own story when they were murdered in 1983 in Uchuraccay, a remote hamlet in the Andes of Peru, as they were investigating rumors of extrajudicial killing by the military. It took place in the midst of violent warfare between the Shining Path, a Maoist guerrilla organization, and government forces.
The killings of eight journalists, all of them from opposition newspapers, might have been just another unfortunate event caused by the violence that consumed the Andean region during those years. Yet their deaths were followed by significant irregularities in the legal process. Most of the suspects were never arrested, and according to legal records, the military authorities in the area, led by Army General Clemente Noel, did not cooperate with Judge Juan Flores, the investigator assigned to the case.
Most witnesses in Uchuraccay died in mysterious circumstances, and the remaining villagers escaped to nearby areas, leaving behind a ghost town.

A government investigative commission concluded that the journalists were killed by the villagers of Uchuraccay, who took them for terrorists, mistaking their cameras for rifles.
The story took a different turn three months later, with the discovery of a bag belonging to Willy Retto, which contained a camera with some revealing pictures of the moment when the journalists arrived in the town and spoke with the local villagers. The fact that three of the journalists spoke Quechua, and therefore could communicate with the locals who could not speak Spanish, challenged the official theory of mistaken identity.
Some witnesses stated that the journalists were incarcerated in the communal house, and killed after midnight. Yet those witnesses also died in suspicious circumstances.
Three local men were convicted to six years in prison. Although the case was never closed, it has been kept for the last twenty years as confidential.
The purpose of this documentary is to tell the story and help the families to request the reopening of the case. This story honors journalists killed all over the world in the line of duty with contemporary relevance, as the Iraq war and other conflicts worldwide have left scores of journalists killed in recent years.
Bringing the killers to justice will contribute to put an end to years of impunity in Peru. Many other cases of killings in neighboring areas have been reopened and those responsible have been convicted. The killings of Uchuraccay should not be the exception."

Here is the video trailer from their website, and for those who can read Spanish it might interest you to read this pdf document that was put together by the NPO Truth and Reconciliation about the murders at Uchuraccay :





I have also include some other documentaries that talke about the incident but they are in Spanish:

When my family first moved to Chorrillos in 2002, I found it be very beautiful and immediately fell in love with the city.  When I returned to Chorrillos last year I realized just how much the district had changed.  One of the most notable changes was the disappearance or should I say destruction of the Arco de La Villa which was located at the famous Curva towards the south end of Av. Huaylas (who's name has since been changed to Av. Defensores del Morro, as well as many others in the district).  The Arch was one of the few remaining patrimonies to the district and to discover that it had been torn down led many questions to be asked, most importantly why?  The Arch originally served as the entrance to the famous Hacienda Matellini which was later moved by the city to the Curva where it reside up until a few years ago when the Mayor Augusto Miyashiro Yamashiro had it destroyed.  What was his motive for having such an old relic of Chorrillos past destroyed?  What would come as a shock to many citizens and create mixed feelings towards the mayor was his decision to rebuild the arch out of METAL in a very crude representation of the original.  The new arch which can be seen by anyone who drives down Huaylas has been undergoing construction for almost two years now and has yet to be completed.  The plan of the reconstruction was to accompany the new arch with a system of small water fountains similar to the one's found in the Parque de la Reserva.

The city of Chorrillos has undergone what would appear to be a restructuring of it's image, a modernization if you will, at least on the surface that is what it appears to be.  Closer examination would show that all of the metal chain fences, light posts, and other metal structures in the city are fabricated by none other than the mayor's own brother.  In fact, since mayor Miyashiro's initial election in 1998 many allegations of illegal activities have been made, some with fairly substantial evidence.  Elevated taxation, constant construction projects, destruction of historical sites, are among some of the few problems that have fallen over the district of Chorrillos, which has many Chorrillanos upset and concerned.





As if things could not get any worse a historical site, a park with more than 100 years of existence was demolished by the Municipality of Chorrillos on April of 2010.  The pérgola and red marble columns of the Parque Cuadros were constructed overlooking the coast in the famous malecón of Chorrillos over 100 years ago and according to Peruvian law was protected under the status of National Patrimony which should have protected the structure from being destroyed.  In Lima, any structure or building that has more than 100 years of existence is protected under this status, many buildings are currently protected by this status (though they are in dire need of restoration).  The park was destroyed in order to make way for a new park which will feature several lit water fountains.  The outrage from the citizens and residences of the malecón is that they were never consulted about the parks remodeling, nor were they even advised about it.  In wake of the public outcry the mayor made a public statement that he had in fact addressed the residents and citizens, though in an interview with channel N he failed to mention exactly how he addressed the citizens.  His excuse for supposedly continuing with the construction despite the alleged disapproval by the citizens was that the park had become a site for "bad people" to consume illegal drugs and drink alcohol, a fact which is true but doesn't fully warrant the destruction of a historically protected site.  Aside from the destruction of the pergola and it's columns was the cutting down of 100 year old trees, as if Lima had enough trees to begin with.


What doesn't make sense is why the mayor would want to destroy a national landmark because a few bad apples smoke their weed and drink alcohol (I am also aware that the area was known for it's numerous incidences of theft).  If what Miyashiro stated is true then why didn't he just install more serenazgo security in the park?  Why was it necessary to build water fountains instead of preserving a NATIONAL LANDMARK?  Why would you remove century old trees and green grass for slabs of concrete?


What is concerning is the path which Chorrillos is going down and how it's cultural and historical identity is eroding at an alarming rate.  Granted Chorrillos is not the only district that is currently having problems with their mayors, look at San Juan de Miraflores for example.