Living in Peru : your everyday companion

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

According to Peru's Export and Tourism Promotion Board (PromPeru), the recent declaration of the Sacred City of Caral as “World Cultural Heritage” turns Peru into world’s top ten of most historical sites.

"Peru shares this category with India, Egypt, China, Greece, Italy, France, among others, and is the only Latin American country on the list. This nation is a cultural power in the world," said Tourism Promotion director of PromPeru, Mara Seminario Marón.

The designation recognizes the Sacred City of Caral as the oldest centre of civilization in the Americas (between 3000 and 1800 BC).

The last time a Peruvian heritage was recognized as a World Heritage site by Unesco was in 2000; it was the historical center of Arequipa.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com

Andina

Peru's renowned tenor Juan Diego Flórez stated he's committed to a big project with youth and children orchestras in his homeland, according to UK daily The Times in an article called "Juan Diego Florez, the tenor of the times".

"You know El Sistema in Venezuela? Well I’m trying to do the same in Peru. We have the same poor children that need rescuing through music", he was quoted as saying to the UK The Times daily.

Flórez explained he went to Venezuela and did a concert with Gustavo Dudamel, and took the chance to study the system in detail. Then, he convinced Maestro Abreu, the founder of El Sistema, to come to Lima. He assured both visited President Alan Garcia and many big companies raising fund to run the project.

"We raised money, and now it has taken off. If you’re famous in your own country, it’s nice to use that fame to open doors and make something good happen”, he added. Flórez explains that to appreciate opera properly requires a certain sensibility. Not social status, not money, but sensibility for this music.

“Of course for a perfomer the public is like a fuel. But to appreciate opera properly requires a certain sensibility. Not social status, not money. Many of my fans are ordinary people who struggle to buy a ticket. But they have a sensibility for this music.”

The Times said Flórez is now a hero in his homeland.

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LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

A special exhibition called “Caral, The Most Ancient Civilization in the Americas, Symbol of National Identity and Integration” will be oficially opened in Larcomar Shopping Center Museum Hall tomorrow, Thursday July 2nd.

The exhibition will feature the current researchs and findings taking place in Caral, and in nearby sites of Chupacigarro, Miraya, Lurihuasi, Áspero (Supe Valley) and Vichama (Huaura Valley). 

Caral's technological advances, as well as its beliefs, will be showcased in this special exhibition, by means of the newest interactive museographic resources, in order to let the public know Caral's urban way of life, state organization, social stratification, science development, writing, role of trade, religious points of view and their vision of social systems.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

The old and traditional city of Trujillo, in La Libertad Region (in northern Peru), has been scenario of almost 400 artistic and cultural shows so far this year, reported David Calderon, the municipal sub-manager of Education and Culture.

He remarked that these events have took place in locations like La Esperanza, Florencia de Mora, El Porvenir, and Victor Larco, which involve more citizens.

“Once a month we carry out this kind of decentralization of the culture that is gaining more space taking the best of the art from Trujillo to the districts,” he said.

More shows are expected in the next months; the most outstanding ones are one brought from India and another from Korea.

Calderon also announced a five days fund-raising concert in the municipal theater, leaded by the Peruvian singer Gianmarco, for a benefit campaign to help children with poliomyelitis.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

The world-famous Spanish tenor Placido Domingo will visit Lima to perform a mega concert with the National Symphony Orchestra on September 9, announced Kandavu Cultural Productions.

The world-famous tenot will be accompanied by the equally renowned orchestra conductor Eugene Kohn, who has also accompanied Andrea Bocelli, as well as Puerto Rican soprano Ana Maria Martinez, a Grammy Award winner.

The repertoire will include Latin bolero songs, alternating with zarzuela to please the taste of Peruvian audience who love this genre, and some Italian operas as well.

The Spanish tenor will also include some Peruvian songs, such as 'El Condor Pasa' and 'La Flor de la Canela'.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

Andina

Thousands of tourists and local people attended the staging of the Inti Raimy or Festival of the Sun, whose first ceremony took place at the Santo Domingo Qoricancha Covent with the greeting to the Father Sun or Inti Tayta.

The Inti Raymi is considered as the most solemn and grandiose festivity of the Inca era.

The Inca, along with principal members of his court and the Huillac Uma (Main Priest), performed a ritual of greeting to the Inti Tayta (Father Sun) at the Qoricancha esplanade, where the rests of the famous Inca temple dedicated to the Sun are located.

Afterwards, the Inca, escorted by all his entourage, moved to the Plaza de Armas in Cusco, where this festivity was originally performed and where the Cusco's Cathedral is located, this last one built on the temple dedicated to the god Wiracocha or universal god for the Andean culture.

That’s where the dubbed “Encuentro de los tiempos”( Encounter of the times) took place, act where the Inca talked with the major of the city and offered a speech to the people of Cusco and its authorities.

In these moments, the Inca accompanied by his Coya (queen), his royal entourage and his imperial army goes to the Archeological Park of Sacsayhuaman for the central ceremony of Inti Raymi.

The Inti Raymi ("Festival of the Sun") is a religious ceremony of the Inca Empire in honor of the god Inti (Sun). It also marked the winter solstice and a new year in the Andes of the Southern Hemisphere.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

The Peruvian exhibition Deep Roots (Raices Profundas) will open tomorrow at 18:00 hours (23:00 GMT) at Peru’s embassy in Washington DC.

It is a multidisciplinary exhibition influenced by the many pre-Columbian cultures, in the line that the indigenist community sets it out, Andina News Agency reports.

“The art, in any of its manifestations, constitutes a true testimonial language,"  said Dora Espinoza, the curator, who also said that taking care of the exhibition has been very rewarding, since it has let her go back to her roots.

The participant artists are: Milner Cajahuaringa, Víctor Delfín, Ricardo Wiesse, Pedro Caballero, Lucy Angulo, Consuelo Amat y León, Maritza Danos, Fernando Pomadaza, Claudio Juárez, Pilar Martínez, Mario Villalva, Pablo Seminario, and Eduardo Cochachín.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

The renowned Peruvian visual artist Carlos Runcie-Tanaka is presenting his works in Houston (Texas, US) starting on June 27th.

Runcie-Tanaka is an artist with superb artistic skills, compelling visual insights and a profoundly spiritual sense of mystery.

He was born in Lima, Peru; his heritage is Peruvian, Japanese and British.

Lima is the multi-cultural capital of Peru on the Pacific coast of South America, and this cultural diversity is very important to issues of personal and ethnic identity in all of contemporary art: in addition, Runcie-Tanaka has pioneered an approach that goes beyond obvious or direct references to traditional Peruvian, Japanese and European art.

His artwork features contemporary universal symbols of interethnic unity, and also brings the strands of his identity together with ancient mysteries that have a powerful contemporary resonance.

Carlos Runcie-Tanaka's "FRAGMENTO" will be on view from June 27, 2009 through October 18, 2009, at the Station Museum (Houston), in Midtown, on the corner of Alabama and La Branch.

The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.: admission is free.

Station Museum of Contemporary Art
1502 Alabama St. Houston, TX 77004
ph: 713.529.6900

http://www.stationmuseum.com
http://www.carlosruncietanaka.com

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

Andina

Archaeologists at the National Institute of Culture (INC) have found a pre-Inca tomb in the Salapunku archaeological site, located inside the Machu Picchu Archaeological Park in Cusco, southeastern Peru.

Resident archaeologist Francisco Huaycaya Quispe said that these remains would belong to a woman from the Quillke culture, an indigenous which flourished before the Inca Empire.

According to the archaeologist, this hypothesis is based on the pottery and ruminant and poultry bones found at the site.

He mentioned that this tomb has "interesting" features because it points towards a mountain called Wakaywillka, considered by the pre-Hispanic inhabitants the tutelary apu of the Vilcanota valley.

The discovery occurred in the sector III, located in a rocky area of the Salapunku archaeological site.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

The young world-famous violin virtuoso Hilary Hahn, who has been awarded with a Grammy, will perform in Lima on Saturday June 27th.

Hahn, who was appointed "Best Young Artist in Classical Music" by Times magazine in 2001, and also "Artist of the Year" by the Deustche Grammophon in 2008, started studying the violin before turning 4 years old, at the Peabody Conservatory (Baltimore).

Hahn has performed with the most important orchestras in the world, such as the London Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic.

The stellar 29-year-old fiddler, still based in Baltimore (where she grew up and started her musical training) has her own YouTube channel, which features informal chat sessions with viewers and disarming clips Hahn films in her dressing room or other spots when she's on the road.

In Lima, she will perform pieces by Brahms, Ives, Ysaÿe and Bartók.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.