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My favorite things Colombia
1. Literature. Here is my previous post on Garcia Marquez; I forgot to mention Love in the Time of Cholera.
2. Painter: Fernando Botero. Most of the Boteros you are likely to see are very weak, but his early work can be stunning; at ArtFair in Miami I saw a watermelon still life from the 1950s. Rest assured, he was once a painter of genius, but I cannot find a convincing reproduction on-line. I don't think he sold out, rather he felt compelled to paint as much as possible, I don't know why.
3. TV show: Betty La Fea, I have yet to see the U.S. "Betty the Ugly." Here is what the actress really looks like, or try this one.
4. Music: I don't feel ready to judge Aterciopelados until I see them live. Yana has played plenty of Juanes for me, it is good Latin pop with hooks. Afro-Colombian music is noteworthy, here are some styles. I've never found a really good CD of Cumbia.
5. Movie: I thought Maria Full of Grace was overrated -- too predictable, yes cocaine mules run great risks -- but it is the only one I know.
6. Continental Liberator: Simon Bolivar.
7. Blogger and sociologist: Fabio Rojas, occasional guest-blogger here at MR. Here is his page on art and music, recommended.
8. Random category: Sofia Vergara ought to count for something. Often she dyes her hair dark to look more Latina for U.S. roles.
The bottom line: My knowledge here is patchy, and that is one reason why I am visiting. By the way if you live in Bogota, do drop me a line.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on January 12, 2007 at 05:06 AM in The Arts | Permalink
Comments
How about Romancing the Stone? That was filmed in Cartagena - the prettiest town in the Americas. Not exactly great cinema though...
Posted by: Stuart at Jan 12, 2007 5:24:42 AM
Colombia is truely an amazing place with amazing people. They are probably the most entrepreneurial people in all of Latin America - for good and for bad.
By the way Romancing the Stone took place in Colombia and Cartagena, but was actually filmed almost entirely in Veracruz in Mexico. Almost all the "colombians" were Mexican soap stars.
Posted by: Pelle at Jan 12, 2007 6:51:35 AM
The ABC version, "Ugly Betty" is a poor copy of the real thing. For a much better version see "La Fea Mas Bella" currently showing on Univision.
Posted by: Pelkabo at Jan 12, 2007 7:24:18 AM
By far the best thing about Colombia is....the Colombians. They are unfailingly charming and thoughtful people in my experience.
Be prepared for Bogotá weather though. I have found it resembles London weather rather too much for my taste. Don't pack tropical.
Make sure you check out OMA and Juan Valdez coffees. They have cafes throughout Bogotá.
For music - you didn't mention Carlos Vives. His songs cover lots of different rhythms, including cumbias. Extremely dance-able.
Buen viaje!
Posted by: april at Jan 12, 2007 7:39:34 AM
great post. there's much more to Columbia than drugs and coffee.
Posted by: younghova at Jan 12, 2007 7:41:43 AM
1. Garcia Marquez is in my Top 5 of "writers who I'm told I should like but really can't stand to read their stuff." Much more to my taste is Alvaro Mutis and his Maqroll series.
2. Since I suffer from altitude symptoms (first 2 days) every time I go to Bogota, I can't say it's my favorite city in Colombia. Having an extra day or two would definitely make the 35 minute flight to Medellin worth it--especially seeing as it's ground zero for all things Botero.
3. Late afternoon coffee at the OMA Cafe at Parque 97 in Bogota--you'll thank me later.
Brian
Posted by: Brian Timoney at Jan 12, 2007 8:38:02 AM
A recent Colombian movie you might want to try is Rosario Tijeras. Technical production is very good, yet I still find some of the roles and part of the story weak.
Regarding music, have you heard of Carlos Vives and the whole genre of new-Vallenato that he sparked (i.e. fonseca, amaya, etc.)?
Posted by: economister at Jan 12, 2007 9:00:38 AM
My favorite Colombian, Shakira. Nothing tops those hips moving.
Posted by: Arturo at Jan 12, 2007 9:23:19 AM
My mother-in-law grew up in Barranquilla and tells me their Carnaval rivals that of anywhere else in the world. I think you're there too early for that however.
Posted by: Mike at Jan 12, 2007 9:40:00 AM
BOLIVAR is from Venezuela.You can be barred from this country for saying that
Posted by: jcm at Jan 12, 2007 10:53:34 AM
Bolivar was born in Caracas , Venezuela.
Posted by: jcm at Jan 12, 2007 11:07:38 AM
You might watch "Our Lady of the Assasins" for another Colombian movie, one that's better, I thought, than "Maria". It's pretty depressing and violent, though, so if that's not your thing don't watch it.
Posted by: Matt at Jan 12, 2007 11:58:26 AM
I am an "Economist" who lives in Colombia (Bogota)
Posted by: Daniel at Jan 12, 2007 12:38:45 PM
There is an older film that was made in Colombia, "Milagro en Roma" which has nothing to do with the drug trade
and isn't about sicarios. The film is simply fantastic.
Posted by: Andres Munoz at Jan 12, 2007 1:12:22 PM
Some more things have come to mind for your Bogotá visit.
I urge you to try some of the drinks made from fresh fruit - you can get them at almost any nice cafe. They have extraordinary fruit in Colombia - some of which I've never heard of but they are much better than I've had elsewhere. They puree these fruits into a thick juice cocktail. You can have it either "with water" (jugo en agua) or "with milk" (jugo en leche).
My two favorites are made with maracuya (passionfruit) or mora (like a cross between blackberry and raspberry).
To really appreciate Colombian music, you must DANCE to it. I'd suggest you try Andres Carne de Res - go for dancing 'til late at night, then after go outside and have broth on the street.
Zona G - best part of Bogotá for restaurants.
Here is a recent list of best restaurants in Bogotá from El Tiempo
http://www.eskpe.com/secc_eskpe/rest_eskpe/otrasnoticias/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR_ESKPE-3357720.html
The OMA Brian mentioned above is I think on Parque 93 (not 97).
Posted by: april at Jan 12, 2007 1:56:51 PM
Hi there Tyler! Its great having you here in Bogota! I'm studing economics on Universidad de los Andes here, and I read this blog quite often... here are some suggestions I got your you...
Be sure to go up to monserrate (a church on the top of the mountains)...The view of the city is quite amazin, and you can have a nice dinner (There are some great Colombian restaurants there) or a brunch (the Chocolate Santafereño is great too)... its a few blocks away from my university and Bolivar's House (La Quinta de Bolivar)....As jcm said, Simon Bolivar was born in Venezuela, but he was the first colombian, and lived most of his life around here... remember that in those days, we were the same country :).
I agree with april, Juan Valdez Coffe Stores are great places to hang around... There is one right next to the Botero Museum - dowtown, in La Candelaria-.. you may wanna go there.
If you're looking for Cumbia, you may wanna search some cds from "Toto la Momposina" and "Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto".. those are two of the most famous traditional preformers, and play a lot of diferent folk genres. In salsa be sure to check "Guayacan Orquesta" and "Grupo Niche" from Cali, and "La 33" from Bogota.
Right know, the movie industry is growing a lot here I'll recommend "Soñar no Cuesta nada" that was released last year....."Golpe de Estadio" is older but quite fun too. There are some new ones playing in theaters right know, so maybe you will like to check that too.
Well hope you enjoy your time here... if you need more suggestions contact me!
Posted by: Carlos Morales at Jan 12, 2007 2:07:16 PM
For Columbian music that takes a little cumbia and a lot of pop, try Bacilos. They have a lot of great songs for karioke(sp?) or just general listening.
Posted by: Carl Marks at Jan 12, 2007 2:30:25 PM
See the Museo del Oro. Most pre-Columbian art strikes me as lacking in the refinement and detail found in contemporary European and Asian art, but some of the gold work from Colombia is fantastic.
When you get back, read The Reformation of Machismo; it's a fantastic read about the spread of evangelical protestantism in Colombia, and touches on the economic attraction of evangelical protestantism. (In short, evangelicals are strongly encouraged to stop drinking; alcohol for the man can amount to 20% of a poor family's income.)
Posted by: Anthony at Jan 12, 2007 4:14:11 PM
For movies I'd suggest "La gente de la Universal", truly colombian in every sense. Unfortunately, a lot of the movies that reach foreign audiences are just about drugs and/or made by foreigners (which doesn't always give you the whole picture if accurate at all)
Posted by: Julian Garcia at Jan 13, 2007 1:29:46 PM
Forgot to say that we colombians immediately notice and hate it when people misspell the name of our country as columbia.
Posted by: Julian Garcia at Jan 13, 2007 1:31:59 PM
"Betty la Fea" -- well, as Colombian women go, she is pretty average.
Another great thing about Colombia is the soap operas and historical miniseries. The former give Mexico a run for its money, and the latter flat out crush.
Posted by: M.D. Fatwa at Jan 13, 2007 8:51:58 PM
Regarding the works of Botero --
Whenever I hear of artists whose early work was stunning but whose later productions were weak, I suspect they're conceptual innovators. Such artists, as described by economist David Galenson, tend to have their breakthroughs at a young age but falter as their career progresses. Your impression of the declining quality of Botero's work suggests that his career follows such a pattern. But my impression is that Botero is a particularly complicated case, especially considering his recent work on Abu Ghraib. A recent post on my "Arts of Innovation" blog grapples with the subject. (It's at http://artsofinnovation.wordpress.com/2007/01/21/the-still-pudgy-innovations-of-fernando-botero/.)
Posted by: Colin Stewart at Jan 22, 2007 12:47:37 AM
Colombia is the bes place to live. Barranquilla is one of the cities, there you could find the spontaneity and charmind people to share jokes and good experiences. You should not miss it
Posted by: sonia Mellin at Feb 7, 2007 12:32:10 AM
I'm no longer living in Bogota, but I lived there for 23 years , ohh boy I miss it!!!...
If you haven't been lucky getting good cumbia music... try this web:
http://www.discosfuentes.com/discotienda
I'm not making free advertisement, but is the only site on the web that I know of, were you can get Colombian music (on-line), some tracks are downloadable.
You can listen to pretty much all the tracks b4 ordering.
And definitely get one from Toto La momposina, my favorite "Cantadora", just listen to it, and suddenly your hips and legs will start uncontrollably moving at the beat of the drums...
I saw some comments about Carlos Vives' music??? Vives is OK.. NOTHING LIKE JOE ARROYO!!!
Posted by: caryncilla at Feb 12, 2007 8:39:53 PM
Hi
Best wishes。
Allow me to offer my heartiest wishes.
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