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The Fire and the Fury: New Year’s Eve in Granada, Nicaragua

Monday, January 4, 2010

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The Fire and the Fury: New Year’s Eve in Granada, Nicaragua

New Year’s Eve in Nicaragua is celebrated with all the incendiary zeal befitting one of the world’s most volcanic and tempestuous nations. Fire-crackers are ignited en-masse. A frenzy of explosions ricochets across the city. A grotesque effigy symbolizing the passing year is paraded through the streets and burned. These are some of the scenes depicted in this short video.

The Purísima in Granada

Thursday, December 10, 2009

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The Purísima in Granada

Catholic sentiments reach a fervent peak in Nicaragua during the Purísima, a festival entirely devoted to the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Lasting from late November to 8th December, the Purísima is a protracted celebration involving various family and church gatherings, as well as spirited street parties. Such is the scene depicted in this short film…

The festival of San Jerónimo

Saturday, November 28, 2009

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The festival of San Jerónimo

From late September to early December, the otherwise sleepy town of Masaya – Nicaragua’s bastion of folklore and indigenous traditions – comes alive with countless animated events, including the shambolic procession of El Torovenado, filmed here. This anarchic spectacle is the very embodiment of Nicaraguan character…

Folkloric Dance, Masaya

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

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Folkloric Dance, Masaya

The unassuming and unpretentious town of Masaya is Nicaragua’s cradle of folklore. This is the best place in the country to shop for locally produced handicrafts, participate in a festival, or witness a traditional dance. The performance shown here – replete with Spanish airs and colonial themes – was filmed on the main plaza, where troupes regularly congregate.

American Beauty

Saturday, October 17, 2009

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American Beauty

Frederick Catherwood was the first 19th century artist to record the splendours of some of the most inaccessible Central American ruins. His images, published in books that changed the way academics viewed the region’s indigenous peoples, were created under appalling conditions. They remain some of the most vibrant and beautiful illustrations of the ancient Mexican world ever rendered…

Aguirre, The Wrath of God

Friday, October 9, 2009

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Aguirre, The Wrath of God

In the uncompromising locale of the Amazon rainforest, Werner Herzog explores the theme of man versus nature in his stunning 1972 film, Aguirre: The Wrath of God. Like his other great tribute to the jungle, Fitzcarraldo, this is a story about impossible dreams.

Fitzcarraldo

Friday, October 9, 2009

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Fitzcarraldo

Werner Herzog’s 1982 Amazonian epic, Fitzcarraldo, explores the idea of impossible dreams. Set in early twentieth century Peru, the story follows an eccentric Irishman and opera-lover, Brian ‘Fitzcarraldo’ Fitzgerald, who dreams of making his fortune in the rubber business.

Spirits, Saints and the Art of Sacrifice: San Juan Chamula

Thursday, October 1, 2009

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Spirits, Saints and the Art of Sacrifice: San Juan Chamula

The Mayan village of San Juan Chamula is a bastion of archaic philosophy and pre-Hispanic lore. Here the old gods are alive and well, merely clothed in the robes of saints. The Maya are a cunning bunch, I realised, to have avoided assimilation for so many centuries.

From Savagery to Civilisation: The Rise of the Aztecs

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

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From Savagery to Civilisation: The Rise of the Aztecs

The Aztec transformation from humble nomadic warriors into one of Mesoamerica’s most complex civilisations is a story as fantastic as it is legendary. This comprehensive feature explores traces the rise of Mexico’s last great imperial force.

Palenque: Secret City of the Maya

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

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Palenque: Secret City of the Maya

Dense, exuberant rainforest shrouds this immense metropolis, abandoned for unknown reasons over a millennia ago. A sense of the lost, grandiose world of the ancient Mayans lingers in this city’s ruined plazas. Palenque is a testament to Mesoamerican civilisation at its height.

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Richard ArghirisInteramericana is an intrepid new travel blog about the people and places surrounding the Carretera Interamericana - a 6000 kilometre stretch of highway that links Mexico and the seven nations of Central America. Created by guidebook writer and journalist Richard Arghiris, Interamericana combines photography, video and the best in alternative travel writing.
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Granada’s international poetry festival kicked off yesterday, 14th February 2010, with a belting set from Katia Cardenal. Performing at the Plaza Independencia, Katia sang a mixture of rousing folk songs and revolutionary ballads, including a superb homage to the Miskito people of the Atlantic coast (2nd song featured, actually in the Miskito language). Turn up the volume, pour yourself a rum, kick back and enjoy…

The land is scorched and broken. Piles of dark volcanic rubble litter the scene, yet to be properly eroded by sun, wind and rain. Years from now, these rocks will be transformed into fine, fertile silt. But for today, dead, black lava fields cling to the slopes like some monstrous reptilian hide – coarse, inscrutable, alien…

New Year’s Eve in Nicaragua is celebrated with all the incendiary zeal befitting one of the world’s most volcanic and tempestuous nations. Fire-crackers are ignited en-masse. A frenzy of explosions ricochets across the city. A grotesque effigy symbolizing the passing year is paraded through the streets and burned. These are some of the scenes depicted in this short video.

Las Isletas (The Little Islands) are one of Granada’s principal attractions. An archipelago of some 354 jewel-like islets scattered over the surface of Lake Nicaragua, they lure scores of visitors daily. This video was shot on the northern side of the island chain, where we saw a mixture of upscale holiday homes and other more natural settings strewn with lilies and vegetation…

Catholic sentiments reach a fervent peak in Nicaragua during the Purísima, a festival entirely devoted to the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Lasting from late November to 8th December, the Purísima is a protracted celebration involving various family and church gatherings, as well as spirited street parties. Such is the scene depicted in this short film…

From late September to early December, the otherwise sleepy town of Masaya – Nicaragua’s bastion of folklore and indigenous traditions – comes alive with countless animated events, including the shambolic procession of El Torovenado, filmed here. This anarchic spectacle is the very embodiment of Nicaraguan character…