(I still can't get Blogger to do the n with the ~ on top; just so you know, that should be Espana with a ~ above the n.)
On Saturday morning we headed down to La Boca on colectivo (public bus) #152. During the week, this can be a very long ride, since the bus goes from the north all the way to the south of Buenos Aires, through the busiest traffic routes. Fortunately, on Saturday it was not bad at all and we got there in about 30 minutes.
La Boca is famous for its street of brightly-painted houses, Caminito, probably the most touristy street in Argentina. It's the old port from the 1500s, and the story is that the fisherman used the leftover paint from their boats to paint their houses. It's a poor neighborhood (outside of the Caminito, which is all restaurants and shops). Benito Quinquela Martin is an artist who grew up in La Boca, made a lot of money as an artist, and came back to build a school, a community center, and to help revitalize the area.
After wandering around, watching some tango dancers on the street, and shopping a little, we had lunch at Fundacion Proa, a lovely contemporary art museum -- that is the famous sculpture of a spider in front.
Our plan had been to walk from Fundacion Proa to visit a workers' collective in La Boca, Eloisa Cartonera. But in the morning we learned that their building would be closed for the day because everyone was out at the Feria del Libro Independiente y Alternativa. So we hailed five taxis and headed to Parque Espana, in the Constitucion section of the city. The feria (festival) was full of hippies, drummers, booksellers, beekeepers selling honey, and people who make all kinds of creative things by hand -- clothes, food, books of all kinds.
Eloisa Cartonera is a collective that started after the economic crash of 2001. It was started by a group of "cartoneros" -- people without jobs, who spend each evening pushing huge carts through the streets of Buenos Aires and sifting through trash to find paper and cardboard. They bring their carts to a recycling factory at the end of the night, and are paid a small amount per pound of paper. Several of these cartoneros decided instead to use the cardboard they found to create little books. They began by choosing Latin American authors whose work they wanted to publish, and contacted the authors for permission. The authors agreed, and the cartoneros used the cardboard and recycled paper to make works of literature. They were able to sell the books for low prices (most are 10 pesos, or $2.50 US), so that people who usually cannot afford to buy books (which are extremely expensive in Argentina) were able to own these titles by great authors. Now they employ eight people, and are an official cooperative, so the workers are eligible for health benefits, social security pensions, and other state programs. They sell their books at their factory and also at fairs like the one we visited. The brightly colored covers are hand-painted, so each one is unique and they stand out among traditional books (the top photo here).
In the evening, we returned to the hotel to watch two films and talk with the two filmmakers, Julian d'Angiolillo and Carolina Andreetti. Max had met them both when we were here last time. Julian made a movie about an outdoor market organized by a new immigrant community in the southwest of Buenos Aires -- "the largest illegal market in South America." Carolina made a short film about her research uncovering the history of one house in Parque Chacabuco. They both discussed their work, and then joined us for dinner at Oro y Candido, where some students ate exotic meats like alligator and wild boar, and others settled for pasta and salad.
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