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About What's happening. (Eugene, OR) 1982-1993 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 19, 1987)
•A /7 201/987 ) c MAGAZINE PAMPHLET । ■ does not ONEOK ONT Serving Eugene, Springfield & Lane County Since 1982 INSIDE: Nov. 19-25, 1987 HAPPENING • Alexander Cockburn in Eugene • Ashes & Diamonds • Managing your money—part I • MEDIA: Jack Anderson • THEATRE; Ladyhouse Blues, March of the Falsettos freed /7* K s 6v C $* 4 wt ‘1 s . < Guide to Local Arts, Entertainment & Events • DANCE troupe from Senegal ► • MUSIC: 3 from Nicaragua • Jazz Composer Series begins • WOW Hall benefit celebration P. 1 ‘E Y Nicaraguan Art: Nicaraguan Reality BY DAVID SALEM t‘ • <• “E ARTHQUAKES, revolutions, and the threat of invasion have not inhibited the artists of Nicaragua. On the contrary, during the past few years there has been an impres sive acceleration of all artistic activity. This selection of works, representing several generations, is only a small indication of the variety and professional quality of the painting and sculpture in Nicaragua where, immediately after the Second World War, there was a strong movement toward the International, modern point of view. "Like many artists in Latin America, Nicaraguans have had to wrestle with the problem of national identity. They have en thusiastically confronted the thorny pro blems implicit In their situation and have emerged, as did their great poetic forebear, Ruben Dario, with a broad, cosmopolitan point of view that nonetheless acknowledges the special circumstances; the special savor of their country. I think that many of the younger artists, busy with new and international approaches to their work, could say with Dario: ‘Yo no soy un poeta para las muchadumbres, pero se que indefectiblemente tengo que ir a ellas.' ('I am not a poet for the masses, but I know without a doubt, I must go toward them.’ "It could also be said that the art com ing from Nicaragua is most vigorous in part because the artists have maintained a cautious resistance to taking up novelties—a fact which nowadays is a heavy burden on many artists from other Latin American countries. While looking at this body of works by Nicaragua's contem porary artists, I cannot help but stop to reflect on the relevance of the following comments once made by the late Marta Traba: ‘The only way in which art can be strong and important is to express its own history. It does not have to assume a foreign culture . . . it has to have the con fidence so that in assuming its own per sonal culture it will achieve universal resonance.'" (Don Ashton and Hilda M. Reran, Director, Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art) rt and Reality: Contem porary Art from Ni caragua,” on display from November 9 through December 4 at the UO Erb Memorial Union Art Gallery, pro vides the most comprehensive view of creative activity in that country to be offered abroad since 1978. Representative of a variety of techniques, including two sculptures by Nicaraguan Minister of Culture and renowned poet, Ernesto Cardenal, the 36 compositions that make up this exhibit are the work of 24 artists chosen from among 60 by the selection committee. The commit tee was composed of a repre sentative of the Museum of Modern Art of Latin America and a representative of the Union of Plastic Artists of Nicaragua, the entity charged with the arrange ments for the exhibit in Managua. This exhibit is brought to Eugene through the Council for Human Rights in Latin America, with the support of many univer sity groups and especially through the Nicaraguan Cultural Alliance, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting Nicara guan arts in the U.S. "Cultural exchanges are of vital importance in creating understanding and friendship between nations," says Director of the program, Rosa Carlotta Tunnerman. Cultural At tache from the Nicaraguan Em bassy, she has studied art in Nicaragua, Columbia, Costa Rica and the U.S. Ms. Tunnerman, who is married to the Nicaraguan Am bassador to the U.S., will give a talk on Monday, November 23 at 7:30 pm in the Erb Memorial Union on the U of O campus. “Art and Reality” had its U.S. premiere at the Gallery of the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C. It has subse quently shown at the Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art in New York City and at the Massa chusetts College of Art in Boston, among other places. The Council sponsored the exhibit’s first Northwest showing last March at the U.S. Bancorp Tower in Port land and is working with the Cultural Alliance to present the show nationwide. Giving expression to Latin American culture in our com munity since 1975, the Council has sponsored concerts, dances, speakers and art shows as part of a broader educational program to promote mutual understanding between North and South. They plan soon to bring us a special exhibit of Nicaraguan primitive paintings, a colorful style repre sented by five pieces in the cur rent exhibit. The Eugene showing of “Art and Reality" is presented at the University of Oregon in coopera tion with the Student Activities Resource Office, the Cultural Forum, the Associated Students of the University of Oregon, the Foreign Students Organization, the Department of Romance Lan guages, the Department of Art Education the Latin American Support Committee, and the Latin American Studies Committee. For more information call 686-4373.
