"Mañana" - The Andalucia Guide & Diary

Robert Mapplethorpe at the CAC, Malaga - 11th sept - 15th Nov

With Malaga just 40 mins away, it's great just to get an urban fix now & then. We went to see the Mapplethorpe exhibit at the CAC (Centro de Art Contemporaneo).

Some cool stuff, plus pieces you just want to giggle at.  They're a progressive bunch there at the CAC and this was the first time Mapplethorpe had been exhibited in Andalucia!
Malaga is really working at its candidature for European City of Culture 2016.
On the way over to the gallery I passed some old, period buildings ( here uses to be mechants offices, then lawyers offices and now they are being renovated) and in the afternoon light they look like a scene out of Cuba. 

(if you read this on FaceBook or Plaxo, it's being syndicated from my blog at www.andaluciadiary.com )

Discovering new "rincones" of Ronda

Having a Rondeño partner means that by ex-pat standards I know the town better than most - yet each time I go I still discover a little more. Before a saturday family lunch of tapas & seafood, Rafa & I walked around the old town and visited the "Casa del Gigante", that despite its name is rather bijou. 

Taking its name from the ancient 7th century sculpture of a giant Hercules that decorated the entrance of the property for hundreds of years. The small palace reminds us when Ronda was an arabic stronghold, with thriving moorish medina, elegant baths and numerous mosques.

Ronda - from the gloriously kitch and dramatic cinematic shorts, "Andalucia es de cine"  - now available on DVD in English and Spanish.

Art in the Park - Marbella

Last weekend, saw Marbella's Parque de la Alameda and Avenide del Mar transformed into an art expo - festival international de arte, Marbella.  The brain child of Pixie Glore, this was the first event of its kind here so I felt compelled to go along and show support.
There were some familiar faces there with art tents and friends like Conrad Crispin, who was exhibiting his photography as well as his original canvases.
There were a few surprises for me too, like the Dutch artist Antonius Kostermans, with his fun, irreverent collection. His web site features other work.
There was the beautiful work of Gabriela Herrera and the ceramics of Salvador Luna too - all in all an impressive kick off to what I hope will be an annual event.  Just need more buyers I am sure...

Art Gaucin - Open Studios

Monda's Annual Soup Festival kicks off early...

Basic soup, made from local ingredient of almonds, garlic & bread etc is now an excuse for an annual street fair.

A day of culture in Malaga

Malaga is a candidate city for European City of Culture in 2016 - Karin & I spent a day enjoying some of the highlights including the Vazquez Diaz retrospective at the Picasso Foundation; the permanent and seasonal collection at the Museo Picasso; and the "Under The Snow" exhibition of the work of former Soviet artists, Ilya & Emilia Kabakov, at the Centro de Arte Contemporaneo de Malaga (CACmalaga).

Art In Gaucin

On the way back home from Genalgaucil, we dropped into have a drink with an artist friend, Victoria Orr-Ewing. She lives on the edge of Gaucin, the mountain top village overlooking the Stait of Gibraltar that is developing quite a name for itself as an artistic community.
The artists in the village have established a network, called Art in Gaucin and you can find out more by visiting their website. There are open studio dates, so you can meet the artists, see their work and of course, buy!
Gaucin is just 45 minutes from the coast and worth a day out as there are some excellent tapas bars and restaurants there too.
You can reach Victoria through her web site. Contact her to arrange a personal viewing of her work in her studio with views across to Africa. Her large canvasses capture the magic of the Andalucian landscape and the expansive beaches of Tarifa and beyond.

Genalgaucil Revisited

I've been ignoring my blog as work isdemanding most of my time. However I've managed to get away at the weekend as it was a holiday "puente" bank holiday.  We went to Genalgaucil as a friend as a bar there and since it was the village's feria weekend, it's pretty much the best time to visit; take in some free paella and live music in the square; explore the streets and see what new pieces of public art have been installed; and generally relax.

Sunday afternoon in the pueblo

Istan is a small mountain village, within spitting distance of Marbella. Like most small municipalities here, they used to run their own affairs with little interference from the Junta de Andalucia, and practically no contact from Central Government. In many ways this degree of local democracy was empowering, but of course ignorance and greed can lead to poor urban planning and potential corruption. This is an issue that Andalucia and the whole of Spain is having to deal with now. For example, on the approach to the tiny village of Istan, one passes huge developments of luxury villas, clinging to the hillside, below the majestic La Concha mountain that shelters Marbella. The homes are huge, their landscaped gardens and community areas tragically cutting into the base of the beautiful mountain. Although this construction is not the result of corruption,  it is certainly not good planning.
We’re wanted to have Sunday lunch in the village and take in a traditional Easter Sunday procession. In the small pueblos blancos, the processions are modest affairs with small floats, but for me they have more resonance that the showbiz style affairs of Málaga or Sevilla. The whole village is out in the streets, either participating or supporting.
Lunch was in Los Jarales Hotel, on the terrace that affords an amazing view across the lago de concepcion towards Marbella and the Mediterranean beyond and of course Gibraltar. Since the storms last week, the air is exceptionally clear, showing the full extent of the North African mountains that seem just steps away.

More than just tradition?

Incense filled the streets; crowds spilled into the streets; street vendors had arrived early to secure the best trading spots, offering everything from candy floss, salted lemons to roasted almonds and chocolate treats. This is one of the most important weeks of the year for Andalucia – Semana Santa. The Easter Holy Week is so much more than just a religious festival. It is probably Andalucia’s greatest tradition. In an increasingly secular society, where State and Church become further apart, there is little evidence that this has had any effect on the importance of Semana Santa.
We were in Málaga to take in the Good Friday processions – hundreds of “nazarenos” parade through the streets, wearing their truly distinctive costumes with hats/masks that make many an Anglo-American think if the Klu Klux Klan. The ornate “tronos”, which each year are further enhanced and decorated, feature life size icons of Christ and the Virgin Mary. Málaga puts on a pretty good show, with some impressive processions that command huge support across the city’s neighbourhoods. But I couldn’t help notice that the streets are full of laughter and chatter instead of the silent reverence that I am told was more common a few decades ago. The youngsters carrying the candles sometimes stop to take a photo with a friend, share a joke or snack on some crisps. This is no longer rigid formality of a society where monasteries used to visit schools on recruitment drives, like the military do in the UK now. This is a modern country that still loves its traditions.