Arts of Cartagena

“He was still too young to know that the heart’s memory eliminates the bad and magnifies the good, and that thanks to this artifice we manage to endure the burden of the past.” (Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Love in the Time of Cholera)

The magical realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the Caribbean rhythms of the cumbia, vallenato, and mapalé, Cartagena hosts and/or is home to some of Colombia’s most renown artists, writers, film festivals, choreographers, dances and cultural expressions.

Music and dance: While wandering through the streets, or going out at night, you might stumble into some of the Caribbean’s most lively and beautiful dances:
• The mapalé is a dance introduced by African slaves – most from Angola – that mimics the movements of the Mapalé fish out of water. It’s an erotic courtship between a man and woman, danced to a fast cumbia rhythm.

• Cumbia was also introduced to Colombia by slaves and continues to be one of Colombia’s most popular dances. It has evolved, having influences from American Indians from the region as well as European instruments. It’s a courtship between a man and a woman, one in which the woman usually has on long skirts and holds a candle.

• No one leaves the coast without singing and dancing vallenato. Vallenato is folk music from Colombia that literally means “from the valley” meaning the valley between the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Serrania de Perija. It also comes from the city where Vallenato originated: Valledupar. It originated with farmers were influenced by Spanish minstrels and African griots (juglar). Today, Carlos Vives is the most emblematic vallenato artist. Cartagena offers some of Colombia’s most impressive dance opportunities. Two notable academies – with very different missions – are the following:

• Crazy Salsa: offers dance classes to Colombians and travelers every day from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm http://www.crazysalsa.net/prices_es.htm

• El Colegio del Cuerpo: http://elcolegiodelcuerpo.org/es/areas_m/areas-de-formacion/ One of the most renown dance academies in Colombia and Latin America. The academy targets at-risk youth (18 – 22) and communities to teach dance, discipline, and give young adults an opportunity to make a better life through dance. They travel around the world performing. It’s a phenomenal social and artistic program.

Literature: Cartagena is home to the Hay Festival http://www.hayfestival.com/cartagena/es-index.aspx?skinid=5&localesetting=es-ES¤cysetting=EUR&resetfilters=true, a week-long festival that celebrates literature from around the world. Its first edition, now going on over a decade, was opened by none other than Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It always brings a rock star lineup of writers to grace the city with words, poetry, literature and magic.

• Nobel prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez, native of Aracataca, brought the enchantment of Colombia to the world through his novels, many of which take place in the Colombian coast. If you haven’t traveled through Colombia, you can in the magic of his words.

Plastic arts:
• Cartagena is home to some of Colombia’s most famous artists: Alejandro Obregón, Enrique Grau. Darío Morales, Heriberto Cogollo, Alfredo Guerrero among others. And thanks to a contemporary arts initiative that took place in 2014 in Cartagena, bringing together some of South America’s emerging artists, Cartagena has positioned itself to be a hub of artists and contemporary art.