A cataract of events in the Buenos Aires-Madrid Connection

"Conexión Buenos Aires-Madrid" celebrates its second edition in the majestic Palacio de Linares, the headquarters of Casa de América in Madrid. The programme of activities is a platform that generates opportunities for musicians, visual artists, actors, producers and cultural managers, which aims to promote culture and exchange between cities, support the development of artistic and creative talents and disseminate art and culture through a strategy of institutional support abroad.  

This is how Gabriela Ricardes, Minister of Culture of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, described it to us at the opening ceremony of the eleven days that until 24 May will bring together thousands of visitors, spectators and artists, who will interact in the very varied cultural manifestations of a dense and ambitious programme.  

Exhibitions such as "La República de Waires", an original set of photographs by Claudio Larrea, in which he captures or intuits his expressionist sensibility: what remains of a dark city that once upon a time - according to other stories, other fictions - was luminous; that was modern and today seems melancholically detained or out of its time.  

It also commemorates the fortieth anniversary of Julio Cortázar's death. An exhibition that takes visitors on a journey through the life and work of this writer, in a complete immersion into the entire Cortázarian universe through the first editions of his works and translations, original photographs, period press publications, records, recordings and a large number of personal objects.

To explore the cultural and social richness that defines the Buenos Aires metropolis, it is also necessary to stop at the Special Selection of the Photographic Competition "Gente de mi ciudad", images that capture the diversity and vibrant life of Buenos Aires, from its bustling streets to its most intimate corners.  

Animated short films, plays such as "Muerde", by Francisco Lumerman, starring Luciano Cáceres; "Uno", a free version of a play by Luigi Pirandello, and performances such as "Noche de Cúpulas", produced by Ana Groch and Ale Langer, as well as children's shows such as "La travesía mágica", "Oh, Uh, Ah, EI! Tierra, Aire, Fuego, Agua", make up a very illustrative sample of the porteño scene.  

And, of course, the tango, already an intangible heritage of humanity for fifteen years, which will present at the Casa de América the female singers and composers who marked the golden age of tango. Works that used to be performed by fundamental figures of that time such as Tita Merello, Rosita Quiroga, Azucena Maizani, Mercedes Simone, Sofía Bozán, Ada Falcón and Libertad Lamarque.

The Gabriela Mistral Amphitheatre of the Casa de América will certainly not be big enough for the performances of Daniela Horovitz and Hernán Reinaldo, and those of Marcelo Balsells, Juan Esteban Cuacci and Gustavo Ariel Nardi Remonda, whose repertoire pays tribute to those two monsters called Carlos Gardel and Astor Piazzolla, which are free until full capacity is reached.  

Besides watching, Ezequiel Herrera and María Antonieta Tuozzo will show their art and teach the most daring the movements that will help you to dance tango with simplicity, cadence and elegance.  

Cinema has its space with the presentation of "Adiós Madrid", "Café de los Maestros", as well as a cycle of films of the Buenos Aires Film Commission, audiovisual productions of any format, which promotes the joint work between local, national and international production companies.  

And, finally, literature is also present, both through the presentation of books, such as "Mulanas" by Emilia Zavaleta, which reveals the feminine force of Latin American history through stories and poetry, and through talks and debates on various authors. This year María Elena Walsh, Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortázar will be the protagonists of the debates. 

With this second edition, "Conexión Buenos Aires-Madrid" aims to consolidate itself as a permanent project, an endeavour that has the support of both the City Council and the Community of Madrid, and above all the immense work and dedication of María Victoria Alcaraz, the Director General of Cultural Cooperation of Buenos Aires, recognised as the true driving force behind this truly global festival of culture, in practically all its artistic manifestations.