Arts in Latin American Embassies

Latin culture has already had a huge influence on traditions and art within the United States throughout the entire nation.  This is evident from Latin forms of ballroom dancing lessons, artwork present in galleries and museums, and the influence of Latin musicians in pop music that the United States has embraced and brought into their own culture.  The Latin American Embassies promote their culture within Washington DC to further enhance and highlight the Latin customs already manifested within our society.  Through various events and programs that the Embassies hold, Latin art forms and artists are highlighted within the DC area.   

Chile:

One of the main focuses of the Chilean Embassy is to bring artists and artwork coming straight from Chile and sharing it within the United States.  The Embassy achieves this by having established a Cultural Department that plans various events in which different art forms in the Chilean culture are presented.  There have been film events that have showcased much of the important figures and works in Chilean cinematography.  The Embassy also promotes the visual arts by holding shows of prominent painters and other fine artists within a space at the Embassy itself.  There also is the push to bring musical performers from Chile as well, such as the singer Yael Meyer who in May was able to perform not only in DC but also in cities across the East Coast to spread the work of the Embassy of Chile throughout the United States.  Another main purpose of showcasing artists and work from Chile is to bring a sense of Chilean history to the United States.  Some of the work is about this history, such as depicting the Chilean mining culture and some historic rescues within the mines.  Through bringing arts depicting these events to DC, the Embassy intends to share the moments from Chilean history that have been meaningful to their country and relay their poignancy across cultures.  The Chilean Embassy promotes their culture through arts, artists, and moments of their past to showcase their culture that stems from Chile.

http://www.chile-usa.org/calevents.htm

Argentina:

The Embassy of Argentina does its part in DC of not only showcasing their own culture but the entire Latin culture beyond their own country as well.  This is seen in various events the Embassy has held or had a part in creating.  An example of this is from a poetry marathon they have promoted in their Cultural Division in the past where not only Argentinean poets were there to showcase their work but also Spanish-speaking poets living in America with origins in various Latin American countries.  The Embassy showcases Argentinean visual artists from various types of genres ranging from sculpture to collage to show the variance of different types of artwork present in the Argentinean culture.  Beyond just the general art world, the Embassy promotes events that have inspired culture in general.  This is seen in promoting events like film festivals with family films based in the Spanish language instead of those already invested in the art world, broadening the audience that the Embassy can target with sharing their cultural ideas.  Through these types of events in addition to many others held by the Cultural Division of the Embassy, an involvement within the Hispanic community and greater DC area has formed to attract people to Argentinean culture as well as Latin American culture as a whole.

http://www.embassyofargentina.us/v2011/en/culture/news.htm

Mexico:

The Embassy of Mexico aims to enhance the cultural relationship between Mexico and the United States within the community by sharing cultural programs and establishing an artistic center within DC.  The Embassy has used the cultural resources of DC very well in partnering up with other prominent art organizations and institutions in the DC metro area such as the National Gallery of Art and the Kennedy Center.  They have further extended a hand to sharing Mexican culture to the nearby community by having a program of guided tours for youth to tour the Mexican Cultural Institute that the Embassy has established.  The 16^th Street Mansion building itself where the Institute is housed is filled with enriching artwork with painted murals by Roberto Cueva del Rio.  The murals themselves depict historic scenes and heroic portraits that are aimed at expressing nationalism and a pride of the Mexican culture.  Within this building various cultural and artistic events are held to explore various types of artwork and art forms present in Mexican culture.  Beyond traditional art exhibitions with gallery talks and film festivals, the Embassy provides some diverse and unique cultural opportunities for DC to be a part of as well.  Some of these are very embedded within the Mexican culture such as celebrations of the Mexican art of mariachi while some explore a more contemporary side of Mexican culture by facilitating conversation pertaining to design within Mexico.  The Embassy of Mexico has created a very open and inviting environment for Mexican art to be shared from the Mexican Cultural Institute.

http://embamex.sre.gob.mx/eua/index.php/en
http://icm.sre.gob.mx/imw/

Uruguay:

In holding many different events and showcasing diverse art forms the Embassy of Uruguay has been able to share their art and culture to the United States through DC.  The Embassy often tries to frequently change and vary the cultural events being held to provide a wide array of options for those looking to experience cultural opportunities pertaining to the Uruguayan culture.  Some of the events the Embassy holds include musical events such as album release events in addition to the traditional concert.  They also present visual arts exhibits from Uruguayan artists with works varying from painters and photographers.  Even with a strong emphasis on showcasing the culture directly from Uruguay, the Embassy has also attempted to showcase art from other Latin American countries as well.  This was seen in a film showcase where other Latin American embassies presented films in addition to films based from Uruguayan directors.  There are many different events in addition to these that the Embassy has used to promote culture within DC in various art forms from concerts to cultural celebrations.  Through these cultural activities, the Embassy has brought art and culture from Uruguay to share with the United States.

http://www.mrree.gub.uy/frontend/page?1,embajada-eeuu,agenda-cultural-eeuu,O,en,0