what to visit in Malaga

The 23rd of July the Recinto de Concierto de Playa Pinillos will be full of good music lovers who ome to the Life Marbella 2011, to enjoy the best days of summer. Like every year, the attendants will have to dress strictly in white and those who don’t obey that rule, will be thrown out of the party and with their ticket money in their pocket. If you don’t have white footwear don’t worry, since the rule doesn’t apply to it.

Life Festival has very strict rules that no fan of that type of music will dare break, such as the clothing rule. There’s also the minimum age, which is 18 years old and also carrying a bag, handbag or any package is also forbidden, as is bringing alcohol into the premises. Despite this, the two past events have been a blast, with over 6000 people attending.

One of the key points that make Life Festival a first class electronic music festival is its avant-garde character in its scenography and lighting, as in the musicians that compose the programme, and also the pleasure of being able to dance with the sea in the background.

Among the guests this year there’ll be the DJ and producer from Madrid, John Shelvin. Shelvin arrives with the launch of his first album: Changes EP, which includes interesting tracks that highlight his award of DJ of the year, Best Up and Coming DJ and Best Mainstream Producer.

Rubén Morán, musical arranger and producer, is another of the choices that Life Festival has selected for this year. Morán began at a young age as a saxo player and he evolved by playing as the supporting act of musicians such as B.B. King or Maceo Parker, with who he’s finished producing his latest album in New York with the collaboration of Kat Dyson on guitar and Fred Wesley on the trombone. Also known as an electronic music innovator for the saxophone sounds that he brings, he is an exceptional musician.

Rebeka Brown, whose real name is Rebeca Jiménez Moreno, was born in Barcelona and is one of the vocalists of House that intends to leave her mark in Playa Pinillos with her spectacular voice. Her involvement in funky, hip hop and rock music derived into the fusion of electronic music and the Discodramah show.

Superlush Djs!!! is another card played by Life Festival. This band was born with the union of two artists with a wide experience: DJ Nano and Candela JP who are big favourites at the moment in Spain for their mixture of rock and contemporary pop.

There’ll also be the electronic House DJ Juanjo Martín, who is one of the favourites in the gay party scene.

The revelation of the festival will no doubt be DJ Fonsi Nieto, whose real name is Alfonso González Nieto, who is well-known as a motorbike racer and now he’s stormed the scene with his musical side.

For more information: http://www.lifefestival.es/eventos/

Nancy Guzman

Sand, sea and music are the ingredients of Life Festival Marbella 2011. You can add love and rest if you’re in apartments in Malaga

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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A unique event for lovers of photography is the exhibition that brings together the extraordinary work of artist David Douglas Duncan in the Museo Picasso in Malaga. The exhibition “Picasso creates” will be open from June 20 to September 25 and gathers pictures taken by Douglas Duncan to Pablo Picasso between 1956 and 1961.

The exhibition curated by Stephanie Ansari and TatianaFrank is organized around 120 photographs taken by Douglas Duncan to Picasso in various activities of daily life, which interact with a selection of 70 original works by Picasso, among which there are some that were in photographed in their process of creation.

David Douglas Duncan was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1916. He attended the University of Arizona for a short time, where he studied archeology, zoology and continued studies in Spanish at the University of Miami, where he got a degree.

His first photograph taken to a personality was made in Tucson, when he inadvertently took a picture of the bank robber John Dillinger trying to enter a burning hotel to rescue a bag with money from an assault.

After the University he dropped his profession and began working in photojournalism for the Kansas City Star and National Geographic. However, it was the bombing of Pearl Harbor that changed his life forever. The war touched the door of the Americans and Douglas Duncan decides to join the Marine Corps, being stationed in the South Pacific where he became a seasoned war correspondent.

In the 50s the U.S. would venture in a war that had no destination in Korea. Duncan, working for the famous Life magazine, decided to move in the inhospitable lands of Asia. The defeat of U.S. policy in this conflict, the first one of the Cold War, was brilliantly captured by Duncan’s lens and reflected in the book Ward Without Heroes (1951). In his preface he wrote “No apotheosis in this book, nor a thunderous conclusion. Only the desire to show what a man must suffer when his country decides to go to war. “

Although it was considered the best book on photojournalism of war, it was never again re-edited because of the message questioning of U.S. policy reflected into each photograph. Then, it would be the time for Vietnam and its cargo of death, where Duncan masterfully captured the pain of no reason for war.

But Duncan’s most bizarre history is that which unites him to Picasso. It happened one morning in 1957 when he visited the artist at his home in Cannes with his dog Lump and Picasso decided to immortalize him. Thus, photographs and paintings were intertwined. Picasso painted, Duncan, photographed. This story of friendship and passion for creating the image is displayed at the Picasso Museum in Malaga.

For further information http://www2.museopicassomalaga.org/03_2frameset.htm

Nancy Guzman

Douglas Duncan lived and captured the 20th century. He was one of the greatest photojournalists – and if you are interested in discovering his work, head down to the exhibition if you are renting apartments in Malaga for a couple of days.

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Translated by: Poppy
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Working or not, that’s the real question here. You’re forgotten quickly. Although you worked hard. Although you took tons of classes and learned the unthinkable.

When you’re working everybody counts on you. They put you into situations at work that you are not prepared for. You get more responsibility and they motivate you. They promise you everything if you just do what you are supposed to do. But one day to the next everything can change.

- Arturo, please come to my office – says the boss with a serious tone.

-Yes, boss you wanted to see me – is your response and you’re expecting the worst.

- As you know the company is going through some hard times at the moment and the situation forces us to make some cuts. We’re going to have to let you go. As you know our profits have gone down and although I’m aware…blahblahblah. – A monologue that goes on for hours just to tell you that you are being fired.

45 years old and unemployed. 3 people you have to take care of and now you don’t have a job. A decease so contagious as leprosy. You are going to be marginalized, they put a mask on you to be able to deal with you, and you have to wait in overcrowded rooms. When you’re telling your story people give you a look of disgust as if you smell bad. Everyone encourages you, but noone offers their help.

Your profile is specific and there are no job offers for you. And at the point of complete desperation when you’re telling everyone that you are looking for a job everyone tells you the same:

-What skills do you have? – they ask-

- I have a PhD in nuclear physics and a master in quantum mechanics, but I could do anything. I’m a fast learner, responsible and a hard worker – is your response.

- At the moment I got nothing, but once I hear something I’ll let you know – but you already know this won’t happen.

ManuManué

But maybe unemployment is an opportunity for you to travel the world. If you feel that way you should rent apartments in Malaga and turn this frown upside down.

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Translated by: Poppy
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In 1922, the Swiss Artist Sylvie Fleury appeared with strength in the international artistic scene with her work of art Poison, that consisted of a pile of shopping bags from expensive and exclusive clothing and cosmetics brands that contained in its interior the objects of desire the shoppers had bought, an artistic approach not so different of an alteration of the Kunstverein Gallery in Cologne into a shoe shop completed by the Belgium artist Guillaume Bjil in 1986.

It is possible that Poison has certain relationship with art pieces of Jeff Koons or Haim Steinbach, with the exception that  the ironic content is missing, and it is giving a much more critical and straight point of view of disapproval not only of the glamorous aspect of our society for it seems as if it was celebrating the identification of the merchandise and the art object itself

Just as Warhol showed his Brillo boxes and Campbell soups in the sixties, Fleury doesn’t emulate ingenious artistic copies of the objects, but as other artists, perhaps WC Ange Leccia and her Mercedes Benz on pedestals, she follows the path of Duchamp and the new realists emphasizing the action of exposing something as an essential element and constitutive of art.

Almost 20 years have passed since that day, and Sylvie Fleury has walked a long prolific and diverse path  which itineraries we can follow in the retrospective exhibition of her works in the Centro de Arte Contemporaneo of Malaga until the 12 of June.

Organized in collaboration with the Swiss organization for the support of the Pro Helvetian culture, it is  composed of over 100 art pieces along with an extensive sample of her video productions. This is the first individual exposition that is dedicated to the stimulating work of this artist

It can be said that the diagnosis Fleury has of the world thru her videos, sculptures, neons, etc,  barely has changed. It’s sick with superficiality caused by the disillusion, dissatisfaction and the disappointment inoculated by a blindly materialistic consummist society in which we live in and which symptoms she exemplifies, including the present art world state with which the artist has ambivalent relationship manifested with the misappropriation of the works of artists she admires (Modrian, Duchamp, Vasarely, Judd, Kosuth, Andre..)

It can be said that almost all the faces of this multipurpose artist are very well represented in the exhibition where not only the glamorous and the kitsch combine, but the masculine and feminine also

More info: http://cacmalaga.org/

Paul Oilzum

This is an excellent opportunity to get acquainted with his interesting art, if you rent apartments in Malaga Discover his videos, sculptures, neon, installations and murals.

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Translated by: Marc
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Amidst the tense negotiations between the Spanish Ministerio de Cultura and Carmen Thyssen to make sure that the works of the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza collection belonged at the Thyssen-Bornemisza art museum in Madrid, the famous art collector has opened a brand new art center in the city of Malaga, which will display 230 pieces from her personal collection – a large part of which are Spanish 19th century – possibly the largest collection of its kind in the world.

The art center, which is three levels high, is called the Museo Carmen Thyssen de Málaga, and is on Calle Compañía, of Islamic origin, in the resored landmark of the Villalón Palace, next to the Plaza de la Constitución square – a seven minute walk from the Picasso Museum, and around 200m from the San Juan church, from which each Semana Santa (Holy Week), the Malaga-born actor Antonio Banderas (who was invited to the museum opening along with his wife Melanie Griffith) takes the pictures for the Cofradía de Fusionadas, and not so far from the Malaga Centre for Contemporary Art.

Though the palace is from the Renaissance of the 16th century, during the restoration of the building, interesting archeological remains were found such as possibly Byzantine necropolis, and different Roman houses with an interesting, picturesque kind style of decor – as well as parts from a Roman garum factory (garum was a popular sauce made from fermented fish, which was an essential base for Roman cooking, and was believed to be an afrodisiac).

Next to the Villalón Palace, the museum has built two brand new buildings, designed – along with the restoration of the palace – by young architects Rafael Roldán and Javier Gónzalez, who have aimed to preserve the elegant columns, and powerful craft of the original construction of the building, leaving the interior mostly white. In total, the space takes up around 7,150 meters sq. – the majority of which is exhibition space, with an additional library, cafeteria, and of course, a shop.

According to the agreement with the Malaga council, the works have been presented without any economical compensation – and will be on display at the Malaga museum until 2026, when the relatives of Carmen Thyssen will be required to renegotiate the terms of the lease.

Though the collection is mainly based in Spanish painting from the 19th century, this isn’t the only attraction. There are also other interesting works such as the Roman carving of Christ, previously held by the National Museum of Art of Catalonia (MNAC) – as well as a section dedicated to old masters such as Zurbarán.

For more details: http://www.carmenthyssenmalaga.org/

Paul Oilzum

Another reason to rent apartments in Malaga such a wonderful city – pay a visit to the new museum Carmen Thyssen of Malaga.

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Translated by: Poppy
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Vetusta Morla seem legendary without actually being so. The sons of direct alternative rock, somewhere between pop and psychedelia, the band’s origins led to a long path to the release of their first and only album – apart of course from their EP, “Mira.”

Maybe you’ve already tried to see them – there were no tickets left, you went back home and that was the end of it. But what is the charm of Vetusta Morla? A long career, with its fair share of live concerts but barely two official recordings would suggest a perfectionism and good taste. I recommend that, in order to get the full picture, you get hold of their demos: 13 horas con Lucy (2000), Vetusta Morla (2001) and La cuadratura del círculo (2003).

Lets put it this way – a group of this level who maintains their independence, produces on their own label, is a massive success, if not a total phenomenon. The independence of the musician, in todays world of endless media options, is relatively easy – but such high quality production is not so easy. Vetusta Morla don’t necessarily take lots of risks, but their lyrics are certainly poetic.

“Un día en el mundo”  was their debut release in 2008, and last year the vinyl version came out. It’s worth summing up in a few lines – melancholic voices with punch, high volumes and words which speak about today. “Autocrítica” is the first track, and if these guys are alternative then it’s in the UK style of alternative. “Sálvese quien pueda” gives hope, telling us that everyone is bad apart from you – great! “Valiente” is a similar kind of idea and the acoustic “La Marea” is full of feeling, with beautiful lyrics. “La cuadratura del círculo” is an ode to Buenos Aires. A true guitar sound, yes, but the best thing about the band are their lyrics, which owe a lot to Radiohead, as well as early The Verve, and the more current Cold War Kids.

They have won several awards in Spain – the critics adore them. Passing through Beirut, Uruguay and Argentina amongst others, Vetusta Morla will be playing at Malaga’s Auditorio Municipal. For more information, visit the website, where you can also buy tickets. Do it! http://www.vetustamorla.com/

SISTER RAY

The best thing to do is listen to Vetusta Morla alone in your room, with a cigarette without any interruptions. These guys are going deliver a great show, despite of the delay in recordings. Rent an apartments in Malaga and go and see them, discovering the city at the same time.

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Translated by: Poppy
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Festival Reggae Attack is at the Sala Vivero in Malaga on the 29th April (originally the 15th). The event focuses on local reggae, aiming to bring together the best of the Malaga scene. The second edition of the festival includes veteran local acts such as Sonido Internacional, 12-13 ReggaeBand, Jahnorum, Teteman Levi y Roots Selectors.

Since its origins in the 1960s, reggae has become a sound synonymous with human rights, and the fight against racial inequality. The roots of reggae rose up from the counterculture of young people in the poor neighbourhoods in Jamaica, who were looking for self-expression, and something other than the dominant musical styles of the time. This search for identity led to the creation of music, and the movement made legendary by Bob Marley.

To keep flame burning, Festival Attack II has organised this musical gathering. Amongst the stand-out acts are Sonido Internacional, pioneers of the Andalucian “mestizaje” which mixes ska, rock, afro, pop, cumbia, raggachento, rap and punk. Their musical eclecticism has transformed them into a cult band for reggae fans who also enjoy the incorporation of different styles. They are also key figures of counter-cultural resistance to the mainstream music industry, and make their music available online for free.

Another great reggae band on the bill is 1213ReggaeBand. They are an integral part of Malaga’s reggae history, starting out in the 90s under the name of Raza Reggae. Their fame has seen them sharing the stage with The Wailers, Michael Rosey, Steel Pulse amongst others. Their vibrant, upbeat sound, which has an Andalucian stamp, is a fusion of different cultures, making them one of the most innovative and interesting bands in Spanish reggae.

Perhaps the band who reflect the most upon the original spirit of reggae, is Janhorum. Formed in 1994, in the poor El Llano de la Santísima Trinidad, in Malaga, where daily life is about survival, the band’s members were mostly still only about 15 years old. The story of Jahhorum started in an old church in Malaga called Santo Doming, where the priest lent them space. Now, the band have played all over the place, and their music blends local sounds with roots reggae.

For more information http://www.salavivero.com/conciertos/index.php?op=textolargo&idprogramacion=554

Nancy Guzman

If you are renting apartments in Malaga enjoying the start of spring, why not go down to Festival Attack II and listen to some good reggae.

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Translated by: Poppy
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With the work of German artist Martin Kippenberg, whose plastic and painting  work has been recognized by international critics as one of the foremost exponent of the art of the 80′s and 90′s, the Picasso Museum in Malaga will inaugurate the exhibition” Kippenberg looked at Picasso“ on February 21 and which will remain open until May 29.

Dormunt Martin Kippenberg was born in Germany in 1953. These were post war years and Germany was at the epicentre of the Cold War. The context was the symbol of the Holocaust, the division of the world reflected in the construction of the Berlin Wall, American troops and the implementation of their culture that rearranged the social imaginary German and symbols. Within this frame a rebellious generation known as the German enfants terribles arose, which Kippenberg his work belonged to.

He began as an artist in the 70′s and was part of the artistic movement Neue Wilde, then become an avant-garde legend of 80’s. His perception of the end of painting as an expression of contemporary art led him to experiment with controversial ideas adding popular culture, architecture and design, music and politics to his work. Challenging and provocative he used humour as a critique of society, leading to an accumulation of works that plotted him, as “Zuerst Die Füsse” or “The crucified frog”, which set off protests from Catholics to be exhibited at the Museum of Bolzano, Italy, who considered it a provocation to Catholics.

After his death, his work was at the Venice Biennale 1988 and Documenta in Kassel 997, where he had been dismissed earlier.

Kippenberg was emotionally and artistically linked to Spain since the late 80′s when he lived in Carmona, Seville, developing the pictorial series ”Untitled”. Later, he became interested in some pictures that David Douglas Duncan did to Picasso and his wife Jacqueline in the sixties and it inspired the production of his series of paintings “Jacqueline: pictures that Paul could no longer paint”

This retrospective exhibition curated by Eva Meyer-Hermann, is a reflection of the common themes that dominated the world of Picasso and Kippenberg, through a selection that treats the portrait as an expression and representation of their lives tragically. Among the 50 Kippenberg’s works there are large paintings, sculptures and drawings. Also books, catalogues and more than 36 posters designed by the artist will be displayed.

David Douglas Duncan met Picasso in 1956 and photographed his life, work and intimacy until his death in 1973. The exhibition includes 120 photographs taken by Duncan to Picasso between 1956 and 1961, accompanied by works by Picasso displayed in the photos.

Nancy Guzman

Knowing Kippenber is a good bet if you are in Malaga. Through his works you will find a character whose humour sparked controversy and rejection, then rest in apartments in Malaga and enjoy being with a cult artist, whose works are exhibited in the most important museums in the world.

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Translated by: Maria
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Somewhere between animal and vegetal, the Cordyceps Sinensis is a combination of a caterpillar and a fungus, which grows 4,000m high in the plateaus of Tibet, forming when the fungus preserves it in a kind of mummification. For around 500 years, the Cordyseps has been known in traditional Chinese medicine for its stimulating effect on the immune system. Nowadays, it’s called Himalaya viagra, as it is believed to help improve sexual impotency.

Cordyseps, also known as yarsagumba, is currently higher in value than gold. One kilo can cost anywhere between 10,000 and 20,000 dollars, and has become such a coveted asset to the Chinese economy that drug traffickers and large pharmaceutical companies are fighting to corner the lucrative market. Each year, at the start of spring, and before the monsoon season, hundreds of Tibetans illegally cross the border into Nepal in search of yarsagumba in order to sell it in China.

The mountainous area between Tibet and Nepal is one of the most protected, remote and beautiful parts of the world, inhabited for hundreds of years by peaceful agrarian Buddhist communities. But in recent years, the peace of these communities has been disrupted by greed, murder and jealousy. “We consider it a sin to trade yarsagumba” says Sangay, a habitant of the freezing Humde region; “Our Buddhist culture prohibits us from harvesting it – that’s our tradition. But the younger generations are different – they don’t believe in sin or religion. They are making money out of it.“

Yarsagumba is now the most valuable natural material from this remote region – a place of limited economic supplies and resources. This product is so lucrative, and sought after that the government of the area has implemented a permission policy to help regulate the harvesting amongst natives and foreigners – and in some places, permission to foreigners is even denied altogether.

For some villagers, yarsagumba has generated an economic stability for the inhospitable region, whilst for others it has done nothing but bring misfortune. A group of seven men were attacked in June 2009 in the Gorkha region in Nepal. They had been trying to pick the fungus when they were killed by a group defending their territory. The police found the bodies in the ravines of the mountains, and 36 men were arrested from the village of Nar.

The region doesn’t have a prison with space for all of them, so currently, they await verdict in a makeshift cell in the town offices. According to the women, the land of the area hasn’t been ploughed since the men were detained. Many Buddhists in the region believe that yarsagumba is a curse, and have an old proverb that the fungus is a curse which brings nothing but bad luck.

So perhaps the best thing is to forget all about yarsagumba, and instead go and discover the beauty of the beaches and mountains on the Iberian peninsula. Nights spent under the Mediterranean moonlight are the best aphrodisiac. Rent apartments in Malaga, and nourish your body with this magical city.

Laura Aurelia

So perhaps the best thing is to forget all about yarsagumba, and instead go and discover the beauty of the beaches and mountains on the Iberian peninsula. Nights spent under the Mediterranean moonlight are the best aphrodisiac. Rent apartments in Malaga and nourish your body with this magical city.

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Translated by: Poppy
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Showing at Malaga’s Cánovas Theatre between 9th-11th April is the play from Producciones Imperdibles, “The Seven Deadly Sins.” It is an exciting project which mixes dance, theatre and multimedia in order to explore the seven deadly sins.

The work is an aesthetic comment based on the first teachings of Christianity, which guided followers on morality. The show has been designed to fuse text, music and multimedia art, and carries the unmistakeable stamp of the Producciones Imperdibles team, who have become known for their innovative, poetic work, which has in the past been largely improvisation-based.

The constructivist method of the play, whereby each spectator interacts with its aesthetic and forms their own imagination of it, also involves a massive stage , constructed from three screens arranged into a semicircle, screening flashing images accompanied by musical works from Pergolesi, Vivaldi, Verdi and Dvorak, whilst the dancers move around gracefully underneath a light constantly changing in colour and intensity.

The language of the play, based on Shakespeare texts, is complemented by a powerful audiovisual language, consisting of the iconic, Flemish imagery of the works of Pieter Brueghel and Dutch painter Bosco. The play surprises, shocks and captures the senses.

Though the seven “deadly sins,” (anger, green, sloth, pride, lust, envy and gluttony) are all reflected, the play rejects their religious association, approaching them instead as human passions operating within culture.

Etymologically, the word “sin” derives from the latin word capitalis referring to an almost irresistible vice. Few words are as seductive as sin – which is regarded as voluntary human transgression and indulgence. In this sense, the play makes an interesting examination of the political concept of sin – a censored view of sexuality, and passion represented by lust, gluttony and sloth suggests social control – a recurrent topic in liberal thought; the idea that these sins are simply an expression of the wonderful freedom that human beings have to grant themselves happiness.

The Marquis de Sade reflects very profounly on virtue and sin in his work – particularly Justine, in which the young ingenue at the hands of sexual excess represents virtue, and the libertine monks who subject her to their passions, represent sin. In other words, Sade condemns those who deny human rights in favour of personal pleasure.

For more information http://www.imperdible.org/productora_de_teatro/

Nancy Guzman

This interesting discussion of virtue and sin from Producciones Imperdibles, “The Seven Deadly Sins,” looks at things from a different perspective. All you need to do is come to Malaga, and head to down to the show. Then live out some sins at your rented apartments in Malaga

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Translated by: Poppy
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