Schedule for this month

Presented by the Ministry of Culture of Spain, the Spain-USA Foundation in collaboration with the Instituto Cervantes of Chicago and the Embassy of Spain in Washington.
E•CO: A platform for thought and work around the new strategies of visibility and production in photography. Curated by  Claudi Carreras and presented by internationally acclaimed photographer Xavier Nuez, this exhibit features photographic projects, made by twenty Latin American and European photographic collectives whose works have been commissioned by the Ministry of Culture of Spain, under the Spanish Presidency of the European Union and within the celebrations of bicentenary of many Latin countries’ independence. Each collective has received the proposal to raise a visual essay, that reflected its concerns around one of the most important topics of our day: the environment. Free of curatorial influence, the collectives define “environment” for themselves, and maintain their own production and editing processes. The resulting essays reflect the interests and concerns of each group and nation, as well as the working organization of each collective.

With this premise, each group freely chose the topics and locations of their project. Thus, the exhibition is a sample of the most pressing environmental problems, in the countries where the collectives are operating. At the same time, it’s a way to understand the peculiarities of teamwork and its modes of representation.

First in Madrid and later in Soria, E•CO 2010 assembled 20 photographic collectives, from Germany (Ostkreuz), Argentina (Sub.Coop), Brazil
(Cia de Foto and Garapa) Costa Rica (Collective Wanderer), France (Odessa, Tendance Floue and Transit ), Italy (TerraProject), Mexico (Mondaphoto), Peru (Supay Photos and Versus-Photo), Portugal (KameraPhoto), UK (Documentography), Venezuela (ONG) and Spain (Blank Paper, NoPhoto, Pandora and Noise Photo) as well as a multinational group that represents photographers from Eastern Europe (East & Ost), that discussed with editors, researchers and other professionals of this media, the problematical and needs of the photographic medium.

Diego Amador is an acclaimed flamenco singer and pianist.  Born into a gypsy family in Seville, Spain, he was raised steeped in flamenco tradition.  By age 11, he had mastered the guitar and several other musical instruments and was already playing drums in the group Pata Negra.  Don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear this unique multi-talented musician from Spain performing live in Chicago.

$20 general admission/$15 students/members of: Instituto Cervantes, Arte y Vida Chicago, and the Flamenco Arts Center; Seniors. Limited seating.

Tickets available at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/222862

Directors Laura Llamas y Víctor Morilla are flies-on-the-wall in the home of gypsy guitarist Raimundo Amador.
A few years ago, a list of the best Spanish albums of the last century was published and one name appeared more than any other: Raimundo Amador.   Over three decades, Raimundo has gone from playing music in the streets of the roughest neighborhoods of Sevilla to sharing stages with Camarón, BB King and Björk.  The title “Papagordo” comes from the name he is called by his grandson, and is particularly fitting for this intimate documentary.  This isn´t the story of a guitar genius rather that of the customer at the fish shop, the father of six, the man who complains about his kidneys.  A universal talent who ties together family, love and home in his art.
This documentary won the “People’s Choice” award at the Beefeater International Festival of Music Documentaries in 2011.

Raimundo Amador and Diego Amador invite you for a very special event: they will perform the debut concert of their yet-to-be-released record, BLACK & Gypsy (March, 2012) as an acoustic duo! 
Raimundo Amador is an experimental flamenco guitarist rooted in the flamenco tradition yet open to other genres of a common “heart.”  His career includes work with Björk, Enrique Morente, Antonio Flores, Mala Rodríguez, Tomatito and Remedios Amaya among others.  He worked with  Camarón  on his album ''La Leyenda del Tiempo''.  In 1995, he released his first solo album, ''Gerundina'', a collaboration with legendary blues guitarist B.B.King. 

$20 general admission/$15 IC students & members, members of Arte y Vida Chicago, members of the Flamenco Arts Center & seniors. Limited seating
Tickets available at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/222868

Musical performance where Enrique Morente details his life to the rhythm of songs based on the words of Pablo Picasso and where his own life encountered the story of the painter from Malaga and his greatest friend, the barber Eugenio Arias. This film is nominated for the Goya Awards 2012 for best documentary film

Presented by Catalina Maria Johnson, this lecture/performance brings together renowned Chicago musicians to explore the connections and parallels between Indian/Pakistani musical traditions and Flamenco, as Flamenco’s origins may be related to the music of gypsies that travelled from India to Spain in the mid 1400’s.

Carlo Basile is a classical and Spanish guitarist and founder of renowned ensemble Las Guitarras de España, which has been selected to present an official showcase at SXSW 2012. Patricia Ortega is a vocalist/composer and co-founder of Urban Flamenco Arts Project, whose work was featured in Las Guitarras de España latest CD, “Tantas Cosas”. Carlo and Patricia will share the stage with Saraswathi Ranganathan, master Veena player of the  acclaimed Ensembles of Ragas and Satya, vocalist/composer from Bombay, India trained in South Indian Classical music in a musical conversation moderated by Catalina Maria Johnson, music writer and host/producer of public radio program “Beat Latino”. 

Catalina Maria Johnson (periodista)
Satya (cantante)
Patricia Ortega (compositora, cantante)
Carlo Basile (compositor, guitarrista)
Saraswathi Ranganathan (compositora, música)