AntiguaDailyPhoto.Com

First of all, I want to wish a Happy Guatemalan Mother’s Day to all the moms in my family and the world, and especially so to my very own dear mother. I love you mom!

This afternoon, my motherland was given the best gift ever; a taste of justice, and not just any justice, but justice at the highest levels one can only dream of for a country such as Guatemala. Let me explain:

Today a tiny little country in northern Central America with a fragile justice system and deficiencies when it comes to serving justice made history by becoming the first country in America to declare guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity de facto dictator Efraín Ríos Montt and sentenced to 80 years in prison.

Also, it is the first time a former head of state had been found guilty of genocide by a court in his or her own country according to the BBC.

Here’s the overview written by my lawyer and writer friend Renata Avila for Global Voices Online:

Guatemalan de facto dictator Efraín Ríos Montt was declared guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity. After organizing and fighting in courts for years, Guatemala’s Ixil Maya indigenous achieved justice… continue reading.

I won’t say more for now since I am sure you will be able to read, listen or watch this historic news through your preferred news channel. Watch, 1, 2, 3… follow the white rabbit ALWAYS!

One of the best representatives of the jazz in Central America, Editus, had a show tonight in Finca Filadelfia on International Jazz Day. Even though I had tickets, I was not able to attend the live concert because I suffered a foot injury yesterday. However, I was able to give the tickets away to friends.

The picture above was sent to me on real time by Nelo Mijangos. The live video broadcast below was sent to me by another friend, Sofía Monzón, via the LiveInFest channel on Youtube. I have Sofía on my list of dramatic portrait and as soon as I get a chance I will share with you more about the work that she does.

Fast-forward the video to 1:02:30 to skip the opening act Lenin Fernández, one of the members of Alux Nahual, Guatemala’s rock band from the 80′s and now; otherwise, watch the entire show.

Lo mejor del Jazz centroamericano, Editus, una de las bandas más representativas de este género, en La Antigua Guatemala, una de las ciudades coloniales mas bellas de esta región. No te pierdas este super concierto, estamos seguros, tendras una gran experiencia audiovisual.

Aside: Tomorrow, on May 1st, AntiguaDailyPhoto will be celebrating 7 years of daily multimedia updates. Let’s have a cake, yes?

Wednesday night we had the opportunity to listen to The McNally Smith Fusion Ensemble performed for about an hour and a half as part of “XIII Festival de Jazz de Guatemala” at the atrium of the former college of the Compañía de Jesús in Antigua Guatemala. It was a breath-taking performance.

The “XIII Festival de Jazz de Guatemala” started on Friday, March 8, with a performance by Alessio Menconi Trio with Marco Panascia and Paolo Orlandi from Italy, but because I’ve have been overwhelmed with the transformation of the upcoming issue of REVUE magazine, I was not able to attend. Ditto for the show by Beat Kaestli of Switzerland on Thursday night. There is still one more concert by Abe Rábade Trio (Spain) on Saturday night which I do not plan to miss at all. I will bring you an update in this last presentation. Stay tuned!

Check out the photo galley of The McNally Smith Fusion Ensemble concert here: (more…)

La Antigua Guatemala is a very small town, heck Guatemala, the country, is just slightly bigger than Antigua Guatemala when it comes to meeting people or projects or getting in touch. Anyway, a couple of times before I was reminded how in Guatemala we only have Two Degrees of Separation. Today’s main photo is such an example of that. See, the devil effigy is put on display during daylight a few days before the burning on December 7 and put away at night for safe keeping until the burning. So, the other day I talked Nelo on my way home after another successful meeting at the photo club we preside, Club Fotográfico de Antigua (CFA for short) and he told me he was making photos of the devil figure; how I asked, shouldn’t it be in storage by now. Sure, he shouted back, but a Geovin’s house, another good friend and photographer. In other words, the main image is a photograph from a studio session with the devil effigy done by Nelo Mijangos and Geovin Morales. It’s very special because I don’t think something like this has ever been done before.

What’s all this deal about burning the devil, I hear you asking? Well, as I have shared with you before, last year and all the years before that on the 7th of December. Here’s the deal: La Antigua Guatemala remains as one of the few places where you can join hundreds of people willing to Burn the Devil and the bad spirits in a cleansing ceremony through the purifying power of fire. The idea of the La quema del diablo celebration was to get rid of the devil, the bad spirits, the bad vibes and anything negative that may interfere with the celebrations of Nacimientos (Nativity Scenes), Posadas (Quest for Shelter [Español/English verses]) and Christmas celebration which begin officially with the Feast for the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th.

Here’s a different take on the famous song by the Rolling Stone.

Photos by Nelo Mijangos

There are so many beautiful wild flowers in Guatemala that one can enjoy in hedgerows, fields, milpas, etc. It’s no wonder R.E.M. made a song entitled The Flowers of Guatemala in the 80s. Of course, the song is about many more things and has much more meaning than just about the wild flowers of Guatemala. Click play to enjoy the song below.

By the way, does anybody know the name of this wild flower?

If you’re not in Antigua Guatemala right now, you don’t know what you’re missing. Well, I will help you know what you’re missing by not being in Antigua Guatemala. Let’s start with a photo festival, an orchid exposition, a haunting music nights.

Last Friday night was magical with melodic and enchanting music performed by musicians Ishto Juevez and Ixtapoch Vallenas inside the gardens of the Compañía de Jesús Building in Antigua Guatemala. The weather and temperatures were just perfect, the night was lit by a full moon and the musicians by colourful spotlights that not only highlighted the musicians but also the amazing venue that is the Cooperación Española. Below I share with you some of Ishto Juevez music and video clip for one of his most popular songs and a photo gallery of the night. Enjoy!

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After marimba music, cumbia has been the most popular musical genre in Guatemala. The phenomenonal comeback of Cumbia music in Guatemala is due in part to “Miercoles de Cumbia” or Cumbia Wednesdays started in Guatemala City last year loosely organized through the hashtag #miercolesdecumbia on Twitter, but now you can find #MiércolesDeCumbia as far north as NYC and dozen of photos on Instagram are living proof the phenomena. Of course, in Antigua Guatemala every night is Cumbia nights.

Here’s a summary in Spanish about how the #MiércolesDeCumbia movement began:

… Si bien la democracia nos ha fallado en proporcionarnos igualdad de condiciones, interculturalidad, seguridad y convivencia con la otredad, el divertimento generado a partir de la música cumbia que no tiene cabida en discotecas del mal llamado mainstream, une a todos por igual… Vamos, no hay que ser tan románticos, lo sé. Esto no es sinónimo de que se reducirá la deuda pública, ni que la cumbia espantará a los zetas, o meterá en la cárcel a políticos coches, con el perdón, claro, de los coches. Es simplemente que nuestro golpeado y adolorido país puede darse un respiro, puede sanarse en la pista de baile, aunque sea una noche por mes, y miércoles. Esto me gusta porque descentraliza la diversión del fin de semana… continuar leyendo en Siglo XXI