Friday, September 24, 2010

Cultural emersion in Miami’s Latin district every last Friday of the month

By Alexandra Figueredo
ArtistaMundo.com

September 24, 2010

Today is the last Friday of the month in Miami, and that means the Hispanic cultural district known as “Little Havana” on SW Eighth Street dances to the Latin beat of Viernes Culturales, or Cultural Fridays Arts & Culture Festival. 

And what a cultural experience it is!

Just walk down SW Eighth Street between 14th  and 16th Avenues to get bombarded by arts and craft exhibits, Latin music, street performers, bongo players and lots of visitors dancing along.

The Festival consists of live musical performances on stage at SW 15th Avenue, art exhibited in Domino Plaza and along the sidewalks, exhibits at art galleries and cultural centers, and films and educational programs at the historic Tower Theatre. There is even a free walking tour of Little Havana starting at 7 pm.

Several galleries, bars and cigar shops on the strip also open up to live Latin jazz, salsa, and bongo playing on Cultural Fridays.

Today there will be a performance stage set up on 15th Avenue in Domino Plaza. Latin jazz group Timbalive will be performing, as well as a mariachi group and cirque acts by South Florida Circus Arts School.

As far as the art, there are 13 participating galleries that have established a name for themselves over the last couple of years. The art in Little Havana is quintessentially Latin American, with an overwhelming presence of Cuban-descended artists.

The Viernes Culturales Art Gallery located at 742 SW 16th Ave.. will be holding an opening reception today for its group exhibit “Miami Abstractions 2010.” The exhibit of abstract paintings is curated by master Cuban painter Baruj Salinas. Artists represented in the exhibit include Blanca Caraballo, Ina Esteva, Tony Nunez, Celia Reigle and Emilio Hector Rodriguez.

For more information, visit www.viernesculturales.org.

Viernes Culturales / Cultural Fridays Arts & Culture Festival
When: Friday, Sept. 24, 2010
Time: 6-11 pm
Where: Little Havana, Miami  - SW Eighth Street between 14th and 17th Avenues
Admission: Free

For a link to the article on ArtistaMundo.com: Viernes Culturales Preview 



© 2010, Alexandra Figueredo
To contact the writer, please email her at alexandra@artistamundo.com. 

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