Emblematic instrument of the tango makes a comeback in Uruguay 2 minutes read
By Alejandro Prieto
Montevideo, May 26 (EFE).- Regarded by some as a sort of musical panda in danger of extinction, the bandoneon – a German version of the concertina responsible for the trademark sound of the tango – is making a comeback in Uruguay thanks to a new teaching method that makes mastery of the instrument accessible.
“For me, to play tango without bandoneon is like making a stew without potatoes,” 69-year-old artisan Ricardo Matteo tells Efe at the Montevideo workshop where he repairs and refurbishes bandoneons.
The instrument, invented in the mid-1800s to serve as a substitute for the organ in religious processions, has “something of magic” about it, he says.
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BBC News
By Molara Wood
image copyrightLadebo family
Filmmaker Ladi Ladebo, who has died aged 78, was one of the pioneers of Nigerian cinema in the celluloid-era optimism of the 1970s, and wrote the screenplay for one of the most important black films ever made.
His death in London came nearly 20 years after his last directorial effort, Heritage. The film had its UK premiere at the Khalili Theatre of the School of Oriental and African Studies (Soas) in 2004.
Centred on the trade in African artefacts fuelled by the international art market, the film feels prescient in light of the current debate about the restitution of African art treasures from museums of the West.
23 May 2021 - 19:52 Stefania D’Ignoti A cafe terrace in a village square in Castelbuono, Italy, May 17 2021. Picture: TULLIO PUGLIA/BLOOMBERG
Catania, Sicily A Medieval hamlet perched in the Madonie mountains of Sicily, Castelbuono looks straight out of a fairy tale, with narrow, winding streets and a stonewalled castle from the 14th century.
Yet despite years of local efforts to turn it into a cultural hub through tourism and the establishment of an international music festival, Castelbuono has been shrinking for decades. Since the late 1960s, entire families across southern and central Italy have fled to the wealthier north in search of employment, as agriculture, textile mills and other industries declined. As a result, about 2,500 villages across the country are disappearing, with more than 2-million empty houses.