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Estreno Mundial!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2013-01-23T12:25:00.000-08:00

Hola queridos seguidores !

Hoy sera un dia que quizas marcara un antes y despues, por que quiero compartir con vosotros la publicacion de parte del libro que pienso sacar la venta muy pronto su titulo:

LINDIAN, CRONICA DE LA CAIDA DE UN REINO.

CAPITUL O 1

Años después de la desaparición de la isla encantadora de Atlantes, las fuerzas del mal se acaparan del mundo, el miedo y el terror están a punto de destruir la humanidad para siempre.

En este contexto, la esperanza viene de lo que, un pequeño número de humanos se salvara gracias a las fuerzas del bien, bajo la sabia dirección del Rey Hachil; un hombre alto, fuerte, activo, sus cabellos negros y su piel mestiza recuerdan que sus orígenes tienen raíces en la fuerte mezcla de civilizaciones del reino de sus antepasados. Sus ojos, de un azul profundo, eran lo que más impresionaba en este personaje misterioso, hijo de uno de los más poderosos dirigentes de la civilización anterior.

El reino de Lindian, su nuevo territorio, estaba limitado al norte por el mar, que bordeaba las tierras fértiles del país de la sabana, al sur por la selva de los misterios (donde se encuentra el Palacio de las Maravillas en el País de las Brujas), al este por el gran Océano y al oeste por el mar tranquilo. Entre el país de la sabana y la selva de los misterios se ubicaba el desierto de Tund, donde la gente cree que nadie puede sobrevivir, que solo los que reciben la bendición de los elegidos pueden enfrentar su hostilidad.

Pero este mundo tiene sus leyes; el Rey, impuesto por las brujas del bien, a pesar de la oposición de las malas, es siempre elegido por el Consejo Supremo de las brujas. Para dirigir con eficiencia, puede beneficiarse de la ayuda que le proporciona el Consejo de los Ancianos y la consulta de las voluntades de los dioses, gracias a su inseparable vidente Tama .Como de costumbre en estos tiempos, el Rey Hachil se casó con dos mujeres; la primera, Hani, de estatura media, era una mujer llena de alegría y bondad hasta que el rey decidió casarse por segunda vez. Cansada de haber intentado tanto lo posible como lo imposible para impedirlo, se resignó, y desde entonces, se recluye casi siempre en el ala norte del palacio, donde, a veces, la visitan unas amigas fieles, de las cuales, una de ellas, es la vidente Tama. De la unión del Rey Hachil y de Hani, nació el primogénito de la familia real, el príncipe Rhode.

Dalila segunda esposa de Hachil, elegante y de fácil abordaje, una mujer siempre dispuesta a satisfacer hasta los caprichos más extravagantes de su marido. Trabajadora, obra sin cansarse porque todo el mundo llevara una vida decente en el reino de donde le viene la simpatía y el reconocimiento del pueblo. De esta unión el Rey tuvo su segundo hijo, Lorian, el benjamín de la familia.

Rhode, el hijo de su primera esposa Hani, era fuerte y vigoroso, con sus ojos de color marrón claro, igual que los de su madre, su cara con rasgos marcados y su nariz aguileña.

Lorian benjamín e hijo de Dalila segunda esposa del rey Hachil , al contrario, tenía una cara mas refinada, con su cabello negro, sus ojos azules y su alta estatura recuerda mucho a su padre. A diferencia de Rhode, el pequeño Lorian aprendió rápidamente a desarrollar tanto su inteligencia como su físico, gracias a su madre quien lo envió a estudiar a las más importantes escuelas del mundo. A pesar de sus diferencias y que Hani primera esposa del rey Hachil se oponía a que se viesen a menudo, los dos niños se estimaban el uno al otro y fueron los mejores amigos del mundo.

LAS MARAVILLAS DE LA CIUDAD DE ARDEN

ARDEN, capital del reino de lindian. Una ciudad limpia y grande por sus ciudadanos pero también, sus infraestructuras modernas: un puerto marítimo en aguas profundas, un faro que vislumbra tanto en buenOs como malOs TIEMPOs, sus avenidas largas y anchas con parques y farolas, tantAS COSAS que agradaban la vida de la gente. En el extremo norte de la ciudad y al lado del puerto se encontraba el mercado central. Se decía que todo lo que no se puede encontrar en los otros mercados se vendía como agua en Arden. Así, mercancías que venían de todas partes del mundo se vendian en sus tiendas.

Una universidad de excelencia formaba a las futuras élites de muchos reinos del mundo en todas las disciplinas. Gracias a un sistema de integración racional de los extranjeros que benefician del pleno derecho a trabajar en cualquier sitio y profesión, se les juzgaba según su saber hacer o su experiencia para incrementar el desarrollo del reino y no según su color, orígen u otro tipo de consideración. Ellos también, conscientes de su perfecta integración, jugaban su partitura a fondo contribuyendo al crecimiento del bienestar general por su trabajo y participación activa en la vida social y económica. Los conflictos se solucionaban en una audiencia pública presidida por el Rey Hachil delante del Consejo de los Ancianos y todo se solucionaba de manera amigable. Ciudadanos, nativos como extranjeros tenían derecho a pedir reparo a cualquier alto cargo, el Rey Hachil mismo se prestaba de maner alegre a lo que consideraba como el estado supremo de la expresión de los derechos universales.

Situado al final de la gran avenida el Palacio Real se extendía en el centro de la capital, como una espada de bienestar penetrando en el corazón de un pueblo feliz de la vida que les ofrecieron los dioses, a través de un Rey bueno y sabio. El palacio real era un edificio imponente con sus cinco torres, sus jardines grandes que se extendían a sus pies como una reverencia de la naturaleza a su majestuosidad. Al entrar en el centro del edificio principal se encontraba la sala de recepción, inmensa con sus paredes decoradas con los más finos tejidos cosidos con hilos de oro y plata y bordados con diamantes. Todo el edificio estaba enteramente hecho de mármol, vidrio y oro. Al fondo del salon principal había dos escaleras que formaban un círculo abierto. La escalera de la derecha llevaba a los apartamentos de los reyes, y la de la izquierda a las otras alas del palacio. Es en este mundo feliz donde se desarrollara una de las historias más terribles nunca vividas.

En este momento, en el palacio de los milagros; situado en la parte más secreta de la selva, donde ningún humano había penetrado antes, salvo la adivina, Tama y el Rey Hachil, Las brujas tenían la reunión de su Consejo Superior para decidir el futuro del reino de Lindian, Y, de quién debía ser heredero del trono y de los secretos de las civilizaciones.

LA MUERTE DEL REY HACHIL

En una noche de invierno oscura y fría, todas las poblaciones de Lindian estaban esperando con una gran tristeza las noticias que les llegaban sobre el estado de evolución de la salud de su jefe supremo en Arden.

En efecto, el rey Hachil esta a punto de morir y todos los médicos que lo visitaron estaban desmoralizados puesto que ningún tratamiento podía frenar la agravación de la misteriosa enfermedad que lo mataba poco a fuego lento. En su apartamento situado en la torre central se reunieron las mujeres del Rey, sus hijos, su médico personal y Tama la adivina.

Hani, primera mujer del Rey, inquieta se dirigió al médico de su marido:

- ¡Doctor!

- Alteza - contestó el doctor con una gran reverencia.

_ ¿Cómo se encuentra nuestro esposo y Rey?

- ¡Bueno, eh, bueno! vamos a ver -balbucía el doctor.

- ¡habla sin miedo, te lo ordeno!, lo que debe pasar, pasara, hemos conocido peores momentos que un banal resfriado de nuestro ser querido Rey dijo hani.

El doctor levanta su mano derecha, se pone a acariciar su bigote nerviosamente, paseando de la ventana a La cama del rey y de la cama a la ventana, como si estuviera buscando algo. En un momento se paro, debe ser un gran peso para el anunciar el fin de la vida de un hombre tan importante como lo era su majestad. Decidido, se da la vuelta para encarar a la familia real que lo miraba con mucha inquietud:

-De verdad, lo que le voy a decir no os gustara oírlo, pero, así lo han decidido los dioses. Nuestro maestro esta a punto de despedirse de este mundo antes del amanecer. Su alma subirá al barco que le llevara al país de los sueños eternos.

Ante estas palabras todo el mundo permanece callada, las lágrimas empiezan a salir de los ojos de los que asistan a los últimos momentos de un rey bueno y amado de su pueblo.

El cuarto se volvió mas frió a pesar del fuego de leña que los sirvientes prendieron en la chimenea que estaba en un rincón al fondo de la sala. En un instante de lucidita, el rey, con un gran esfuerzo y ayudado por sus hijos se sentó en la cama, recorrió toda la estancia con sus ojos cansados como si estuviera buscando una respuesta a lo que le estaba pasando en cada uno de los adornos y objetos que decoraban la habitación, tenía mucha peina a reconocer el imagen de esta triste persona que se reflejaba en el gran espejo de la pared que hacia frente a la cama donde descansa su cuerpo dolido, reflejo que no tiene nada que ver con el del poderoso soberano que celebraba hace solamente tres días su cumple año asistiendo majestuosamente al desfile de sus tropas delante de un pueblo rendido a sus pies. Al final, de un gesto resignado el moribundo hablo de una voz floja dirigiéndose a la asistencia: --¡Amigas, amigos!, fieles compañeros y compañeras, otros miembros de la familla real y a vosotros presentes en estos duros momentos, ¡Os habla vuestro rey!, ¡Alea jacta es!* nadie puede escapar a su destino. Agradezco a los dioses de haberme bendecidos con dos maravillosos hijos inteligentes y valientes, frutos del amor profundo con mis queridas mujeres. Antes de despedirme de vosotros, quisiera que me hable de lo que será el futuro de mi pueblo, ¡oh Tama! Fiel amiga y compañera de siempre. Tu Que oculta los secretos de los dioses, tu que le hablas de “tú a tu”. ¡Oh misterio de los tiempos!, dime que será del futuro para mis queridos servidores.

A estas palabras, sus ojos cansados por la enfermedad, se fijan con toda la expresión de la esperanza que tenía en las predicciones de esta mujer, Tama de la cual nadie sabe la edad exacta, se dice que nació diez años antes del fin de la antigua civilización o sea al menos ciento cincuenta años antes.

Después de una larga concentración durante la cual hablaba con seres invisibles

Tama se puso a desvelar el mensaje de los dioses:

-las dos estrellas al firmamento se enfrentaran, cuando el consejo de las brujas decidirá del futuro de los secretos de las civilizaciones, quien se hará elegir con las dos coronas dispondrá de poderes inmensos que harán de él maestro del mundo. Por eso, tus hijos serán los instrumentos de las fuerzas del mal y del bien. En estos tiempos de miedo, hambre y muerte el reino se dividirá y un día, del desierto saldrá la salvación, así se han pronunciado los dioses.

El rey Hachil, muy triste, dijo: ¡Qué tragedia, qué dolor puede superar, el de un padre y rey quien era un fiel dirigente, de ver que los hijos en quien tenía mucha esperanza para la continuación de su obra, de ellos llegará la destrucción del mismo! ¿Qué he hecho para merecer...esta... mala suerte?

-Tama triste intenta calmarlo: ¡Hachil!, Perdón majestad, no ha hecho nada malo, solo hay que saber que el fuego puede apagar al fuego, La destrucción llegó antes que estos tristes momentos y, la mano de la muerte está a tu lado.

-el rey (asustado) ¿Qué quieres decir... estimada concejera?

- El mal llegó de una conspiración (contesto Tama con una cara impasible pero su voz estaba firme)

Ante estas palabras todos los que estaban presentes, exclaman de una sola voz:

¿Conspiración?

El príncipe Rhode, hijo mayor del rey y de Hani, con rabia se exclamo: ¿Dónde están estos mal nacidos que quieren acabar con la vida de mi honorable padre? ¡Que salgan de las tinieblas y se enfrenten a mí, ahora mismo si son personas de valor!, Haní con calma pregunto: ¿Dime querida Tama, amiga mía, quiénes son los que quieren robarnos la vida de mi querido esposo?, Lorian (llorando y lamentándose), agregó: ¡Estas personas no merecen la vida!, ¿ que mal ha hecho mi querido padre para merecer tal fin, la fortuna o el poder suelen ser suficientes para acabar con la vida de un inocente quien, no ha hecho nada mas que desear la felicidad para su pueblo?.

Tama, contestándole dice: ¡Tranquilo!, la mano ejecutora de esta obra aparecerá dentro de un momento, y así todo el mundo sabrá la verdad, pero antes, hay que recordar que las apariencias engañan.

Inmediatamente después se oye alguien llamando a la puerta:

-Toc, toc.

- Tama gritando exasperada: ¡guardia, guardia!, ¿Quién está molestando a la familia real en tan dolorosos momentos? ¿No le había prevenido que no queríamos que se rompiera nuestra intimidad?

- La guardia: Perdón alteza, pero son el jefe Talud el cocinero, y el jefe del ejército, el general Crahan, que quieren ver os, uno para traeros la receta que le pidió el médico, y el otro para transmitir los mensajes del pueblo a su majestad.

- Tama: ¡Basta, basta, que entren!

Los dos anunciados penetran en la sala con el rostro triste, haciendo la reverencia para saludar a los reyes.

-El general Crahan, dijo: ¡Le presento, oh mi Rey, mis saludos, más respetuosos y los del pueblo. Como una sola voz, todos los territorios que componen vuestro reino; del este al oeste, del norte al sur, de la selva a la sabana, hasta en las tierras secas del desierto de Tundu; todos los habitantes le desean una pronta mejoría de su estado de salud. Si mueres, nada ni nadie podrá compensar su ausencia, entonces majestad, que los Dioses le ayuden.

-El Rey Hachil, respondió: ¡Gracias general!, ha sido el pacificador de los bárbaros, el que imponía ley y orden en mis territorios, conquistándolos uno por uno, Día y noche a mi lado. Por eso; Delante de la familia real; ordeno que al morirme, te conceden el título de Duque de la tierra que elegirás entre los territorios de la selva y el desierto de Tundu. Pero estoy preocupado por lo que me cuenta Tama, que después de mi muerte llegará la felicidad, pero antes habrá hambre, muerte y destrucción de las relaciones dentro de mi misma familia, precisamente entre mis dos hijos para la sucesión. Lo más preocupante es que, una conspiración que tiene por objeto el cumplimiento del deseo de los Dioses será el origen de mi enfermedad, y que la verdad saldrá de uno de los que debían entrar en esta sala en este momento precisamente, y seréis vosotros, tú y el jefe cocinero.

Ante esto, el General Crahan, le respondió con la cara crispada por la sorpresa que le procuro el rey pronunciando tales palabras: ¿Entonces, sospechas de mi lealtad? ¡Oh Rey!

-El rey Hachil con los ojos entrecerrados: ¡Tama nos lo dirá!

En el centro de la habitación había una mesa donde se depositaba todo lo que el rey Hachil pedía de comida, recetas o bebidas.

Acercándose a la mesa, el jefe cocinero dejó la bandeja con las recetas e intentó escapar. Inmediatamente con su voz autoritaria, el General Crahan, llama a la guardia: ¡Guardia, guardia, pare y traernos al jefe cocinero!

La guardia ejecutó las órdenes y cogieron al cocinero por detrás y lo levantaron hasta que sus pies no tocaran suelo; el pobre, muerto de miedo, se le temblaba todo el cuerpo, sus ojos color ámbar parecían salir de sus órbitas, Su gran bigote disimulaba apenas el rictus de su boca, y se veían sus dientes mal cuidados apareciendo de vez en cuando buscando respirar, debido a la presión de su vestido tirándole por detrás y que le cogía por delante la garganta, cortándole la respiración.

Cuando la guardia lo dejó en el suelo; delante de la sorpresa general, empezó a respirar a fondo y a aletear.

Tama de una mirada penetrante con sus ojos azules y su cara deformada por el enfado, comenzó a gritar: ¡Dinos la verdad!!!

¿Qué verdad?, ¡Oh Majestad! – Respondió el jefe cocinero- ¡Te lo juro delante de los Dioses que no sé nada!

Tama, más amenazante aún, lo miró profundamente en sus ojos, e inmediatamente se veía al pobre hombre sacudido por violentas convulsiones.

Tama gritando: ¡Dinos la verdad o cállate en la muerte para siempre!!

El jefe cocinero, lamentándose, sacudido por fuertes espasmos con la respiración entrecortada, suplicando: ¡por favor, basta! Si me dejas hablare.

Era como si con solamente una mirada suya, la bruja estrangulaba al pobre cocinero.

El Rey Hachil lleno de compasión le dijo a la bruja: ¡basta! Déjalo hablar.

Cuando la adivina apartó su terrible mirada, el jefe cocinero, de milagro, recobra la normalidad, desapareciendo los espasmos y el dolor.

Queridos amigos, espero que os gusto este pequeño extracto, estamos esperando recibir sus comentarios y reacciones con mucho impaciencia.

Un sejour ideal au Senegal

2012-12-30T04:35:00.000-08:00

Salut a tous,

Apres quelques mois de repos je reprend de l'activite pour vous compter les detailles du merveilleux voyage que j'ai effectue au Senegal du 20 octobre au quatre Novemre 2012.

A vrais dire vous me manquiez tous , et je mourais d'envie de vous retrouver tous .

En effet on est sortie de l'aeroport Madrid Barajas le 20 octobre a 17h 30mn a bord d'un vol Iberia, sous un climat agite avec pluies et une vague d'air froid qui annonçait l'arrivee de l'automne.

A notre arrivee a l'aeroport de Dakar yoff on avait une temperature de 35º, ces sosu cette chaleur acablante que nous avons rallier la ville de Thies a 75 kilometres de Dakar pour revoir les parents et amis, un vrais palisir de retrouver tous ceux que l'on aime emn bonne sante.
Mais aussi on a eu notre dose de tristesse pour ceux qui nous ont quites , et pour savoir aussi que mon ancien college primaire est dans un etat de delabrement tres avances sans que les autorites locales puissent y remedier faute de moyens.

Le 22 octobre on s'est rendu a Fatick a 120 km de Thies pour visiter ma famille maternelle et des amis qui vivent dans cette charmante et chalereuse ville. Mais vue que nous etions soumis a une vague de chaleur humide qu ne descendait pas des 35º constant, a notre retour a Thies, on a eu la brillante idee de faire un dettour sur la station toristique de Saly Portudal ou l'on est reste trois merveilleux jour de relax et fargnente, sous l'ombre des beaux palmiers de l'hotel Savana Coumba, dont le personnel nous acceullie avec beaucoup de gentillesse et une disponibilite total, nous profittons de l'occasionn pour les saluer tous tant qu'ils sont, surtout Mrs Badji et Augusin Ndong gerents et membre du conseil d'administration qui s'occupent directement et de maniere personnelle des clients.

Nos journees a l'hotel se deroulaient de la maniere suivate: on se reveillait a 10h pour prendre un bon brunch avec le chef de la cuisine qui etait tout le temps sur place offrant a ceux qui le desirait sa merveilleuse recette d'omelette au bacon de boeuf ou porc.
Apres le petit dejeuner on allait faire un petit tour au village de saly , ou on alllait directement a la piscine pour en profiter jusqu'a l'heure du dejeuner.
apres le manger on se payait une pette sieste avant d'aller nous connecter a internet pour repondre aux nombreux courriers qui nous arrivent chaque jours de part de nos amis et parents.

Le soir on allait souvent a la plage qui a 100metres pour en profiter le maximum possible , vue le peu de temps que l'on avait .

Ah n'oubliez pas surtout de profiter des multiples activites nauticas dont vous pouvez disposer, ainsi que les rendonnees et autres visites ux parques naturelles et autres sites d'interets historiques et touristiques de la zonne, en zodiac, moto quads, moto acuatique, tout terrain ou simplement en bicyclette, on peut vivre miltitudes d'avatures et activites res nteressantes, il s'agit tout juste d'en parler avec la direction de l'hotel ou votre tour operateur.

Le 24 octobre on etait de retour sur Thies pour passer la fete du Tabaski ou Eid el Kebir avec toute la famille, hehehe...... nous ne pouvions pas le perdre une annee de plus , un vrais banquet avec de la grillade de viande de moutons et autres delices typiquement Afroarabes...........

Dakar nous a acceullie du 30 octobre jusqu'a notre retour, on a pu visiter le parque zoologique de hanne qui est niche dans un cadre idilique qui invite au relax et a la contemplation pour tous les amoureux de la nature .

L'ile de Goree, un tourment de sentiments, saveurs et couleurs, vrais havre de paix batis sur les cendres d'un passe de plusieurs siecles de esclavitude, haine et brutalite humaine, devenu un symbole d'amitie, alliance, paix et rencontre entre les peuples et civilisations.

A la decouverte de la faune et flore de Dakar, en plein centre ville de la capitale senegalaise se niche un sanctuaire naturel spectaculaire

Ue soiree relaxe dans un parque d'atraction de Dakar

Dans le future nous prevoyons y retourner avant fin 2013, et ce sera une occasion pour que ceux qui veulent decouvrire le Senegal puissent le faire de maniere comode et accessible a toutes les bourses.

En effet nous vous offrons la posibilite de decouvrire le Senegal a travers ses trois types de micro climats(savane, Stepe et mangrove ) a partir de 1300 euros si vous residez en espagne et 1500 euros si vous residez dans un autre pays d'Europe (hebergement,transport, assurance voyage, visites guidees et voyage aller et retour inclus pour une duree minimum de 8 jours).

YA HEMOS VUELTO

2012-12-14T04:00:00.004-08:00

Hola Amigos y seguidores,

Estoy convencido de que os he faltado durante todos estos dias que he quedado sin publicar algo nuevo en el blog, pero nos os procupais, he regresado de un largo e interesante viaje que me ha llevado a senegal, y , dentro de unos dias, empezaremos a aniamar de nuevo este espacio con novedades acerca de cultura, arte, noticias , diversiones de Senegal y España, asi que habra muchos videos y fotos ineditos, descubrireis rincones increibles de Senegal , entonces no podeis faltar a nuestra proxima cita, os esperamos todos, aqui en el mejor blogg tematico.

Felices Navidades!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Por que el proyecto Libertad I de viaje solidario

2012-08-27T08:59:00.000-07:00

La región de Thies es la segunda mas importante del Senegal, está limitada al norte por la región de Louga,al sur por la región de Diourbel y Fatick, al Oeste por el Océano Atlántico y al Este por la región de Diourbel. Tiene una superficie de 6601km2 repartidos entre 03 provincias (Thies, Mbour y Tivaouane) y diez comarcas. Cuenta con 43 colectividades locales repartidas de la siguiente manera: 1 región, 11 comunas y 31 comarcas. La región de Thies es un centro importante en la red ferroviaria (sede de la compañía nacional ferroviaria). Su población esta estimada a 1,385,058 habitantes en 2005 representando el 13% de la población nacional. Con una tasa de crecimiento del 2,5%, es la segunda región la más poblada del país, después de Dakar la capital de Senegal. Aproximadamente 44% de la población es urbana. La proporción de mujeres es de 52% y la de los jóvenes de menos de 20 años, el 60%. Por su situación geográfica, Thies es tradicionalmente una ciudad de migración o de transito para la migración hacia las zonas agrícolas o costeras (donde se concentra la mayor parte de la actividad económica del país), u hacia las zonas de embarque para la inmigración hacia Europa. En el ámbito educativo, la oferta esta diversificada en la región gracias a la presencia de todos los ciclos de formación académico con: -248 Guarderías -706 escuelas elementarios con unos efectivos de 205.192 alumnos y un personal de 4.430 agentes -102 establecimientos de la enseñanza Media y secundaria reagrupando un efectivo de 17.241 alumnos -3 Escuelas superiores de las cuales una escuela politécnica y una universidad regional. La tasa de escolarización de la región es de 39% de los cuales 13% de chicas y mujeres. Con una tasa de ocupación profesional del 10% de la población activa,la región de Thies esta fuertemente castigada por una situación económica y social que se degrada de manera continua a causa de la grave crisis financiera que vive el país relacionada con la perdida de valor mercantil del fosfato( la principal fuente de ingreso de la región) hay que añadirle el problema de escaces de los recursos que experimenta el sector de la pesca. La situación descrita tiene unas consecuencias dramáticas sobre ámbitos sociales estratégicos como la salud y la educación.
El proyecto Libertad I encuentra una de sus principales justificaciones por lo que en Senegal,el mantenimiento de parte del material y de las infraestructuras de los centros educativos se hace gracias a cotas periódicas que deben abonar los padres por el intermediario de las A.M.P.As o vertiéndola directamente a las administraciones de los centros escolares , tales cotas pueden alcanzar la suma de 19.700 C.f.a(moneda local) anual por alumno, o sea un importe equivalente al 50% o 100% de los ingresos mensual de una familia desfavorecida,cuando sabemos que el salario mínimo que percibe un trabajador esta situado entre 10.000 C.f.a y 40.000 C.f.a(moneda local) o sea entre16 y 61 euros al mes , por unas familias compuestas al menos de cinco (u a veces) hasta 10 hijos de los cuales al menos cuatro están cruzando estudios de la enseñanza media o segundaria( E.S.O y bachillerato) con solo uno de los padres trabajando( hay que anotar que según fuentes del ministerio de educación de este país, el 78% de sus programas están financiados por diferentes órganos del gobierno central mas la contribución de las familias(referirse a la pagina web del ministerio de educación de Senegal en su parte dedicada a la financiación de los proyecto educativos) en este sentido cualquiera iniciativa que tenga como resultado una mejora del material informatica tendrá una cierta repercusión positiva en los costes como la calidad de la educacion ,y sobre las finanzas de las familias . Por otra parte el material facilitado a los liceos y institutos de Thies/Senegal beneficiarios,les permitirá desarrollar junto con sus homologas Extremeños actividades paralelas encaminadas en un proceso de Educación al Desarrollo a través de un programa de sensibilización acerca de problemas sociales que les afectan como pueden ser: el problema de la escolarización, los problemas de la mujer, los problemas del desarrollo, la salud( sida, paludismo etc.)

The Social Angels Concept "Liberty 1" social project initiative

2012-08-13T16:46:00.000-07:00

Dear Followers,

It's an honor and great pleasure to present you The "Sofree - Solibre" social initiative, a new concept which would be an alternative, in the way of leading and growing social iniciativs. That would be our first contribution in the fight against under developpment and poverty all around the world, and more exactly in Senegal. In order to archieve that target, we promoved a first action which consist to organize a solidary travel to Senegal in order to help purpils of the Malick Sy High School of the region of Thies (Senegal). We are trying to get 20 voluntary to participate to that travel iniciative, making financial aportation of 1700 euros if you are living in spain, and 2500 euros if you live in england, france, italy, germany and the rest of the schengen area. 3000euros if you are frome the rest of european continent.If you are frome other continent like America or australia, the aportation will depend manely on the cost of travel fees, frome your country to Senegal. Aportations will cover fees of travel and staying during 8 days in Senegal,the setlling of an multimedia comunication systeme in the NTIC hall of the malick Sy Highschool, will be for an great help to pupils and profesors, and will improve language and new technologies skills,that will be very important if we know that many of them didn't have any point of connection of internet or technical means to get a good approach of the new technologies mater. Travel will take place frome march 29 to april,5 of 2013, if you think hat you'll not be able to join us, you can make an financial aportation feeling the right case below, be sure that will be for a great help to archive our target.
Part of that money will serve to start a microcredit project to help mothers of he Malick Sy's Pupils who are under social risk situation, to get settle economical acctivity in order to be financially independent and be able to support by them selvs her sons and daughters fees of studies .
If you contribute to that inciative, you'll be rewaerd with an honorifical Title of "social Angel of senegales Education System" signed by the academicals authority and representents of pupils and profesors of the Malick Sy High School.
You'll be able too to follow each day actions that we make on the ground there in Sengal by pics, documents and videos that we'll daily upload and post in to this blog.

Thanks to be a Social Angel.

Tablon de Publicacion de Actividades "SOLIBRE"

2012-08-06T09:56:00.001-07:00

Contacto:
Promotor: Alioune D. Ndour
Tel: 637156494
e.mail: adienendour@gmail.com

PRESENTACION DEL PROYECTO LIBERTAD I

Hola a todos(as),

Como os lo habíamos prometido, aquí tenéis detalles de la primera iniciativa que os presentamos en el marco del concepto “SOLIBRE”.
Se trata de un viaje solidario por libre que queremos organizar para contribuir a la mejora de las condiciones de vida y estudio de jóvenes adolescentes alumnos del Liceo Malick Sy de Thies (Senegal), para que puedan seguir estudiando, mejorando al mismo tiempo sus conocimientos y habilidades lingüísticas.
Debemos dejar de manera muy clara y sincera que esta iniciativa es personal, y no compromete en nada ninguna institución de las que nos referimos en el presente documento, hasta que tengamos el número de participantes y los recursos financieros necesarios para su puesta en marcha, momento en el que se firmara acuerdos formales de colaboración con la Ong “Toit du Monde “ Senegal, las autoridades administrativas del Liceo Malick Sy e la inspección de academia representando el misterio de Educación de Senegal en el Departamento (provincia) de Thies.

Ficha Técnica:

Actividad:
Viaje solidario libre de tipo privado, de ayuda a la mejora la calidad de enseñanza de alumnos en situación de vulnerabilidad social de centros de enseñanza secundaria de la región de Thies (Senegal).

Promotor: Alioune D. Ndour en colaboración con la Ong “Toît du monde Senegal”
Coordinación: Alioune Diene Ndour (Técnico en cooperación Internacional al Desarrollo)
Lugar de desarrollo de la actividad: Ciudad de Thies (región de Thies - Senegal).
Alojamiento: Ciudad balnearia de Saly portudal y ciudad de Thies (región de Thies - Senegal).

Perfil de los participantes:
Pueden participar a esta actividad hombres y mujeres que sean mayores de 18 años de edad, en buen estado de salud, disponiendo de todas sus facultades mentales y físicas para decidir por si mismos.
Duración:
La duración de la formación será de 10 días repartidos de la siguiente manera:
Una fase preparatoria presencial de 2 días (un fin de semana), y la fase de ejecución del proyecto sobre el terreno de 8 días.
Fecha de inicio:
El inicio del programa esta previsto para el mes de Enero 2013 con la primera fase o fase preparatoria.

Fecha de finalización:
El programa se finalizara con la segunda fase que durara 07 días (del 29 de marzo al 5 de Abril 2013), con la parte práctica en Senegal; incluido un programa de visitas en sitios de interés turístico y cultural.
Numero de Participantes deseado:
20 Mujeres y hombres de Mayores de 18 años y más

Objetivos:
Objetivo General:
Iniciar a los participantes al mundo de la cooperación de manera practica, con un enfoque basado sobre las realidades sociales, económicas y culturales de Senegal.

Objetivos específicos:
-    Iniciación teórica a las realidades sociales, económicas y culturales de los países Africanos en concreto de Senegal desde el descubrimiento de los problemas que conocen los adultos para seguir su cursis escolar.

-    participar de manera directa a la realización de un proyecto de Cooperación al Desarrollo, con la puesta en marcha de un sistema de videoconferencia y un fondo de microcrédito para madres de alumnos en situación de exclusión social.

Resultados esperados:
Al finalizar la formación los participantes tendrán un conocimiento, general, teórico como practica sobre los problemas del desarrollo, la cooperación internacional al desarrollo y sus actores, el trabajo que estos últimos llevan a cabo en el terreno y particularmente acerca de las realidades senegalesa.

Metodología:
Con una duración de 10 días divididos en Tres fases:

A. Primera fase:
Consistirá en un en un encuentro de dos días, que aprovecharemos para preparar psicológicamente y moralmente a los participantes, será también la ocasión de una formación inicial práctica a la cooperación que abordara los siguientes temas:
1. El Problema del Desarrollo en el mundo.
2. Actores de la Cooperación Internacional en Europa y Senegal.
3. las realidades sociales, económicas y culturales de Senegal desde un enfoque cronológico del periodo comprendido entre la época pre-colonial, colonial y post - colonial.
4. Los problemas que favorecen el fracaso escolar de adolescentes en Senegal y sus consecuencias.
5. Iniciación a la cultura Senegalesa y al wolof (idioma senegalés).

B. Secunda fase:
Con una duración total 8 días, la parte practica se desarrollara en Senegal, donde contamos con la colaboración de “Toit du Monde” Senegal, una entidad con larga trayectoria en el ámbito de la Cooperación Internacional al desarrollo, pero también contaremos con la colaboración del liceo malick Sy de Thies.
Esta fase se dividirá en tres partes distintas:

1.    Instalación y puesta en marcha del equipo multimedia:
La dotación de un equipo de videoconferencia a la sala multimedia del Liceo Malick Sy de Thiés será un premier proyecto al que seguirán otras actuaciones del mismo tipo, que permitirán a que establecimientos secundarios de la región de Thies (Senegal), puedan disponer de sistema de comunicación que les ayudara a desarrollar actividades de aulas comunes virtuales, con otros institutos de África y del mundo, facilitando el proceso de aprendizaje y practica de idiomas extranjeras por el alumnado y profesorado beneficiario.
Este proceso de apertura hacia el mundo del siglo XXI gracias a las nuevas tecnología tendrá un impacto positivo en la calidad de la enseñanza y aprendizaje del que beneficia el alumnado y profesorado, pero también , influirá de manera positiva en las economías domesticas de sus familias, teniendo en cuenta que los procesos de búsqueda y aprendizaje siguen haciéndose de manera virtual en Senegal a saber a través libros y otros materiales didácticos que no son siempre actualizados, lo que implica un problema de fiabilidad del contenido de las enseñanzas no solamente para los alumnos, pero también para el profesorado.

2.    Puesta en marcha de un proyecto de microcrédito para madres de alumnos en situación precaria:
Al mismo tiempo que procederemos a la puesta en marcha del equipo de videoconferencia del liceo Malick Sy, organizaremos varios encuentros con la AMPA, la Ong “toit du monde” y representantes de la dirección del Liceo para definir las normas que deben presidir a la puesta en marcha del programa de microcrédito destinado a madres de alumnos en situación de riesgo de desarraigo social.
Esta iniciativa permitirá a mejorar las condiciones de existencia de alumnas y alumnos cuyas familias tienen problema para subvenir a gastos relacionados con sus estudios, contribuyendo de este modo a que no abandonen su carrera escolar para dedicarse a trabajar para sustentar a sus familias, o casarse de manera forzada, como en el caso de las alumnas.
Se organizar también visitas a casa de algunos alumnos para que los participantes puedan medir el alcance e impacto de esta iniciativa en la vida de los beneficiarios.

3.    Encuentro de evaluación y reflexión sobre perspectivas futuras:
Par ampliar la experiencia adquirida a otros Liceos de la región de Thies y de Senegal en general, con la participación de las diferentes partes implicadas, junto con el grupo de cooperantes que participaran a la realización del proyecto.

C. Tercera y última fase:
Esta parte del proyecto consistirá en cuatros días de viaje de descubierto de sitios de interés cultural y turística de la Región de Thies y Dakar. El viaje a Senegal se terminara con esta última actividad.

Notas:
-    Después de la realización de todas las acciones solidarias previstas, se procederá a una ceremonia oficial de clausura, ocasión que aprovecharan las autoridades regionales de la enseñanza, el cuerpo directivo del liceo Malick Sy, responsables de la ong “Toit du monde – Senegal”, para delibrar atestaciones de participación a todos los que trabajaron a la realización del proyecto.
-    Participantes que quieren asistir de manera presencial a la formación inicial de la primera fase, se harán cargo de los gastos de viaje (transporte ida y vuelta). Los gastos de estancia (alojamiento y comida) correrán a cargo de la organización, los que lo desean podrán recibir a través de sus correos electrónicos la documentación relativa a esta dos primera sesión con la dirección electrónica del responsable del curso con quien podrán contactar por e-mail o teléfono por si les haga falta mas informaciones o hacer consultas acerca del curso.

Condiciones de participación:
-Ser mayor de edad
-Si no somos ciudadanos de países que tienen convenios u tratos privilegiados con Senegal que nos pueda permitir viajar hacia este país con una estancia de hasta 90 días, estar en las posibilidades de negociar el o los visados y autorizaciones necesarias para viajar (en todo caso estaremos listo a facilitarles los documentos justificantes necesarias así como tener contacto con las autoridades consulares de Senegal en su país de residencia para encontrar una solución en caso de que haya un problema), en cualquier caso consultarlo con el consulado o embajada senegalés mas cercano a su zona de residencia.
- Firmar el acuerdo de participación que os facilitaremos.
-Poder confirmar por documento medico o atestación escrito por el propio solicitante de estar en las condiciones físicas, sanitarias y mentales para participar al tipo de actividad propuesta.
- Estar al corriente y cumplir con las vacunaciones y tratamientos sanitarios necesarios para efectuar el viaje.

Precios:
-    El coste aproximado del curso será de 1.700euros para los participantes españoles que saldrán desde España, entre 1900 y 2500 euros para los que salen desde otros países o continentes (billete de avión Madrid-Dakar ida y vuelta, mas estancia, comida, alojamiento, material didáctico y seguro de viaje, actividades turísticas y culturales incluidas) durante 8 días

-    Para facilitarle su participación hemos decidido que el pago se hará en dos etapas: debéis ingresar un primer pago que corresponderá al 60% de la suma total antes del 26 de Enero del 2013 y la otra mitad a lo mas tarde el 15 de Marzo de 2013 en el numero de cuenta que os facilitaremos junto con la ficha de solicitud.
-    Además de los documentos didácticos se le mandara de manera totalmente gratis un pequeño guía más un léxico en el cual tendrán toda la información sobre Senegal y las Zonas donde estaremos, incluso una guía de conversación en francés, castellano y wolof (lengua más popular de Senegal) para facilitar su comunicación con las poblaciones locales.

Nota:
-    Gastos relacionados con las vacunas obligatorias así como el trayecto de las ciudades de origen al aeropuerto de salida estarán a cargo de los participantes.
-    En caso de que desee renunciar se le devolverá las sumas ingresadas menos los gatos referentes a la parte preparatoria, edición y envió del material didáctico facilitado, así como gastos de transferencia bancaria, si la renuncia se hace dos meses antes de la salida hacia Senegal (a lo mas tarde a final de febrero del 2013).
-    Si la renuncia se hace después de las fechas establecidas se hará una retención suplementaria que equivaldrá al 10% más los gastos relacionados con el material, así como las tasas definidas para el rembolso del billete de avión por parte de la compañía aérea. Si queréis Saber mas acerca de esta iniciativa, podéis entrar en contacto con nosotros a través el correo electrónico, el número de teléfono que aparecen al en las ultimas lineas del presente documento, o dejandonos su comentario en la casilla correspondiente con un e.mail de contacto donde podremos enviaros una ficha de inscripción que nos devolvereis rellena, en esta misma ficha encontrareis el numero de cuenta y las instrucciones para ingresar sus cotas de participación.

Conclusión:
Como lo podéis constatar la presenta acción formativa se quiere la mas practica, efectiva e interactiva posible.
No se tratara solamente de considerar los participantes como simples receptores, pero al contrario, serán ellos mismos protagonistas de esta acción, en el sentido de que en casi todas las fases de su construcción hasta el final y la evaluación posterior, se le asociara en los procesos de toma de decisión sobre todo en lo que se trata de la planificación de la formación así como las tareas practicas que se llevaran a cabo sobre el terreno.
Queremos también asegurar os que este programa esta estudiado de tal manera que cuando uno finaliza la parte de formación sobre el terreno y que regresa a España, tenga la certeza de haber contribuido de manera directa a la mejora de las condiciones de vida de los pueblos donde se desarrollaran las actividades.

No terminare sin informar os de que, aunque no estais dispuesto aa participar de maera fisica a esta campaña solidaria, necesitaremos siempre de su apoyo para poder llevarlo a cabo, asi que os agradeceremos mucho cualquier contribución finnciera que se hara en este sentido.
Gracias por no olvidarse de los que no tienen voz.

FICHA DE INSCRIPCIÓN
NOMBRE Y APELLIDO(S)*
Nombre 1º Apellido 2º Apellido
Fecha de nacimiento
Mes Día Año
E-mail*
Número de teléfono*
- Código de área Número de teléfono

Dirección*

Dirección
Línea de la Calle Dirección 2
Ciudad	Estado / Provincia
Código Postal	País

CONDICIONES DE PARTICIPACIÓN:

Al rellenar este documento manifiesto haber leído, conocer y estar de acuerdo con los terminos y condiciones definidos en el, que son los siguientes:

1. El proyecto de viaje solidario a favor de una educación secundaria de calidad a favor del alumnado del Liceo malick sy de la region de Thiès (Senegal) es una inciativa personal e individual promovida por l señor Alioune Diene Ndour, unico responsable y contale del mismo.

2. Es una iniciativa destinada a adultos a partir de 18 años de edad y más, que disponen de todas sus facultades para poder decidir por si mismo.

3.Para hacer efectiva su participación a esta iniciativa los participantes deben cumplir con los siguientes requsitos ademas de ser mayor de 18 años y disponer de todas sus facultades para decidir por si mismo:

a. Estar de acuerdo y cumplir con los principios y normas definidas por el organizador antes, durante y despues del desrrollo de la actividad.

b. hacer efectiva su adhesión ingresando la suma definida al efecto en el número de cuenta indicada por el organizador.

c. Si no somos ciudadano de paises que beneficián de acuerdos que permitán a sus ciudadanos viajar a Senegal sin visado, comprometerse a obtener el mismo( se puede saber si su nacionalidad le permite viajar a Senegal sin visado consultando autoridades consulario de su pais, o entrando en contacto con nosotros).

d. No estar bajo interdicción de viajar a senegal en las fechas en las que se desarrollara el proyecto.

e. Cumplir con las nomas sanitarias definidas por la orgaización referiendose a normas en materia de viajes aerea internacionales de la Organizacion Mundial de la Salud (vacunas, tratamientos profilacticos etc.).

f. No transportar ningun tipo de producto u substancia peligroso prohibido por la ley(armas,drogas,peliculas y material con contenido sexual, explosivos etc).

g. participantes que padecen de enfermedades necesitando de una medicación continua deben traer con ellos el tratamiento prescrito por su medico de cabecera (medicamentos, injecciones, etc.)

Otras condiciones:

-Si no somos ciudadanos de países que tienen convenios u tratos privilegiados con Senegal que nos pueda permitir viajar hacia este país con una estancia de hasta 90 días, estar en las posibilidades de negociar el o los visados y autorizaciones necesarias para viajar (en todo caso estaremos listo a facilitarles los documentos justificantes necesarias así como tener contacto con las autoridades consulares de Senegal en su país de residencia para encontrar una solución en caso de que haya un problema), en cualquier caso consultarlo con el consulado o embajada senegalés mas cercano a su zona de residencia.

- Rellenar y firmar la ficha de participación.

-Poder confirmar por documento medico o atestación escrito por el propio solicitante de estar en las condiciones físicas, sanitarias y mentales para participar al tipo de actividad propuesta.

- Estar al corriente y cumplir con las vacunaciones y tratamientos sanitarios necesarios para efectuar el viaje.

Precios:

-    El coste aproximado del curso será de 1.700euros para los participantes españoles que saldrán desde España, entre 1900 y 2500 euros para los que salen desde otros países o continentes (billete de avión Madrid-Dakar ida y vuelta, mas estancia, comida, alojamiento, material didáctico y seguro de viaje, actividades turísticas y culturales incluidas) durante 8 días

-    Para facilitarle su participación hemos decidido que el pago se hará en dos etapas: debéis ingresar un primer pago que corresponderá al 60% de la suma total antes del 26 de Enero del 2013 y la otra mitad, a lo mas tarde el 15 de Marzo de 2013 en el numero de cuenta que os facilitaremos junto con la ficha de solicitud.

-    Además de los documentos didácticos se le mandara de manera totalmente gratis un pequeño guía más un léxico en el cual tendrán toda la información sobre Senegal y las Zonas donde estaremos, incluso una guía de conversación en francés, castellano y wolof (lengua más popular de Senegal) para facilitar su comunicación con las poblaciones locales.

Durante el viaje:

a1. Los participantes son responsables de llegar por sus proprios medios y a la hora que se definira, al punto de encuentro acordado en el aeropuerto de salida del vuelo que se contratara.

b1. los participantes tendran suma precaucion de respectar de maera estricta,el numero de kilos de equipaje y numero de bultos que la compania de transporte acordara de manera individual a cada viajero.

c1. Cada uno tendra por si mismo la responsabilidad de vigilar sus pertenencias antes del registro en el mostrador de la compania, a la llegada, durante la estancia en Senegal y en el viaje de vuelta a España.

d1. Respectar las tradiciones, costumbres y a las poblaciones como autoridades locales en todo momento.

e1. La organización se hara cargo de los siguientes gastos:

e1.a. Gastos de comida y alojamiento durante la fase de preparación en España.

e1.b. Gastos de transporte del aeropuerto de salida a Senegal ida y vuelta mas seguro de viaje individual por cada participante.

e1.c. Gastos de alojamiento, comida y transporte en senegal( en marco de las actividades previstas por la organización y por todo el tiempo de estancia acordado).

e1.d. Visitas turisticas y actividades culturales previstas.

e1.e. Gastos relacionados con la ejecución del proyecto sobre el terreno ( material, consumible etc.)

e1.f. Las bebidas durante las comidas seran a cargo de la organización en el limite de las cantidades disponibles ( 1 refresco + una botella de agua).

e1.g. el menu de las comidas sera el definido por la orgaizaciòn, variando entre comidas europeos, españolas y africanas).

f. La organización no se hara responsable de otros gastos que no sean los definidos en este documento.

g. Las salidas fuera de la zona de residencia y fuera del programa como horario determinado por la organizacion, se haran con autorización prealable del responsable y la firma de un documento eximiendo nos de toda responsabilidad.

h. Las visitas y salidas se haran acompañados de alumos, profesores o miembros de la Ong "Toit du monde", bajo supervisión del responsablde la organización.

i. Obedeceremos a directivas, normas y recomendaciones que nos hara el responsable de la organización antes de salir del reciento y cuando estaremos dentro del reciento.

j. La organización no respldara incidentes o accidentes que se produciran por no cumplir con las normas y recomendaciones. En este sentido, participantes que tendran comportmientos que puedan peligrar su vida o la del resto del grupo, pueden ser expulsados de la expedición y retornado a España, dependiendo de la gravedad de los hechos, sin ninguna indemnización.

k. La limpieza e higiene individual sera a cargo de cada participante, segun las normas que se definiran en la guia de viaje que os facilitaremos.

l. Cada viajero recibira un kit de viaje que comprendera: Una camiseta de manga corta, una guia de viaje y conversacion y de un creencial.

m. Estara formalmente prohibido el consumo excesivo de alcohol, la venta o compra por propio consumo de drogas de todo tipo, el trato con prostitutas o menores de edad (estas ultimas actividades son castigadas de manera severa por la ley senegalesa).

n.participantes que sigan un regimen alimentario o dieta prescrito por razon de salud deben informar a la organización del mismo.

Condiciones de Reembolso o Devolcion:

En caso de que desee renunciar se le devolverá las sumas ingresadas menos los gatos referentes a la parte preparatoria, edición y envió del material didáctico facilitado, así como gastos de transferencia bancaria, si la renuncia se hace dos meses antes de la salida hacia Senegal (a lo mas tarde a final de febrero del 2013).

-    Si la renuncia se hace después de las fechas establecidas se hará una retención suplementaria que equivaldrá al 10% más los gastos relacionados con el material, así como las tasas definidas para el rembolso del billete de avión por parte de la compañía aérea. Si queréis Saber mas acerca de esta iniciativa, podéis entrar en contacto con nosotros a través el correo electrónico, el número de teléfono que aparecen al en las ultimas lineas del presente documento, o dejandonos su comentario en la casilla correspondiente con un e.mail de contacto donde podremos enviaros una ficha de inscripción que nos devolvereis rellena, en esta misma ficha encontrareis el numero de cuenta y las instrucciones para ingresar sus cotas de participación.

Suscripcion :

L sucripcion a esta activdad sera efectiva unicamente cuando el solicitante rellene todas las casillas del presente formulario y ingrese la suma definida para su participacion a esta cuenta del banco Santander : 00494866802395330477. Con la mencion " Viaje solidario Senegal 2013", hacernos llegar el presente formulario, haciendo clic en el boton "enviar" que se encuentra en la parte baja del prsente formulario.

Derechos,proteccion de datos y privacidad:

Los datos recopilados por el organizaor serviran unicamente a la estricta organizacion y puesta en marcha del proyecto, los participantes e usuarios tienen el derecho de pedir en cualquier momento que se borre o rectifica toda información relacionada con su persona.

Los datos no pueden ser, y no seran cedida a otra entidad o persona uera de la orgaiización.

Los participantes autorizan a la organizacion utilizar imagenes y sonidos grabados durante todo el desarrollo de la fases teoricas y practicas del proyecto. para publicaciones y reportajes que se difundiran en su proprio blog, siempre que estos elementos respecten el imagen de los prticipantes.
Should be Empty:

La Taquilla

2012-08-05T05:47:00.004-07:00

El 7 arte senegales es poco conocido o desconocido; para hacer descubrir os otra manera de interpretar y leer la vida, otra manera de hacer el cinema.
Sera un oportunidad de descubrir a pioneros del cinema africano a traves de extracto de peliculas de antologia que marcaron un antes y despues e la manera de analizar problemas la vida africana del dia al dia, espero que lo disfruteis.

ho descubrireis un extracto pelicula Guelwar de ousmane semben o un discurso que molesta y que seguira molestando a los que intentan aruinar el desino del pueblo africano.

News frome Senegal

2012-08-03T10:21:00.001-07:00

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in Dakar Tuesday evening for a two-day official visit to Senegal. Mrs. Clinton was met on arrival by Senegalese Foreign Minister Alioune Badara Cisse.

According to Senegal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the US Secretary of State was due to meet with President Macky Sall on Wednesday and then visit the Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD), among other engagements.

PANA reports that Senegal is the first stop in Secretary Clinton's 11-day swing across six African nations, which also include South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi and South Africa.

During the 31 July-10 Aug. trip, the Secretary of State will 'emphasize U.S. policy commitments outlined in the Presidential Policy Directive - to strengthen democratic institutions, spur economic growth, advance peace and security as well as promote opportunity and development for all citizens', the US State Department said.

"Solibre" ou comment devenir un social angel

2012-08-02T11:35:00.003-07:00

Bonjour chers amis,

Nous avons le plaisir de vous presenter un concept innovateur qui a pour objectif principal de donner du protagonisme aux bienfaiteurs et autres philantropes, et de les placer au milieu de l'action social, pour qu'ils puissent participer ou suivre pas a pas les resultats qui naitrons de leur soutient aux plus necessiteux.

En effet, nous avons constater que beaucoups de donneurs et bienfaiteurs ont souvent l'impression d'etre de simples avales financiers pour les Ongs, et que leur role consiste uniquement a mobiliser des fonds destiner a realiser des projets dont ils ignorent quelque fois la destination final et l'usage qui en a ete fait.

Le concept " Solibre" voudrais vous faire sentir protagoniste et participant directes d'actions solidaires au Senegal que ,nous pretendons appuyer et soutenir a partir de ce blog, en vous permettant de devenir des social- angels ou anges du social.

Pour se faire, nous prevoyons lancer bientot un systeme de collecte de fonds periodique, pour appuyer a des projets mener par des Ongs au Senegal dans des domaines tant varies et important comme: L'acompagnement et amelioration des conditions d'etude et de vie,d'adolescentes et adolescents issus de familles en risque d'exclusion sociale dans leur cursus scolaire, la lutte pour l'independance financiere de femmes et filles en risque d'exclusion sociale, la sensibilzation et mobilization au tour de la necessite de prendre en chargeles personnes agees atteint de maladies geriatriques mal connues comme l'alzheimer etc.

Les ations aux quelles seront destinees les fonds reçus seront executees directement par des ongs senegalaises specialisees en la matiere, que nous meme nous choisirons et vous proposerons lors des camagnes de collecte de fonds a fin que vous puissiez decider a travers une presentation video des ongs presentits pour mettre en oeuvre les projets.

Des que vous aurez elus une Ong sur base de la presentation video qu'il nous aura fait parvenir et que nous afficherons dans la page du blog qui sera dedie uiquement a ce theme, nous nous chargeront de leur faire parvenir les fonds recolter pour qu'ils puissent proceder a l'execution du dit projet, sous notre supervision continue, car nous nous deplaceront sur le terrain pour surveiller l'accomplissement des activites selon le plan prealablement prevu et pour le quel vous autres contributeurs et nous en qualite de facilitateur on les a choisis.

Pour se faire nous resterons sur le terrain tout au long de la phase d'execution du projet, et pour accomplir avec notre promesse de vous faire participer activement a toutes les les phases du projet, nous organiseront une reunion en videoconferance avec toutes les parties ue fois le projet inities pour que ceux qui auront contribuyer a sa realization puissent voir de leurs propres yeux les beeficiaires de leurs actions sans qu'ils ne soit necessaire de boujere de chez eux.

En plus, chaque jour que nous passeront au Senegal avec les beneficiaires, nous afficherons en fin de journee sur la page du blog destinee a ce sujet, photos et justificatifs des actions menee ce meme jour.

Quand le projet se finalizera, nous, l'Ong et les populations beneficiaires dcernerons un certificat quei attestera de la condition de social angel de chaqu'une et chaqu'un de ceux qui auront contribuyer finanierement a la realization du projet, et a partir de ce moment, ces bienfaiteurs ou social aangels pouront quand ils le voudront aller visiter les projets realises au senegal grace a leurs contributions, et en ce sens ils disposeront de notre collaboration et appui qui se resumera de la sorte:

1. Accompagnement dans tout le processus preparatif pour le voyage jusqu'a l'arrivee au Senegal.

2. Nous leurs offreront la posibilite de trouver des logements confortables a des prix abordables, ou la possibilite de loger gratuitement chez les populations beneficiaires du projet au quel il aura contribuyer, avec la seul condition qu'ils ou elles sprennent en charge leurs frais de trasport et restauration pour toute la duree du sejour.

3.Ils disposeront s'ils le souhaite d'un ou d'une accompagnant(e) qui leur servira de guide et aide durant tout leur sejour.

Nous ne termineront pas sans signaler que toutes les actions que nous entreprendrons seront faites en collaboration avec des antites sociales de Senegal legalement reconnues et sous supervision des autorites locales des zones ou se derouleront les projets.

Voila chers amis ce dont on voudrait que vous vous appropriez pour ne plus etre de simples bienfaiteurs, mais de veritables nges du monde social , reconnus et cosideres comme vous le meirtez.

La premiere campagne commencera a partir du lundi 6 aout 2012, ainsi que ne soyez pas pris au depourvu, soyez des premiers a adherer a cette iniciative qui est la votre.

SPANISH RECIPES

2012-08-01T11:59:00.001-07:00

Spanish Cuisine and receta of the week

Paella Recipe

Ingredients

250g rice
Half a green pepper and red pepper
2 peeled garlic cloves
¼ Onion
100g calamari
100g cuttlefish
12 clams
6 mejillones
6 cooked mussels
Handful of shrimps or prawns
150g chopped chicken
75g peas
1 chicken stock cube
Oil, Salt, Saffron and parsley

Elaboration

STEP 1:
Finely chop the onion and the garlic and gently fry them with a little oil (so they remain soft and don´t burn) in a paella pan or in a wide shallow saucepan.

STEP 2:
Cut the peppers into strips of 2cm2, add them to the pan, and stir until they are cooked.

STEP 3:
When the peppers have cooked add the chopped chicken, cuttlefish, calamari, clams, shrimps or prawns, the parsley, and a dash of white wine. Leave it to cook until it has reduced (i.e. the wine has evaporated).

STEP 4:
After the wine has been reduced add the rice and allow it to lightly fry so that it absorbs the flavors of the seafood and the chicken.

STEP 5:
Add water in proportion to the rice (usually for each cup of rice add two and a half cups of water). Also add the stock cube, a little chopped parsley, the saffron, peas, and salt to taste.

STEP 6:
When almost all of the water has evaporated add the cooked mussels and more salt if necessary. As soon as the water has evaporated turn off the heat and cover it with kitchen roll or a clean tea towel for 10-15minutes so that it marinates and absorbs some of the water.

Spanish Gazpacho recipe.

Ingredients (for 4 people):

1 Kilo tomatoes (preferable plum tomatoes)
1/2 small onion (60 grams)
1 small green pepper
1 small cucumber (the small chubby Spanish type)
1 small cup of olive oil

2 desert spoons of vinager
200 grams of bread from the day before, soaked in water
Small portions of diced tomatoes, red and green peppers, cucumber, onion and bread or croutons to sprinkle on top.

Steps:
1: Put the tomatoes, onion, pepper, cucumber, vinager, oil and bread into a liquidizer. If you want to dilute it, add a glass of water. Tip: if you want to go for a tangy garlic taste, add a small amount of fresh garlic to the mixture before liquidizing.
2: Put the mixture into a bowl, add salt and pepper and leave the gazpacho to chill for at least an hour. If you want to eat it straight away, you can put some ice cubes in to cool it down. Gazpacho is a Summer dish which is meant to hydrate and cool down your body. So the colder the better!!
3: Serve the gazpacho en soup bowls, with the portions of diced tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, onion, croutons etc on the table, so that everyone can add them to their bowl as they prefer. Tip: you can also sprinkle diced serrano ham or hard boiled egg.

Use quality ingredients:

Spain produces excellent fruit, vegetables and salad foods, so try and buy good quality ones. Go to the local market instead of your nearest supermarket, where you can get the freshest (and cheapest) produce. If it isn't Summer and you can't get plum tomatoes, go for the ripest and juciest ones available (see our page on tomatoes, and on raf tomatoes - in Spanish).

Tips/Secrets: Make sure you have enough time to put it in the fridge so that you can serve your gazpacho really chilled. Use quality produce. Vary the ingredients according to your personal taste. Gazpacho makes a delicious starter to a meal.

"SOLIBRE" o como ser angel del mundo social

2012-08-01T08:52:00.000-07:00

Hola a Todas y Todos ,

Queremos hacer os hoy participe de una iniciativa que podria cambiar vuestra manera de concibir la solidaridad y el mundo solidario en general.

Sabemos que muchas personas que de una forma u otra han participado en acciones solidarias se sienten marginalizados o engñados al finalizar el proyecto por el cual han aportdo su tiempo o su dinero.

Esta sensación esta reforzada por los siguientes factores:

1.El funcionamiento muy burocratizado de las grandes ONGs, que causa muchas veces a los donantes una sensación de engaño, debido a que esta situación puede dejar a pensar que estan alimentando una nueva raza de funcionarios que depende de una administracion paralela que se aprovecha de la desgrcia de los demás.

2. Aun que las Ongs intentan realizar un ejercicio de transparencia en la gestión de proyectos y programas que promuevan, no es facil para los donantes de poder averiguar la existencia y buea gestion de los mismos, debido a que muchas veces esto puede suponer gastos que la mayor parte de los donantes y simples ciudadanos no se pueden permtir costear, o por que deben sumeterse a semanas de sesiones de formación preparatoria, lo que puede suponer un tiempo que muchos no tienen por razones diversas.

3. la prensa y medios de comunicación no ayudan mucho a dispar est sospecha que planea sobre los actores del mundo de la solidaridad en general, por publicaciones de informaciones veraces o eroneas,que hacen parecer en sus espacios de difusión algunos de ellos y que no dejan en buen luegar a todos los que luchan para costruir un mundo mejor para todos.

Os preguntareis a saber que tiene que ver lo que vengo de decir y el concepto "Solibre" ? . Bién, "Solibre" o Solidario y libre es no solamente un slogan, peor tambien una filosofia, modo de vida y actitud que pretende contribuir a mejorar la percepción de donantes, filantropos y ciudadanos en general, hacia el mundo de la solidaridad y en particular hacia el labor que realizan las Ongs dentro y fuera de España, particularmente en Senegal.

Se trata de que personas interesadas a saber como se concretizan acciones solidarias sobre el tereno Senegal, puedan no solamente viajar hacia este pais a costes reducidos para colaborar directamente con una Ong senegalesa, pero lo mas importante para nosotros es que los interesados o interesadas se hagan actores directos participando a la realizacion de proyectos concretos destinados a una de nuestras poblaciones dianas, a saber : El mundo de la educación, los mayores y mujeres en situacion de peligro social etc... en calidad de " social angels " o angeles del mundo social.

El concepto de social agels es la cara antagonica del sistema de business angels ( personas que, para ayudar a portadores de proyectos empresariales que piensan que pueden ser de exito, les prestan el dinero necesario a la concretización de sus proyectos o ideas, bajo condicion de que los beneficiarios se comprometan a devolver el dinero prestado más intereses y comprometiendo parte de sus haberes o patrimonio como muestra de solvencia). El nuevo concepto de social angels se quiere totalmente filatropico , a saber que los que desean participar de esta inicitiva realizaran aportaciones y contribuciones financieras a campañas de recaudacion de fondos que llevaremos a cabo a través esta pagina web para contribuir a proyectos de desaarrollo que realizan ongs u asociaciones sin animo de lúcro de Senegal o que obran en este pais en algunos ambitos sociales que presentimos de interes como: la educación de jovenes adolescentes, salud y bien estar social de mayores y mujeres en riesgo de exclusió social, dolescentes sin empleo, la lucha contra enfermedades como la malaria, el cancer, el SIDA y enfermedades desconocidos en este pais y relacionadas con la vejeza como alzheimer etc.

Cada campaña de recaudación de fondos durara un tiempo determinado al final del cual realizaremos de manera personal el viaje a Senegal para remitir los fondos recaudadas a la organización o comunidad destinataria, luego seguiremos alli hasta que se ponga en marcha el proyecto de manera efectiva.

Durante todo este tiempo subiremos fotos y videos de la fase de ejecución del proyecto cada dia, y organizaremos video- chats abiertos a todos cada semana, con la posibilidd de todos los seguidores de participar en directo y realizar preguntas que piensán oportunas a beneficiarios y actores locales del proyecto.

Durante todo este tiempo os facilitaremos a cada etapa del proyecto, elementos justificativos de gastos realizados con vuestras aportaciones , luego a nuestro regreso, organizaremos una exposicion de fotos y videos virtual a traver una pagina de este blog que dedicaremos de manera exclusiva a este fin.

Todos los que cotribuirón al financiaento de la iniciativa recibiran titulos de reconocimiento oficial de parte de la o las ongs beneficiarias, estos titulos serviran a que en un futuro, si uno de estos social angels quiera viajar a Senegal por turismo o simplemente para visitar el proyecto que se realió con sus aportaciones, que pueda beneficiar de algunas facilidades gratuitamente como: preparacion y propuesta de rutas turisticas, consejo y acompañamiento para obtener visados u otras autorizaciones administrativas,oferta de alojamientos a precio competetivos, o tendran tambien la opción y posibilidad de alojarse de manera gratuita a casa de un miembro de la ong beneficiaria, con la unica condicion, de hacerse cargo de sus gastos de restauracion y transporte.

Si un donante o donantes quieren participar directamente a una accion sobre el tereno en Senegal o ir de voluntario a Senegal, bastara que hayan realizado una aportación por una campaña anterior, y que lo solicitan por escrito, nos pondremmos directamente en contacto con el interesado para concretar detalles del viaje.

A medio -largo plazo se decidira por votcion entre todos los seguidores de este blog de si crear una ong o seguir con el mismo modo de trabajo.

la primera campaña se colgara en este apartado del blog a parir del lunes 06 agosto de 2012.

Estais informados, asi que no dejais pasar la oportunidad de ser "angeles".

Decouvrire l'Espagne

2012-07-21T04:46:00.001-07:00

Que decouvrir en Espagne

L’Espagne est un pays riche en contraste culturel et naturel. L’Espagne possède un littoral avec de belles plages de sable fin, de nombreuses criques, des montagnes qui dépassent les 3000 mètres notamment dans la Sierra Nevada. L’Espagne est bordée par l’océan Atlantique avec comme région le Pays Basque, la Cantabrie et les Asturies. La Galice, région isolée qui ressemble à la Bretagne avec ses falaises et son paysage découpé. C’est la première région de pêche d’Espagne. Les régions méditerranéennes avec la Catalogne, la Costa Brava entre Barcelone et la France, la région du Levant qui comprend la région de Valence et celle de la Costa Blanca, l’archipel des Baléares qui comprend l’île de Majorque, l’île de Minorque, celle d’Ibiza et de Formentera. La région d’Andalousie plus au sud avec de nombreuses variétés de paysages comme la Sierra Morena ou plus connue la Sierra Nevada, puis les îles Canaries pour terminer la partie méditerranéenne. Une autre région d’Espagne est la région des Pyrénées qui comprend le haut Aragon et la Navarre. Enfin, la région de La Meseta qui représente la plus grande partie du territoire espagnol.

Idée week-end à Barcelone ou Madrid ou Séville

Barcelone

Une location de vacances à Barcelone pour un week-end prolongé. Ville cosmopolite située à 190 kilomètres de Perpignan en France. C’est une ville animée, qui a su conserver ses traditions et rentrer dans le 21ème siècle. De jolis quartiers à découvrir comme celui du Barri Gòtic, quartier qui a préservé ses monuments gothiques, le vieux quartier des pêcheurs, La Ribera, le quartier Gràcia où de nombreuses fêtes populaires ont lieu toute l’année, la vieille ville mérite un détour. Barcelone c’est bien sûr La Sagrada Familia, la fameuse cathédrale de Gaudi, le Passeig de Gràcia qui est une grande artère luxueuse, le Park Güell où vous avez l’impression de rentrer dans un monde imaginaire. Promenez-vous sur l’artère la plus célèbre de Barcelone, La Rambla, allez jusqu’au Musée d’Art Contemporain de Barcelone (MACBA). Ce ne sont que quelques suggestions, la visite de Barcelone mérite plusieurs jours. N'hésitez pas à consulter les offres des propriétaires de locations saisonnières à Barcelone.

Madrid

Une location de vacances à Madrid pour découvrir un ensemble de monuments baroques et classiques. C’est une ville riche qui ravira tous les amateurs de peintures artistiques. Ville animée, qu’il faut parcourir à pieds avec ses nombreuses places et grandes artères. Visitez le musée du Prado, qui est l'une des pinacothèques classiques les plus réputées au monde. Ne pas manquer le musée Thyssen-Bornemisza. Nous vous conseillons de déambuler dans le vieux Madrid autour de la place Mayor, de vous rendre au quartier des Bourbons, quartier résidentiel de Madrid. Pour faire une bonne dégustation de tapas, allez dans le quartier Barrio de los Austrias avec ses petites rues et ses nombreux bars à tapas. Alors bon séjour à Madrid ! Vous trouverez facilement une location saisonnière à Madrid ou dans les environs.

Séville

Une location de vacances à Séville, capitale de l’Andalousie, pour découvrir l’origine du Flamenco. Ville située dans la plaine du Guadalquivir, qui bouge énormément, avec ses petites ruelles, ses parcs et un patrimoine architectural de tout premier ordre. Dégustez les tapas, assistez aux nombreux spectacles de Flamenco. Pour les amateurs de corrida, Séville est faite pour vous. Ne pas manquer la visite des deux monuments de Séville : la cathédrale et l’Alcazar. Rendez-vous au musée des beaux-arts qui renferme une superbe collection de toiles espagnoles des 17 ème et 18 ème siècles. A voir absolument, la place de l’Espagne, allez visiter le quartier de Santa Cruz (ancien quartier juif), quartier avec de superbes ruelles et patios fleuris. Lors de votre prochain séjour en Andalousie, prévoyez plusieurs jours pour vous imprégner de cette ville aux mille couleurs. Réservez dès aujourd'hui votre location saisonnière à Séville ou dans la région.

Les propositions de séjour dans les 19 communautés autonomes d’Espagne

Pour votre prochain séjour en Espagne, sur le littoral méditerranéen ou atlantique, à l’intérieur des terres en pleine campagne ou à la montagne, vous serez enchanté par la multitude de paysages variés, la diversité des traditions et cultures que vous rencontrerez lors de vos périples. Voici un récapitulatif des 17 communautés autonomes (+2 villes autonomes) d’Espagne pour vous permettre de choisir votre prochaine destination en Espagne. Nous vous conseillons de rechercher des locations de vacances entre particuliers en Espagne et de profiter des belles locations saisonnières dans toute l’Espagne.

L’Andalousie

Une location de vacances en Andalousie pour profiter des richesses architecturales. La région andalouse riche sur le plan architectural vous émerveillera par la diversité de ses monuments ses villages aux maisons blanches, sa chaîne de montagne la Sierra Nevada, et ses villes internationalement connues que sont Cordoue, Grenade et Séville. L’Andalousie est la capitale du Flamenco et le haut lieu de la corrida. Il y a des ferias dans presque tous les villages de la région. D’un point de vue économique, l’Andalousie est la première région productrice d’olives en Europe.

La région d’Aragon

Une location de vacances en Aragon pour découvrir des joyaux de l’architecture tout en profitant de sites naturels grandioses. La région d’Aragon possède 5 parcs naturels pour faire de belles randonnées pédestres, avec le plus connu celui du Parc Naturel d’Ordessa. La capitale d’Aragon est la ville de Saragosse avec comme monument incontournable la basilique de la Virgen del Pilar. La région d’Aragon est riche en monuments médiévaux.

La région des Asturies

Une location de vacances dans les Asturies pour ses espaces naturels, ses parcs régionaux et sa côte Cantabrique. Cette communauté autonome se situe au Nord-ouest de l’Espagne entre la Galice, la Cantabrie et la Castille-et-Léon. Région connue pour avoir une belle chaîne montagneuse.

La région de Galice

Une location en vacances en Galice. Cette communauté autonome se trouve au Nord-Ouest de l’Espagne entre le Portugal, la région des Asturies et celle de Castille-et-Léon. La Galice est réputée pour le fameux pèlerinage de Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle et qui est la capitale de cette région.

Les îles Baléares

Une location de vacances dans les îles Baléares pour profiter des belles plages, des nombreuses activités nautiques. Les îles Baléares sont situées en Méditerranée et sont au nombre de 5.

Les îles Canaries

Une location de vacances dans les îles Canaries. Cet archipel comprend 7 îles qui sont situées sur l’Océan Atlantique. C’est un lieu de tourisme de premier ordre avec plus de 1500 kilomètres de côtes et 500 plages. Le soleil est au rendez-vous toute l’année.

La région de Cantabrie

Une location de vacances en Cantabrie. Cette région est entourée par le Pays Basque, par la Castille-et-Léon, les Asturies et enfin la mer Cantabrique. Cette région est diversifiée entre mer et montagne. C’est une région avec de nombreuses fêtes traditionnelles. Pour les amateurs de sports nautiques cette région est pour vous.

La région de Castille-La- Manche

Une location de vacances en Castille-la-Manche pour découvrir une région aux multiples paysages et traditions. Cette région est située entre l’Andalousie, la communauté de Madrid, la communauté d’Aragon, celle de Murcie et de Valence, l’Estrémadure et enfin la communauté de Castille-et-Léon. La communauté de Castille-la-Manche vous permettra de découvrir les villages traversés par Don Quichotte.

La région de Castille-et-Léon

Une location de vacances dans la région de Castille-et-Léon. Cette communauté est entourée du Portugal, de la Galice, les Asturies, la Cantabrie, la Rioja, l’Aragon, la communauté de Madrid, l’Estrémadure, la Castille-la-Manche et enfin le Pays Basque. Région très riche en monuments dont certains sont au Patrimoine mondial de l’Unesco. La Castille-et-Léon propose de nombreux itinéraires à thèmes : vin, randonnées pédestres, culture… A découvrir absolument.

La région de Catalogne

Une location de vacances en Catalogne pour visiter la capitale Barcelone. Région a forte personnalité avec de nombreuses traditions. Vous pouvez profiter des 600 kilomètres de côtes méditerranéennes mais également des Pyrénées catalanes avec des sommets à plus de 3000 mètres. Venez déguster la cuisine Catalane pour vos prochaines vacances à Barcelone ou dans les environs. Vous pourrez également vous loger dans une location vacances Costa Brava ou consulter notre guide vacances sur la Costa Brava pour définir votre prochaine destination.

La communauté de Valence

Une location de vacances dans la communauté Valencienne sur les côtes méditerranéennes au sud de la Catalogne. Grande tradition culinaire pour cette région et une multitude d’activités nautiques sur la Costa Blanca.

L’Estrémadure

Une location de vacances en Estrémadure située entre le Portugal, la Castille-la-Manche et l’Andalousie. C’est une région avec de nombreux vestiges architecturaux de premier ordre qui remontent depuis l’histoire lointaine. Des traces de vie remontent depuis la préhistoire. Ne pas manquer la ville de Cacérès.

La région de Murcie

Une location de vacances dans la région de Murcie. Petite région entre l’Andalousie, la communauté de Valence et Castille-la-Manche. Région pour les amateurs de plages et de sable avec des kilomètres de sable fin ! Région aux multiples activités sur la côte ou dans les terres avec des itinéraires de découverte aux différents thèmes.

La région de Madrid

Une location de vacances dans la région de Madrid et ses richesses culturelles. Elle est située au centre de l’Espagne. Climat chaud l’été et froid l’hiver. Idéal pour un séjour pour visiter Madrid et les nombreux villages dans les environs.

La région de Navarre

Une location de vacances dans la communauté de Navarre. Elle est située au Nord de l’Espagne entre les Pyrénées, le Pays Basque, la Rioja et celle d’Aragon. C’est une région montagneuse avec de nombreuses vallées pyrénéennes. Mais elle compte également une région plus sèche nommée la Ribera. C’est une région idéale pour associer activités sportives et culturelles avec par exemple un itinéraire sur les traces d’Ernest Hemingway.

Le Pays Basque

Une location de vacances dans le Pays Basque pour un dépaysement garanti. Découvrez la côte basque pour les amateurs de surf, des villages côtiers magnifiques, des plages idylliques. Visiter Bilbao, San Sébastian, villes culturelles, parcourez les nombreux espaces naturels comme le parc naturel d’Aralar, d’Urkiola, d’Izki ou d’Aiako Harria.

La Rioja

Une location de vacances dans la Rioja. Petite région entre la Castille-et-Léon, la Navarre et le Pays Basque. Le chemin de Saint Jacques de Compostelle traverse la Rioja. Région réputée pour sa tradition viticole et ses monuments de toute beauté dont de nombreux monastères.

DECOUVRIRE ESTREMADUR:

L’Estrémadure (Extremadura en espagnol) est l’une des 17 communautés autonomes d’Espagne. Située au Sud-Ouest du pays, l’Estrémadure partage ses frontières avec le Portugal, Castille et León, Castille-La Manche et l’Andalousie.

Tourisme en Estrémadure
L’Estrémadure conserve des restes monumentaux et artistiques qui montrent la grande variété de gens et cultures qui ont habité ces terres du centre-ouest de l’Espagne depuis des temps préhistoriques.
Mérida, l’antique Emerita Augusta, conserve plusieurs vestiges architecturaux de l’époque romaine, quand la ville fut capitale de la Lusitanie. Depuis 1986, elle possède le Musée national d’Art romain, construit par l’architecte espagnol Rafael Moneo. Parmi ces restes se distinguent le Théâtre et l’Amphithéâtre romains, ainsi que le pont sur le Guadiana et l’Aqueduc des Miracles. Mérida est en outre la capitale de la Communauté autonome d’Estrémadure et tous les bâtiments du Gouvernement régional y sont situés.
La ville de Cacérès a été déclarée en 1986 Patrimoine de l’Humanité par l’UNESCO, parce qu’elle réunit la conjonction urbaine du Moyen-Âge et de la Renaissance la plus complète du monde. La cathédrale Sainte-Marie, le palace des Girouettes (Musée archéologique), des palaces de la famille Golfín, la Maison du Soleil et la Tour de Bujaco et l’Arche de l’Étolie, en sont les plus beaux et impressionnants monuments. De plus, elle se met en valeur en étant le siège d’un des deux campus que compte l’Université d’Estrémadure et par le dynamisme de sa vie culturelle au sein de la Communauté autonome.
La situation de Badajoz à la frontière avec le Portugal fait que son importance commerciale est grande. La ville, siège d’un archevêché, a une cathédrale du treizième siècle. Les autres monuments remarquables sont le Palace Duc du Roc, le pont sur la rivière Guadiana, du seizième siècle, le Musée archéologique et la Porte de Paumes. Le MEIAC (Musée estrémadurien et ibéro-américain d’Art contemporain), qui expose les œuvres d’art de peintres d’Estrémadure et d’Amérique latine, est aussi à Badajoz.
Les autres sites d’intérêt d’Estrémadure sont : la vieille ville de Trujillo, le monastère de Guadeloupe, la ville de Plaisance, la vallée de la rivière Jerte et les régions de Sierra du Chatte et les Hurdes dans le province de Cacérès ; la ville de Zafra, Jérez des Caballeros, la Campagne Sud, le Terre de Barros et la Raya dans le province de Badajoz.

Géographie de l’Estrémadure
L’Estrémadure est composée de deux provinces :

province de Caceres au nord qui correspond à la Haute Estrémadure (Alta Extremadura)
province de Badajoz au sud qui correspond à la Basse Estrémadure (Baja Extremadura)

La capitale de la communauté, Mérida, est située dans la province de Badajoz.
L’Estrémadure compte 383 villes. Badajoz, avec 135 000 habitants, est la ville la plus peuplée d’Estrémadure, suivie par Caceres avec 82 000 habitants et Mérida avec 51 000 habitants.

Vidéo d'Estrémadure

Plan de l’Estrémadure

Estrémenios célèbres
De nombreux conquistadors naquirent en Estrémadure : Francisco Pizarro, Hernando Pizarro, Francisco de Orellana, Hernán Cortés, Hernando de Soto, Pedro de Valdivia, Diego de Almagro, Pedro de Alvarado, Vasco Núñez de Balboa…

Histoire de l’Estrémadure
Les Tartessiens, les Celtes et Lusitaniens étaient présents en Estrémadure avant l’arrivée des Carthaginois.
Les Romains fondèrent de nombreuses villes : Emérita Augusta (Mérida), Norba Caesarina (Cáceres), Pax Augusta (Badajoz), etc. Mérida fut fondée par Auguste en -25. C’est ensuite une terre d’al-Andalus.
Alphonse VIII de Castille s’empara de Plasencia en 1180, et Alphonse IX de Cáceres en 1229; de Mérida et de Badajoz en 1230. Ferdinand III prit Medellín (Espagne) quelques années plus tard.
L’Estrémadure fut divisée en deux parties en 1833. Le 26 février 1983, l’Estrémadure obtint son statut

d’autonomie. (Source, licence GFDL)

Discover spain

2012-07-21T04:26:00.000-07:00

What to visit in Spain

Spain is the ideal place for a holiday with all the family. Come and discover a warm, welcoming country with the best infrastructure for families, where the little ones will be looked after like nowhere else. The notion of family has a deep-rooted importance in the Spanish way of life, and you will feel right at home from the moment you arrive.

Whether in major cities or rural villages, Spain’s social traditions reserve a special place and special attention for children. This excellent treatment also extends to the rest of the family. You will find yourself well attended whether at the water park, museum, hotel or restaurant.

City leisure

Spanish cities are an oasis of leisure and fun for the whole family. They have so much to offer for your holidays. Zoos like the one in Córdoba, aquaria like the one in Barcelona, or theme parks that are an endless source of fun, light and colour, perfect to spend an unforgettable day as a family.

Nowadays, and more than ever before, there are a range of museums on offer that cater to all tastes, with a host of fun exhibitions. Workshops, painting and interactive areas where you can touch, discover and experience, make museums like the Guggenheim Bilao Museum, the Arts and Sciences Museum in Valencia, and the Science Park Museum in Granada, into dynamic, fun places to discover culture in the most appealing way.

Parks also offer a pleasant, attractive environment where children can relax in the open air, play on the slides, ride their bikes and even go rowing, as is the case in the Buen Retiro Park in Madrid.

When the little ones are tired of walking, there are also original ways to discover cities, such as the calesas, typical horse-drawn carriages, which, in Seville let you discover the Giralda andthe Golden Tower, in the most enjoyable way.

1 2 3

Seaside fun

There are almost endless ways to enjoy the Spanish coast. Spanish beaches are some of the best in terms of cleanliness, safety and infrastructure. They are also some of the world’s most popular holiday destinations. Swimming in warm, calm, clear waters, diving down to bright seabeds, teaming with life, building ditches and sandcastles, or exploring the coastline on a boat are unforgettable experiences for the whole family.

Learning with nature

We have yet to mention the Spanish interior. Inland you will find a huge area, home to lakes, mountain ranges, rivers, valleys and plateaus. Hiking, skiing, sailing on calm, natural reservoirs, fishing, biking and horse riding… These activities are suitable for all ages, can be practised in groups, and are the perfect opportunity for adventurous fun in a safe environment.

Nature Reserves and National Parks such as Doñana, Garajonay and Ordesa and Monte Perdido, have environmental workshops that teach children about the mountains, wetlands, and the flora and fauna of the different ecosystems. Here you can enjoy watching eagles in flight and mountain goats’ fearless jumps. Unforgettable experiences for parents and children alike.

Cities, coast and interior, they all offer an endless source of entertainment, culture and fun for visitors. Spain is an ideal location for a unique holiday. Come and enjoy a country that abounds in ideas and adventures for the whole family.

Discovering spanish famous beach places

VACATIONS SPAIN - COSTA DE LA LUZ
Ideal for "get away from it all" Spanish holidays since it is not terribly developed, the Costa de la Luz is situated in the southerly region of Andalucia on Spain´s west coast, just below Portugal.
This extensive area of sandy beaches, pine trees and small fishing villages is bathed by the Atlantic Ocean and can be divided into two main areas: the western Costa de la Luz, which is in the Province of Huelva; and the eastern Costa de la Luz, in the Province of Cádiz.

The beaches found on the west side tend to be long and wide with fine, golden sand. It is home to several small seaside towns, many backed by sand dunes and pine trees, where you get the chance to discover the "real Spain".Main resorts include Isla Cristina, La Antilla, El Rompido, Punta Umbria and Matalascañas, the latter being an ideal base for a trip to Doñana Park - one of Spain´s largest national parks which serves as a stop-over for birds migrating between Europe and Africa.
Beaches to the east tend also to be long with fine, golden sand but with huge sand dunes. The coastline is dotted with small fishing villages and it is great for surfing and windsurfing.
Main tourist centers on this side include Conil de la Frontera, Caños de Meca, Zahara de las Atunes, Bolonia and Valdevaqueros, Tarifa.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * VACATIONS SPAIN - COSTA DEL SOL
Moving away from the Costa de la Luz, round to the south-east of Spain, we have the bustling Costa del Sol - a long-time favorite for vacations Spain!
What can we say about it that has not already been said?! It is the best-known and most highly-developed costa of Andalucia, situated in the Province of Málaga, facing the Mediterranean Sea.
Its Mediterranean waters are warm and safe, its climate mild and the coast well-sheltered from northerly winds by a mountain chain.
With its lengthy promenades, long stretches of beaches, swaying palm trees and brilliant bougainvillaea, it is no wonder that most of the resorts along the Costa del Sol - in particular Marbella, Torremolinos and Fuengirola - are packed out in the summer.
They offer plenty to do and see: jet skis, marinas, bars, restaurants and night-life ... you name it, they´ve got it! If you want to "live-it-up", play with the jet set and party all night long, well ... this is certainly the place to be!
Having said that, you do not have to wonder very far away from these main resorts to find the peaceful ambience of country villages and ... of course, the golf courses!
Main beaches on the west side of the Costa del Sol include Playa el Cristo - Estepona, San Pedro, Playa Nueva Andalucia; Puerto Banus - Marbella and La Carihuela; Torremolinos.
Beaches on the east side include Calahonda and Calas Occidentales - Nerja and El Maro.

Famous Personages of the spanish art and culture

2012-07-21T03:35:00.001-07:00

Dear readers and followers,

This space is reserved to spanish famous authors of the world of art and culture.

Our first publcation is dadicated to :

Miguel de Cervantes.

We know little about the birth of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. The exact date cannot be found in any registry. Perhaps he was born the 29th of September, the day of San Miguel, for which he was named. We do know that he was born in Alcalá de Henares, a small university town near Madrid, where he was baptised in the church of Santa María on October 9, 1547. Cervantes was the fourth of the seven children born to Doña Leonor de Cortinas and Don Rodrigo de Cervantes, an itinerant surgeon who struggled to maintain his practice and his family by travelling throughout Spain.
Little more is known about the first twenty years of Cervantes’ life. He is thought to have gone to school in Valladolid and Sevilla. We don’t know any dates except that in 1567-68, he was registered in the school of the Spanish humanist, Juan Lopez de Hoyos, in Madrid.
In 1569 Cervantes travelled to Italy to serve in the household of an Italian nobleman and, a year later, he joined the Spanish military. On September 7, 1571, he fought bravely against the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto where he was seriously wounded and lost the use of his left hand. After a lengthy period of recovery, he decided to return to the soldier’s life. In April 1572, he joined the company of Manuel Ponce de León, where we believe his brother Rodrigo was also enrolled. Together they participated in a number of battles.
The brothers Cervantes departed Italy for Spain in 1575. They were captured during the return journey by pirates and taken to Algiers, where they were imprisoned and where they bravely jeopardised their lives trying to escape. After five years of captivity, Cervantes was liberated, thanks to the negotiations of the Trinitarian fathers. (His brother had already been released.) On the 27th of October, he arrived in Valencia, poor (his father had to sell all his possessions for the ransom) and humiliated. The experience was a turning point in his life, and numerous references to the themes of freedom and captivity appear in his work.
Cervantes came back from Algiers deeply in debt because of the ransom paid to release him. To earn money, he decided to reenlist in the army. He went to Portugal and took part in the battle of “Las Azores” in 1582. One year later, he returned to Spain with the manuscript of a romance, La Galatea and possibly the first part of Persiles y Segismunda. He also brought some notes for his biography. During this year, a child named Isabel de Saavedra was born to Cervantes and a lady of Lisbon’s aristocracy.
On December 12, 1584, 37 year old Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra married Doña Catalina de Palacios Salazara, a woman almost twenty years younger. The marriage obliged Cervantes to look for a job and in 1588 he secured a position as a government official in the south of Spain, requisitioning wheat and olive oil for the campaign of the Invincible Armada.
His new position gave him the opportunity to learn the customs and habits of Sevilla, traditions he described in Don Quixote. He was arrested twice in Sevilla for taking possession of merchandise belonging to the deacon of Sevilla’s Cathedral. These experiences justify the legend that the first part of Don Quixote was written in jail.
His stay in Sevilla was a period of calamities for Cervantes. His luck was not better in literature. In 1595, he won first prize (three silver spoons) in a poem competition and, three years later, his song El entierro del Rey Felipe II en Sevilla received some attention, although the rest of his poems were to remain unpublished.
La gitanilla, Rinconete y Cortadillo, La Galatea, and Persiles y Segismunda are among his lasting works, but without a doubt his most famous creation is don Quixote, El Ingenioso Hidalgo de la Mancha, considered the first modern novel. The first part was published in 1605, when Cervantes was 57. This is why we can say that this work is the experience of his entire life. A few weeks after its publication, three falsified editions appeared in Lisbon. Although Cervantes became an overnight success, his economic problems didn’t disappear. That same year, he was accused of participating in a fight, and he and his family were arrested and held in jail for more than a week. It is rumoured that he spent the following three years in hiding.
From 1609 to 1616, Cervantes lived again in Madrid. In 1609, he was invited to become a member of the new fraternity “Los Esclavos del Santo Sacramento” and his wife entered the convent of the order of San Francisco. In 1612, the author became a member of a new literary club: “Academia Salvaje”.
During his Madrid years, Cervantes was a very prolific writer. He wrote his Novelas Ejemplares (1613), the burlesque poem Viaje del Parnaso and a prose version of the poem (included in El Parnaso, 1614). In 1614, another author, Alonso Fernández de Tordesillas, published a second part of Don Quixote, before Cervantes had done so. This convinced Cervantes to continue his work (1615). Cervantes’ second part of Don Quixote was published in Brussels (1615), in Valencia (1616) and in Lisbon (1617). The first translation was made in 1618, to French. Since 1617, the novel’s two sections have been published as one volume.
Close to the end of his life, Cervantes became a member of the order of San Francisco. The Franciscans buried don Miguel de Cervantes, by then called “the prince of the ingenious”, in Madrid, April 23, 1616, the same day another literary giant, William Shakespeare, was put to rest in England. The Franciscans buried Don Cervantes in a Trinitarian monastery in Madrid.

Sources:

http://www.donquijote.org/vmuseum/biography-cervantes
http://www.donquixote.com/cervantes.html
http://www.cyberspain.com/year/index.htm
http://milton.mse.jhu.edu:8006/station1.html

Macaco (band)

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Macaco is a musical band from Barcelona, Spain formed in 1997 by Dani Carbonell, who was also one of the original lead singers of the new flamenco group Ojos de Brujo. Carbonell left Ojos de Brujo after the debut album, Vengue in 2001, but has continued to make guest appearances on the group's later albums.
Prior to his singing career, Carbonell had dubbed over Sean Astin's character Mikey Walsh in the 1985 film Goonies.
The members, from different countries such as Brazil, Cameroon, Sweden, Venezuela and Spain, give to its music a mixed color, with electro accents of Latin music and rumba.
Carbonell sings in Spanish and Catalan, but also in Portuguese, French, English and Italian. Their song "Hacen Falta Dos" appears in the EA Sports Game FIFA 10 and "Moving" appeared in Fifa 09, their most recent song to be played in a FIFA game is "Una Sola Voz", that is part of the FIFA 12 soundtrack.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

María Dolores "Lola" Flores Ruiz

(21 January 1923 – 16 May 1995) was a
Spanish singer, dancer and actress.

Professional career

Flores was born in Jerez de la Frontera, Cadiz (Andalusia, Spain). Although not a Gypsy herself, she is strongly identified with the Spanish gypsy culture.^[1] She became a famous dancer and singer of Andalusian folklore at a very young age, performing flamenco, copla or chotis and featuring in films from 1939 to 1987. Her greatest success was in folklore shows with Manolo Caracol, who was her artistic partner until 1951.

Personal life

In 1958 she married Antonio González el Pescaílla, a guitarist from Cataluña Spain who was gypsy. She had three children: Dolores (singer and actress Lolita Flores); rock musician, singer and actor Antonio Flores; and singer and actress Rosario Flores.
Lola Flores died of breast cancer in 1995, aged 72, and was buried in the Cementerio de la Almudena in Madrid. Shortly after her death, her distraught 33-year-old son, Antonio Flores, committed suicide by overdosing with barbiturate and was buried near her.
In 2007, the biography Lola, la película was made. The movie describes her early life, starting in 1931 until 1958.

Sources: Wikipedia

Pablo Ruiz Picasso

Picasso was baptized Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Crispiniano de la Santísima Trinidad, a series of names honoring various saints and relatives.^[8] Added to these were Ruiz and Picasso, for his father and mother, respectively, as per Spanish law. Born in the city of Málaga in the Andalusian region of Spain, he was the first child of Don José Ruiz y Blasco (1838–1913) and María Picasso y López.^[9] Picasso’s family was middle-class. His father was a painter who specialized in naturalistic depictions of birds and other game. For most of his life Ruiz was a professor of art at the School of Crafts and a curator of a local museum. Ruiz’s ancestors were minor aristocrats.

The house where Picasso was born, in Málaga

Picasso showed a passion and a skill for drawing from an early age. According to his mother, his first words were "piz, piz", a shortening of lápiz, the Spanish word for "pencil".^[10] From the age of seven, Picasso received formal artistic training from his father in figure drawing and oil painting. Ruiz was a traditional, academic artist and instructor who believed that proper training required disciplined copying of the masters, and drawing the human body from plaster casts and live models. His son became preoccupied with art to the detriment of his classwork.
The family moved to A Coruña in 1891, where his father became a professor at the School of Fine Arts. They stayed almost four years. On one occasion, the father found his son painting over his unfinished sketch of a pigeon. Observing the precision of his son’s technique, an apocryphal story relates, Ruiz felt that the thirteen-year-old Picasso had surpassed him, and vowed to give up painting,^[11] though paintings by him exist from later years.
In 1895, Picasso was traumatized when his seven-year-old sister, Conchita, died of diphtheria.^[12] After her death, the family moved to Barcelona, where Ruiz took a position at its School of Fine Arts. Picasso thrived in the city, regarding it in times of sadness or nostalgia as his true home.^[13] Ruiz persuaded the officials at the academy to allow his son to take an entrance exam for the advanced class. This process often took students a month, but Picasso completed it in a week, and the impressed jury admitted him, at just 13. The student lacked discipline but made friendships that would affect him in later life. His father rented him a small room close to home so he could work alone, yet he checked up on him numerous times a day, judging his drawings. The two argued frequently.
Picasso’s father and uncle decided to send the young artist to Madrid’s Royal Academy of San Fernando, the country's foremost art school.^[13] At age 16, Picasso set off for the first time on his own, but he disliked formal instruction and quit attending classes soon after enrollment. Madrid, however, held many other attractions. The Prado housed paintings by Diego Velázquez, Francisco Goya, and Francisco Zurbarán. Picasso especially admired the works of El Greco; elements like the elongated limbs, arresting colors, and mystical visages are echoed in his later work.

Career beginnings

Portrait of Gertrude Stein, 1906, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. When someone commented that Stein did not look like her portrait, Picasso replied, "She will".^[14]

Picasso made his first trip to Paris in 1900, then the art capital of Europe. There, he met his first Parisian friend, the journalist and poet Max Jacob, who helped Picasso learn the language and its literature. Soon they shared an apartment; Max slept at night while Picasso slept during the day and worked at night. These were times of severe poverty, cold, and desperation. Much of his work was burned to keep the small room warm. During the first five months of 1901, Picasso lived in Madrid, where he and his anarchist friend Francisco de Asís Soler founded the magazine Arte Joven (Young Art), which published five issues. Soler solicited articles and Picasso illustrated the journal, mostly contributing grim cartoons depicting and sympathizing with the state of the poor. The first issue was published on 31 March 1901, by which time the artist had started to sign his work simply Picasso, while before he had signed Pablo Ruiz y Picasso.^[15]
By 1905, Picasso became a favorite of the American art collectors Leo and Gertrude Stein. Their older brother Michael Stein and his wife Sarah also became collectors of his work. Picasso painted portraits of both Gertrude Stein and her nephew Allan Stein.^[16] Gertrude Stein became Picasso's principal patron, acquiring his drawings and paintings and exhibiting them in her informal Salon at her home in Paris.^[17] At one of her gatherings in 1905, he met Henri Matisse, who was to become a lifelong friend and rival. The Steins introduced him to Claribel Cone and her sister Etta who were American art collectors; they also began to acquire Picasso and Matisse's paintings. Eventually Leo Stein moved to Italy, and Michael and Sarah Stein became patrons of Matisse; while Gertrude Stein continued to collect Picasso.^[18]

Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, 1910, The Art Institute of Chicago. Picasso wrote of Kahnweiler What would have become of us if Kahnweiler hadn't had a business sense?

In 1907 Picasso joined an art gallery that had recently been opened in Paris by Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler. Kahnweiler was a German art historian, art collector who became one of the premier French art dealers of the 20th century. He was among the first champions of Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and the Cubism that they jointly developed. Kahnweiler promoted burgeoning artists such as André Derain, Kees Van Dongen, Fernand Léger, Juan Gris, Maurice de Vlaminck and several others who had come from all over the globe to live and work in Montparnasse at the time.^[19]
In Paris, Picasso entertained a distinguished coterie of friends in the Montmartre and Montparnasse quarters, including André Breton, poet Guillaume Apollinaire, writer Alfred Jarry, and Gertrude Stein. Apollinaire was arrested on suspicion of stealing the Mona Lisa from the Louvre in 1911. Apollinaire pointed to his friend Picasso, who was also brought in for questioning, but both were later exonerated.^[20]

Personal life

In the early 20th century, Picasso divided his time between Barcelona and Paris. In 1904, in the middle of a storm, he met Fernande Olivier, a bohemian artist who became his mistress.^[12] Olivier appears in many of his Rose period paintings. After acquiring some fame and fortune, Picasso left Olivier for Marcelle Humbert, whom he called Eva Gouel. Picasso included declarations of his love for Eva in many Cubist works. Picasso was devastated by her premature death from illness at the age of 30 in 1915.^[21]

Portrait of Igor Stravinsky, c. 1920

After World War I, Picasso made a number of important relationships with figures associated with Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Among his friends during this period were Jean Cocteau, Jean Hugo, Juan Gris and others. In the summer of 1918, Picasso married Olga Khokhlova, a ballerina with Sergei Diaghilev’s troupe, for whom Picasso was designing a ballet, Parade, in Rome; and they spent their honeymoon in the villa near Biarritz of the glamorous Chilean art patron Eugenia Errázuriz. Khokhlova introduced Picasso to high society, formal dinner parties, and all the social niceties attendant on the life of the rich in 1920s Paris. The two had a son, Paulo,^[22] who would grow up to be a dissolute motorcycle racer and chauffeur to his father. Khokhlova’s insistence on social propriety clashed with Picasso’s bohemian tendencies and the two lived in a state of constant conflict. During the same period that Picasso collaborated with Diaghilev’s troup, he and Igor Stravinsky collaborated on Pulcinella in 1920. Picasso took the opportunity to make several drawings of the composer.
In 1927 Picasso met 17-year-old Marie-Thérèse Walter and began a secret affair with her. Picasso’s marriage to Khokhlova soon ended in separation rather than divorce, as French law required an even division of property in the case of divorce, and Picasso did not want Khokhlova to have half his wealth. The two remained legally married until Khokhlova’s death in 1955. Picasso carried on a long-standing affair with Marie-Thérèse Walter and fathered a daughter with her, named Maya. Marie-Thérèse lived in the vain hope that Picasso would one day marry her, and hanged herself four years after Picasso’s death. Throughout his life Picasso maintained a number of mistresses in addition to his wife or primary partner. Picasso was married twice and had four children by three women.

Dora Maar au Chat, 1941

The photographer and painter Dora Maar was also a constant companion and lover of Picasso. The two were closest in the late 1930s and early 1940s, and it was Maar who documented the painting of Guernica.

War years and beyond

During the Second World War, Picasso remained in Paris while the Germans occupied the city. Picasso’s artistic style did not fit the Nazi ideal of art, so he did not exhibit during this time. Retreating to his studio, he continued to paint, producing works such as the Still Life with Guitar (1942) and The Charnel House (1944–48).^[23] Although the Germans outlawed bronze casting in Paris, Picasso continued regardless, using bronze smuggled to him by the French Resistance.^[24]
Around this time, Picasso took up writing as an alternative outlet. Between 1935 and 1959 he wrote over 300 poems. Largely untitled except for a date and sometimes the location of where it was written (for example "Paris 16 May 1936"), these works were gustatory, erotic and at times scatological, as were his two full-length plays Desire Caught by the Tail (1941) and The Four Little Girls (1949).^[25]
In 1944, after the liberation of Paris, Picasso, then 63 years old, began a romantic relationship with a young art student named Françoise Gilot. She was 40 years younger than he was. Picasso grew tired of his mistress Dora Maar; Picasso and Gilot began to live together. Eventually they had two children: Claude, born in 1947 and Paloma, born in 1949. In her 1964 book Life with Picasso,^[26] Gilot describes his abusive treatment and myriad infidelities which led her to leave him, taking the children with her. This was a severe blow to Picasso.
Picasso had affairs with women of an even greater age disparity than his and Gilot's. While still involved with Gilot, in 1951 Picasso had a six-week affair with Geneviève Laporte, who was four years younger than Gilot. Eventually, as evident in his work, Picasso began to come to terms with his advancing age and his waning attraction to young women.^{[citation needed]} By his 70s, many paintings, ink drawings and prints have as their theme an old, grotesque dwarf as the doting lover of a beautiful young model. Jacqueline Roque (1927–1986) worked at the Madoura Pottery in Vallauris on the French Riviera, where Picasso made and painted ceramics. She became his lover, and then his second wife in 1961. The two were together for the remainder of Picasso’s life.
His marriage to Roque was also a means of revenge against Gilot; with Picasso’s encouragement, Gilot had divorced her then husband, Luc Simon, with the plan to finally actually marry Picasso to secure the rights of her children as Picasso's legitimate heirs. However, Picasso had already secretly married Roque, after Gilot had filed for divorce. This strained his relationship with Claude and Paloma.
By this time, Picasso had constructed a huge Gothic home, and could afford large villas in the south of France, such as Mas Notre-Dame-de-Vie on the outskirts of Mougins, and in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. He was an international celebrity, with often as much interest in his personal life as his art.
In addition to his artistic accomplishments, Picasso made a few film appearances, always as himself, including a cameo in Jean Cocteau’s Testament of Orpheus. In 1955 he helped make the film Le Mystère Picasso (The Mystery of Picasso) directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot.

Death

Pablo Picasso died on 8 April 1973 in Mougins, France, while he and his wife Jacqueline entertained friends for dinner. His final words were "Drink to me, drink to my health, you know I can't drink any more."^[27] He was interred at the Chateau of Vauvenargues near Aix-en-Provence, a property he had acquired in 1958 and occupied with Jacqueline between 1959 and 1962. Jacqueline Roque prevented his children Claude and Paloma from attending the funeral.^[28] Devastated and lonely after the death of Picasso, Jacqueline Roque took her own life by gunshot in 1986 when she was 59 years old.^[29]

Children

Paulo (4 February 1921 – 5 June 1975) (Born Paul Joseph Picasso) — with Olga Khokhlova
Maya (5 September 1935 – ) (Born Maria de la Concepcion Picasso) — with Marie-Thérèse Walter
Claude (15 May 1947 –) (Born Claude Pierre Pablo Picasso) ) — with Françoise Gilot
Paloma (19 April 1949 – ) (Born Anne Paloma Picasso) — with Françoise Gilot

Political views

Pablo Picasso, Massacre in Korea, 1951

Aside from the several anti-war paintings that he created, Picasso remained personally neutral during World War I, the Spanish Civil War, and World War II, refusing to join the armed forces for any side or country. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1937, Picasso was already in his late fifties. He was even older at the onset of World War II, and could not be expected to take up arms in those conflicts. As a Spanish citizen living in France, Picasso was under no compulsion to fight against the invading Germans in either World War. In the Spanish Civil War, service for Spaniards living abroad was optional and would have involved a voluntary return to the country to join either side. While Picasso expressed anger and condemnation of Francisco Franco and fascists through his art, he did not take up arms against them. He also remained aloof from the Catalan independence movement during his youth despite expressing general support and being friendly with activists within it.
In 1944 Picasso joined the French Communist Party, attended an international peace conference in Poland, and in 1950 received the Stalin Peace Prize from the Soviet government,^[30] But party criticism of a portrait of Stalin as insufficiently realistic cooled Picasso’s interest in Soviet politics, though he remained a loyal member of the Communist Party until his death. In a 1945 interview with Jerome Seckler, Picasso stated: "I am a Communist and my painting is Communist painting. ... But if I were a shoemaker, Royalist or Communist or anything else, I would not necessarily hammer my shoes in a special way to show my politics."^[31] His Communist militancy, common among continental intellectuals and artists at the time although it was officially banned in Francoist Spain, has long been the subject of some controversy; a notable source or demonstration thereof was a quote commonly attributed to Salvador Dalí (with whom Picasso had a rather strained relationship^[32]):

Picasso es pintor, yo también; [...] Picasso es español, yo también; Picasso es comunista, yo tampoco.

(Picasso is a painter, so am I; [...] Picasso is a Spaniard, so am I; Picasso is a communist, neither am I.)^[33]^[34]^[35]^[36]^[37]^[38]

In the late 1940s his old friend the surrealist poet and Trotskyist^[39] and anti-Stalinist André Breton was more blunt; refusing to shake hands with Picasso, he told him: "I don't approve of your joining the Communist Party nor with the stand you have taken concerning the purges of the intellectuals after the Liberation".^[40]
In 1962, he received the Lenin Peace Prize.^[41] Biographer and art critic John Berger felt his talents as an artist were "wasted" by the communists.^[42]
According to Jean Cocteau's diaries, Picasso once said to him in reference to the communists: "I have joined a family, and like all families, it's full of shit".^[43]
He was against the intervention of the United Nations and the United States^[44] in the Korean War and he depicted it in Massacre in Korea.

Art

“	Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth.	”
	— Pablo Picasso^[45]

Picasso’s work is often categorized into periods. While the names of many of his later periods are debated, the most commonly accepted periods in his work are the Blue Period (1901–1904), the Rose Period (1905–1907), the African-influenced Period (1908–1909), Analytic Cubism (1909–1912), and Synthetic Cubism (1912–1919).
In 1939–40 the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, under its director Alfred Barr, a Picasso enthusiast, held a major and highly successful retrospective of his principal works up until that time. This exhibition lionized the artist, brought into full public view in America the scope of his artistry, and resulted in a reinterpretation of his work by contemporary art historians and scholars.^[46]

Before 1901

Picasso’s training under his father began before 1890. His progress can be traced in the collection of early works now held by the Museu Picasso in Barcelona, which provides one of the most comprehensive records extant of any major artist’s beginnings.^[47] During 1893 the juvenile quality of his earliest work falls away, and by 1894 his career as a painter can be said to have begun.^[48] The academic realism apparent in the works of the mid-1890s is well displayed in The First Communion (1896), a large composition that depicts his sister, Lola. In the same year, at the age of 14, he painted Portrait of Aunt Pepa, a vigorous and dramatic portrait that Juan-Eduardo Cirlot has called "without a doubt one of the greatest in the whole history of Spanish painting."^[49]
In 1897 his realism became tinged with Symbolist influence, in a series of landscape paintings rendered in non naturalistic violet and green tones. What some call his Modernist period (1899–1900) followed. His exposure to the work of Rossetti, Steinlen, Toulouse-Lautrec and Edvard Munch, combined with his admiration for favorite old masters such as El Greco, led Picasso to a personal version of modernism in his works of this period.^[50]

Blue Period

La Vie (1903), Cleveland Museum of Art

The Old Guitarist (1903), Chicago Art Institute

For more details on this topic, see Picasso's Blue Period.

Picasso’s Blue Period (1901–1904) consists of somber paintings rendered in shades of blue and blue-green, only occasionally warmed by other colors. This period’s starting point is uncertain; it may have begun in Spain in the spring of 1901, or in Paris in the second half of the year.^[51] Many paintings of gaunt mothers with children date from this period. In his austere use of color and sometimes doleful subject matter—prostitutes and beggars are frequent subjects—Picasso was influenced by a trip through Spain and by the suicide of his friend Carlos Casagemas. Starting in autumn of 1901 he painted several posthumous portraits of Casagemas, culminating in the gloomy allegorical painting La Vie (1903),^[52] now in the Cleveland Museum of Art.^[53]
The same mood pervades the well-known etching The Frugal Repast (1904),^[54] which depicts a blind man and a sighted woman, both emaciated, seated at a nearly bare table. Blindness is a recurrent theme in Picasso’s works of this period, also represented in The Blindman’s Meal (1903, the Metropolitan Museum of Art) and in the portrait of Celestina (1903). Other works include Portrait of Soler and Portrait of Suzanne Bloch.

Rose Period

Pablo Picasso, Garçon à la pipe, (Boy with a Pipe), 1905, Rose Period

For more details on this topic, see Picasso's Rose Period.

The Rose Period (1904–1906)^[55] is characterized by a more cheery style with orange and pink colors, and featuring many circus people, acrobats and harlequins known in France as saltimbanques. The harlequin, a comedic character usually depicted in checkered patterned clothing, became a personal symbol for Picasso. Picasso met Fernande Olivier, a model for sculptors and artists, in Paris in 1904, and many of these paintings are influenced by his warm relationship with her, in addition to his increased exposure to French painting. The generally upbeat and optimistic mood of paintings in this period is reminiscent of the 1899–1901 period (i.e. just prior to the Blue Period) and 1904 can be considered a transition year between the two periods.

African-influenced Period

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907), Museum of Modern Art, New York

For more details on this topic, see Picasso's African Period.

Picasso’s African-influenced Period (1907–1909) begins with the two figures on the right in his painting, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, which were inspired by African artifacts. Formal ideas developed during this period lead directly into the Cubist period that follows.

Cubism

Three Musicians (1921), Museum of Modern Art

Analytic cubism (1909–1912) is a style of painting Picasso developed along with Georges Braque using monochrome brownish and neutral colors. Both artists took apart objects and "analyzed" them in terms of their shapes. Picasso and Braque’s paintings at this time have many similarities. Synthetic cubism (1912–1919) was a further development of the genre, in which cut paper fragments—often wallpaper or portions of newspaper pages—were pasted into compositions, marking the first use of collage in fine art.

Classicism and surrealism

In the period following the upheaval of World War I, Picasso produced work in a neoclassical style. This "return to order" is evident in the work of many European artists in the 1920s, including André Derain, Giorgio de Chirico, Gino Severini, the artists of the New Objectivity movement and of the Novecento Italiano movement. Picasso’s paintings and drawings from this period frequently recall the work of Raphael and Ingres.
During the 1930s, the minotaur replaced the harlequin as a common motif in his work. His use of the minotaur came partly from his contact with the surrealists, who often used it as their symbol, and it appears in Picasso’s Guernica. The minotaur and Picasso's mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter are heavily featured in his celebrated Vollard Suite of etchings.^[56]

Guernica, 1937, Museo Reina Sofia

Arguably Picasso's most famous work is his depiction of the German bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War—Guernica. This large canvas embodies for many the inhumanity, brutality and hopelessness of war. Asked to explain its symbolism, Picasso said, "It isn't up to the painter to define the symbols. Otherwise it would be better if he wrote them out in so many words! The public who look at the picture must interpret the symbols as they understand them."^[57]^[58]
Guernica was on display in New York’s Museum of Modern Art for many years. In 1981, it was returned to Spain and was on exhibit at the Casón del Buen Retiro. In 1992 the painting was put on display in Madrid’s Reina Sofía Museum when it opened.

Later works

The Chicago Picasso a 50' high public Cubist sculpture. Donated by Picasso to the people of Chicago

Picasso was one of 250 sculptors who exhibited in the 3rd Sculpture International held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in mid-1949. In the 1950s, Picasso’s style changed once again, as he took to producing reinterpretations of the art of the great masters. He made a series of works based on Velazquez’s painting of Las Meninas. He also based paintings on works by Goya, Poussin, Manet, Courbet and Delacroix.

Nude Woman with a Necklace (1968), Tate

He was commissioned to make a maquette for a huge 50-foot (15 m)-high public sculpture to be built in Chicago, known usually as the Chicago Picasso. He approached the project with a great deal of enthusiasm, designing a sculpture which was ambiguous and somewhat controversial. What the figure represents is not known; it could be a bird, a horse, a woman or a totally abstract shape. The sculpture, one of the most recognizable landmarks in downtown Chicago, was unveiled in 1967. Picasso refused to be paid $100,000 for it, donating it to the people of the city.
Picasso’s final works were a mixture of styles, his means of expression in constant flux until the end of his life. Devoting his full energies to his work, Picasso became more daring, his works more colorful and expressive, and from 1968 through 1971 he produced a torrent of paintings and hundreds of copperplate etchings. At the time these works were dismissed by most as pornographic fantasies of an impotent old man or the slapdash works of an artist who was past his prime. Only later, after Picasso’s death, when the rest of the art world had moved on from abstract expressionism, did the critical community come to see that Picasso had already discovered neo-expressionism and was, as so often before, ahead of his time.

Postage stamp, USSR, 1973. Picasso has been honored on stamps worldwide.

Commemoration and legacy

Picasso sculpture in Halmstad

Picasso was exceptionally prolific throughout his long lifetime. The total number of artworks he produced has been estimated at 50,000, comprising 1,885 paintings; 1,228 sculptures; 2,880 ceramics, roughly 12,000 drawings, many thousands of prints, and numerous tapestries and rugs.^[59] At the time of his death many of his paintings were in his possession, as he had kept off the art market what he did not need to sell. In addition, Picasso had a considerable collection of the work of other famous artists, some his contemporaries, such as Henri Matisse, with whom he had exchanged works. Since Picasso left no will, his death duties (estate tax) to the French state were paid in the form of his works and others from his collection. These works form the core of the immense and representative collection of the Musée Picasso in Paris. In 2003, relatives of Picasso inaugurated a museum dedicated to him in his birthplace, Málaga, Spain, the Museo Picasso Málaga.
The Museu Picasso in Barcelona features many of his early works, created while he was living in Spain, including many rarely seen works which reveal his firm grounding in classical techniques. The museum also holds many precise and detailed figure studies done in his youth under his father’s tutelage, as well as the extensive collection of Jaime Sabartés, his close friend and personal secretary.
Several paintings by Picasso rank among the most expensive paintings in the world. Garçon à la pipe sold for US$104 million at Sotheby's on 4 May 2004, establishing a new price record. Dora Maar au Chat sold for US$95.2 million at Sotheby’s on 3 May 2006.^[60] On 4 May 2010, Nude, Green Leaves and Bust was sold at Christie's for $106.5 million. The 1932 work, which depicts Picasso's mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter reclining and as a bust, was in the personal collection of Los Angeles philanthropist Frances Lasker Brody, who died in November 2009. Christie's won the rights to auction the collection against London-based Sotheby's. The collection as a whole was valued at over $150 million, while the work was originally expected to earn $80 million at auction.^[61] There were more than half a dozen bidders, while the winning bid was taken via telephone.^[62]^[63] The previous auction record ($104.3 million) was set in February 2010, by Alberto Giacometti's Walking Man I.^[64]
As of 2004, Picasso remains the top ranked artist (based on sales of his works at auctions) according to the Art Market Trends report.^[65] More of his paintings have been stolen than those by any other artist;^[66] the Art Loss Register has 550 of his works listed as missing.^[67]
The Picasso Administration functions as his official Estate. The U.S. copyright representative for the Picasso Administration is the Artists Rights Society.^[68]
In the 1996 movie Surviving Picasso, Picasso is portrayed by actor Anthony Hopkins.

Recent major exhibitions

Picasso: Masterpieces from the Musée National Picasso, Paris, an exhibition of 150 paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints and photographs from the Musée National Picasso in Paris. The exhibit touring schedule includes:

8 October 2010 – 17 January 2011, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, USA.
19 February 2011 – 15 May 2011, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, USA.
11 June 2011 – 9 October 2011, M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, California, USA.^[69]
12 November 2011 – 25 March 2012, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.^[70]
28 April 2012 – 26 August 2012, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Source: Wikipedia

Camaron de la Isla

Camarón de la Isla (December 5, 1950 – July 2, 1992), was the stage name of a Spanish flamenco singer José Monje Cruz. Considered one of the all time greatest flamenco singers, he was noted for his collaborations with Paco de Lucia and Tomatito, and between them they were of major importance to the revival of flamenco in the second half of the 20th century.^[1]

Early life

He was born in San Fernando, Cádiz, Spain into a gypsy family, the second of eight children. His mother was Juana Cruz Castro, a basket weaver ("La Canastera"), whose gift of singing was a strong early influence. His father, Juan Luis Monje, was also a singer as well as a blacksmith, and had a forge where Camarón worked as a boy.^[2] His uncle José nicknamed him Camarón (Spanish for "Shrimp") because he was blonde and fair skinned. When his father died of asthma, while still very young, the family went through financial hardship. At the age of eight he began to sing at inns and bus stops with Rancapino to earn money. At sixteen, he won first prize at the Festival del Cante Jondo in Mairena de Alcor.^[2] Camarón then went to Madrid with Miguel de los Reyes and in 1968 became a resident artist at the Tablao Torres Bermejas where he remained for twelve years.^[1]

Musical career

During his time at Tablao Torres Bermejas, he met Paco de Lucía, with whom he recorded nine albums between 1969 and 1977. The two toured extensively together during this period.^[3] As Paco de Lucía became more occupied with solo concert commitments, Camarón worked with one of Paco's students, Tomatito.
In 1976, at the age of 25, Camarón married Dolores Montoya, a Romani girl from La Línea de la Concepción whom he nicknamed "La Chispa" (The Spark).^[4] At the time La Chispa was only 16. The couple had four children.

Camarón de la Isla and Paco de Lucía

Many consider Camarón to be the single most popular and influential flamenco cantaor (singer) of the modern period. Although his work was criticized by some traditionalists, he was one of the first to feature an electric bass in his songs. This was a turning point in the history of Flamenco music that helped distinguish Nuevo Flamenco. In later years, his health deteriorated due to heavy smoking and drug abuse.^[5]^[6] In 1992, José Monge Crúz died of lung cancer in Badalona, Spain.^[7] It was estimated that more than 100,000 people attended his funeral.
On December 5, 2000, the Ministry of Culture of the Junta de Andalucía posthumously awarded to Camarón the ´Llave de Oro del Cante´, the Golden Key of Flamenco.^[8] This was only the fourth key awarded since 1862.
In 2005, director Jaime Chávarri released the biopic Camarón in Spain starring Óscar Jaenada as Camarón and Verónica Sánchez - star of popular Spanish TV series Los Serrano - as La Chispa. The film, produced in consultation with Camarón's widow, was subsequently nominated for several Goya Awards.
In 2006, Isaki Lacuesta directed La Leyenda del Tiempo (The Legend of Time), in which a Japanese woman visits the place of Camarón's birth to learn to sing exactly like him.

Source: Wikipedia

José Antonio Domínguez Banderas

(born 10 August 1960), better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer. He began his acting career at age 19 with a series of films by director Pedro Almodóvar and then appeared in high-profile Hollywood films, especially in the 1990s, including Assassins, Evita, Interview with the Vampire, Philadelphia, Desperado, The Mask of Zorro, Spy Kids, the Shrek sequels and Puss in Boots.

Early life

Banderas was born in Málaga, Andalucía, Spain, in 1960, to Ana Banderas, a school teacher, and José Domínguez, a police officer in the Guardia Civil.^[1] He has a younger brother, Javier. Although the family name is Domínguez, he took his mother's surname as his stage name.^[2] As a child, he wanted to become a professional football player until a broken foot sidelined his dreams at the age of fifteen. He went on to enroll in some drama classes, eventually joining a theater troupe that toured all over Spain. His work in the theater, and his performances on the streets, eventually landed him a spot with the National Theatre of Spain.^[3]

Career

Early work, 1982–90

His acting career began at the age of 19,^{[citation needed]} when he worked in small theatres during Spain’s post-dictatorial cultural movement known as the 'Movida'.^[4] While performing with the theatre, Banderas caught the attention of Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, who cast the young actor in his 1982 film debut, Labyrinth of Passion. Five years later he went on to appear in the director's Law of Desire, making headlines with his performance as a gay man, which required him to engage in his first male-to-male onscreen kiss. After Banderas appeared in Almodóvar's 1986 Matador, the director cast him in his internationally acclaimed 1988 film, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. The recognition Banderas gained for his role increased two years later when he starred in Almodóvar's controversial Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! as a mental patient who kidnaps a porn star (Victoria Abril) and keeps her tied up until she returns his love.^[3] It was his breakthrough role in Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, that helped spur him on to Hollywood.^[5] Banderas' having become a regular feature of Almodóvar's movies all throughout the 1980s, Almodóvar is credited for helping launch Banderas's international career.^[6]

Breakthrough, 1991–94

In 1991 Madonna introduced Banderas to Hollywood in the documentary film Madonna: Truth or Dare. In the film, Madonna says she wants to seduce Banderas even though she knows he was married.
The following year, still speaking minimal English, he began acting in U.S. films. Despite having to learn all his lines phonetically, Banderas still managed to turn in a critically praised performance as a struggling musician in his first American drama film, The Mambo Kings (1992).
Banderas then broke through to mainstream American audiences in the film, Philadelphia (1993), as the gay lover of AIDS-afflicted lawyer Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks). The film's success earned Banderas wide recognition, and the following year was given a role in Neil Jordan's high-profile adaptation of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire, which allowed him to share the screen with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.^[3]

Worldwide recognition, 1995–present

He appeared in several major Hollywood releases in 1995, including a starring role in the Robert Rodriguez-directed film Desperado and the antagonist on the action film Assassins, co-starred with Sylvester Stallone. In 1996, he starred alongside Madonna in Evita, an adaptation of the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and in Tim Rice in which he played the narrator, Che, a role played by David Essex in the original 1978 West End production. He also made success with his role as the legendary masked swordsman Zorro in the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro.
In 2001, he collaborated with Robert Rodriguez who cast him in the Spy Kids film trilogy. He also starred in Michael Cristofer's Original Sin alongside Angelina Jolie the same year. In 2002, he starred in Brian De Palma's Femme Fatale opposite Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and in Julie Taymor's Frida with Salma Hayek. In 2003, he starred in the last installment of the trilogy Once Upon A Time In Mexico (in which he appeared with Johnny Depp and Salma Hayek). Banderas' debut as a director was the poorly-received Crazy in Alabama (1999), starring his wife Melanie Griffith.^[7]
In 2003, he returned to the musical genre, appearing to great acclaim in the Broadway revival of Maury Yeston's musical Nine, based on the film 8½, playing the prime role originated by the late Raúl Juliá. Banderas won both the Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk awards, and was nominated for the Tony Award for best actor in a musical.^[8] His performance is preserved on the Broadway cast recording released by PS Classics. The following year (2004), he received the Rita Moreno HOLA Award for Excellence from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA).

His voice role as Puss in Boots in Shrek 2, Shrek the Third and the last film in the Shrek franchise, Shrek Forever After, helped make the character popular on the family film circuit. In 2005, he reprised his role as Zorro in The Legend of Zorro, though this was not as successful as The Mask of Zorro. In 2006, he starred in Take the Lead, a high-set movie in which he played a ballroom dancing teacher. That year, he directed his second film El camino de los ingleses (English title: Summer Rain), and also received the L.A. Latino International Film Festival's "Gabi" Lifetime Achievement Award on 14 October.^[9] He hosted the 600th episode of Saturday Night Live (during season 31).
He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 6801 Hollywood Blvd. in 2005.
In 2011, the horror thriller The Skin I Live In marked the return of Banderas to Pedro Almodóvar, the Spanish director who launched his international career. The two had not worked together since 1990 (Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!). In The Skin I Live In he breaks out of the "Latin Lover" mold from his Hollywood work and stars as a calculating revenge-seeking plastic surgeon following the rape of his daughter. According to the Associated Press Banderas' performance is among his strongest in recent memory.^[6] He again lent his voice to Puss in Boots, this time as the protagonist of the Shrek spin-off family film, Puss in Boots. This film reunited Banderas with Salma Hayek for the sixth time.^[10]

Business activities

He has invested some of his film earnings in Andalusian products, which he promotes in Spain and the US. He owns 50% of a winery in Villalba de Duero, Burgos, Spain, called Anta Banderas, which produces red and rosé wines.^[11]
He performed a voice-over for a computer-animated bee which can be seen in the United States in television commercials for Nasonex,^[12] an allergy medication, and was seen in the 2007 Christmas advertising campaign for Marks & Spencer, a British retailer.^[13]
He is a veteran of the perfume industry. The actor has been working with fragrance and beauty multinational company Puig for over ten years becoming one of the brand's most successful representatives. Banderas and Puig have successfully promoted a number of fragrances so far – Diavolo, Diavolo for Women, Mediterraneo, Spirit, and Spirit for Women. After the success of Antonio for Men and Blue Seduction for Men in 2007, launched his latest Blue Seduction for Women the following year.^[14]

Personal life

Banderas with Melanie Griffith at the Shrek Forever After premiere.

Banderas divorced his first wife, Ana Leza, and on 14 May 1996, married American actress Melanie Griffith in a private, low-key ceremony in London.^[4] They had met a year earlier while shooting Two Much.^[15] Both Griffith and Banderas were married to other people when they first met.^[4] They have a daughter, Stella Banderas, who appeared with her parents in the 1999 film Crazy in Alabama, in which Griffith starred and which Banderas directed. In 2002, the couple's dedication to philanthropy was recognized when they received the 'Stella Adler Angel Award' for their extensive charity work.^[4]
In 1996, Banderas appeared among other figures of Spanish culture in a video supporting the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party lists in the general election.^[16]
He is a longtime supporter of the Málaga CF.^[17]
He is an officer (mayordomo de trono) of a Roman Catholic religious brotherhood in Málaga and travels, with his wife and daughter, during Holy Week to take part in the processions,^[18] although in an interview with People magazine, Banderas had once described himself as an agnostic.^[19] In May 2010, Banderas received his honorary doctorate from the University of Málaga in the city where he was born.^[5]

Source: Wikipedia

CAMARON DE LA ISLA

He was born in San Fernando, Cádiz, Spain into a gypsy family, the second of eight children. His mother was Juana Cruz Castro, a basket weaver ("La Canastera"), whose gift of singing was a strong early influence. His father, Juan Luis Monje, was also a singer as well as a blacksmith, and had a forge where Camarón worked as a boy.^[2] His uncle José nicknamed him Camarón (Spanish for "Shrimp") because he was blonde and fair skinned. When his father died of asthma, while still very young, the family went through financial hardship. At the age of eight he began to sing at inns and bus stops with Rancapino to earn money. At sixteen, he won first prize at the Festival del Cante Jondo in Mairena de Alcor.^[2] Camarón then went to Madrid with Miguel de los Reyes and in 1968 became a resident artist at the Tablao Torres Bermejas where he remained for twelve years.^[1]

Musical career

During his time at Tablao Torres Bermejas, he met Paco de Lucía, with whom he recorded nine albums between 1969 and 1977. The two toured extensively together during this period.^[3] As Paco de Lucía became more occupied with solo concert commitments, Camarón worked with the flamenco guitarist Tomatito.
In 1976, at the age of 25, Camarón married Dolores Montoya, a Romani girl from La Línea de la Concepción whom he nicknamed "La Chispa" (The Spark).^[4] At the time La Chispa was only 16. The couple had four children.

Camarón de la Isla and Paco de Lucía

Many consider Camarón to be the single most popular and influential flamenco cantaor (singer) of the modern period. Although his work was criticized by some traditionalists, he was one of the first to feature an electric bass in his songs. This was a turning point in the history of Flamenco music that helped distinguish Nuevo Flamenco. In later years, his health deteriorated due to heavy smoking and drug abuse.^[5]^[6] In 1992, José Monge Crúz died of lung cancer in Badalona, Spain.^[7] It was estimated that more than 100,000 people attended his funeral.
On 5 December 2000 the Ministry of Culture of the Junta de Andalucía posthumously awarded to Camarón the ´Llave de Oro del Cante´, the Golden Key of Flamenco.^[8] This was only the fourth key awarded since 1862.
In 2005, director Jaime Chávarri released the biopic Camarón in Spain starring Óscar Jaenada as Camarón and Verónica Sánchez – star of popular Spanish TV series Los Serrano – as La Chispa. The film, produced in consultation with Camarón's widow, was subsequently nominated for several Goya Awards.
In 2006, Isaki Lacuesta directed La Leyenda del Tiempo (The Legend of Time), in which a Japanese woman visits the place of Camarón's birth to learn to sing exactly like him.

Source Wikipedia .

Personnages celebres de la culture et litterature espagnole

2012-07-21T03:26:00.002-07:00

Bonjour chers amis,

Nous avons le plaisir de vous presenter cet espace dedie aux celebrites de la culture et litterature espagnol, vous y trouverez chaque mois la biographie d'une des grandes figure de la vie publique Espagnole.

dans cette premiere pblicacion nous descouvrirons la biographie d'une sommite de la litterature hispahique:

Miguel de Cervantes

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (29 septembre 1547 à Alcalá de Henares - 23 avril 1616 à Madrid) est un romancier, poète et dramaturge espagnol. Il est célèbre pour son roman L’Ingénieux Hidalgo Don Quichotte de la Manche, publié en 1605 et reconnu comme le premier roman moderne.
Miguel de Cervantes mène d'abord une vie aventureuse de soldat et participe à la bataille de Lépante en 1571, où il perd l'usage de la main gauche. Cette main paralysée lui vaut le surnom de « Manchot de Lépante ». En 1575, à son retour vers l'Espagne, il est capturé par les barbaresques et, malgré des tentatives d'évasion, reste captif à Alger. En 1580, il est racheté en même temps que d'autres prisonniers espagnols et regagne son pays.
Marié, puis séparé de sa femme et occupant diverses fonctions, il se lance alors dans l'écriture par le roman pastoral La Galatea en 1585. En 1605, il publie la première partie de ce qui reste comme son chef-d'œuvre : L'ingénieux hidalgo Don Quichotte de la Manche dont la deuxième partie ne paraît qu'en 1615. Sa parodie grandiose des romans de chevalerie et la création des personnages mythiques de Don Quichotte, Sancho Panza ou Dulcinée ont fait de Cervantès la plus grande figure de la littérature espagnole.
Ses premières œuvres théâtrales, peu appréciées de son vivant, ont pourtant donné lieu à de nombreuses imitations. En particulier, la tragédie en vers Le Siège de Numance, écrite de 1581 à 1583, a connu entre 1600 et 1813 cinq imitations sous des titres divers et a inspiré à Lope de Vega La Sainte Ligue.

Source:
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_de_Cervantes

EL Macaco

Macaco est un groupe musical de Barcelone, créé en 1997 et conduit par Daniel "Mono Loco" Carbonell. Les membres, originaires de divers pays comme le Brésil, le Cameroun, le Venezuela ou l'Espagne, font don à leur musique d'une couleur mélangée, avec des accents electro de musique latine et de rumba. Ils chantent dans différentes langues, entre autres, castillan, portugais, français, anglais, catalan et italien.
Il se forme en 1997 quand le Daniel Carbonell décide de mettre déjà en marche un projet cosmopolite, devinait que le futur il passerait par le dialogue multiculturel, par la communion mots et sons, d'arômes et de parfums, de goûts et de saveurs. Pour la bande ce qui est naturel est le mélange, à travers lequel ils essayent de chercher d'autres sons différents. C'est une bande où confluent le talent et le bagage d'une série de musiciens en provenance du Brésil, du Cuba, le Venezuela, le Cameroun, Zimbabwe et, évidemment, l'Espagne.
Son premier disque intitulé le Singe dans l'Œil du Tigre (Edel, 1999) a été publié en Espagne, en France, l'Italie, la Belgique, la Suisse, la Suède, la Hollande, l'Autriche et l'Argentine. _ David Byrne remezclara Delaveraveraboom et inviter Macaco à produire et mélanger ce qui est vers le bas ou King Changó.
Avec des yeux de Sorcier, Petit Ocaña, (Mártires del compas) le Roy italien Paci, (Mau Mau, Radio Bemba) le Lenine brésilien ou les sénégalais Touré Kunda comme hôtes d'exception, Direction Sous-marin (Edel, 2001) qui a obtenu des critiques excellentes et elle s'est présenté dans les principaux festivals européens, du Womad au Grec, du Popkomm à la Mer de Musiques, du Couleur Café à l'Etnosur. Après plus de soixante-dix concerts en 2002, Macaco le Fou Mignon a encore eu du temps de travailler avec des yeux de Sorcier à « Bari », avec Carlos Jean dans « Back To The Earth » et avec Amparanoia dans « Enchilao ». ET de prendre part les bandes sonores d'« Amnésie » (2002), de Gabriele Salvatore (Oscar au Meilleur Film Étranger par « Méditerranée »), « Darkness » (2002), de Jaume Balagueró (Mélies d'Or dans le Festival de Sitges par « Eux sans nom ») et « A plus » (2002), de Xavi Crique, où il interprète un petit rôle avec l'actrice Najwa Nimri.
Macaco a fondé son éditorial propre (el Murmullo) et son label (Mundo Zurdo, pour enregistrer un disque, Entre raices y antenas (2004).
En 2006 il publie nouveau disque, Ingravitto avec des collaborations comme Mari de Chambao, Naçao Zumbi, Bnegao, Muchachito Bombo Infierno ou Caparezza entre beaucoup d'autres. ; et le sujet Sidéral comme premier single.
En 2009 sort son nouveau clip, en collaboration avec National Geographic appelé Moving. Y apparaissent plusieurs artistes reconnus mondialement comme Juan Luis Guerra, Juanes, ou des acteurs comme Javier Bardem et Javier Camara.

Source: Wikipedia

María Dolores Flores Ruiz, alias Lola Flores

fut une chanteuse, danseuse et actrice espagnole née le 21 janvier 1923 à Jerez de la Frontera (Cadix), et décédée le 16 mai 1995 d'un cancer du sein dans sa résidence de El Lerele. Elle était mieux connue sous le surnom de La Faraona et débuta sa carrière en se produisant avec le chanteur de flamenco Manolo Caracol avec qui elle a travaillé jusqu'en 1951. On se souvient d'elle interprétant des rôles de gitanes à tempérament fort.

Biographie

Lola Flores commence pour le cinéma, dans La Martingala, un film du réalisateur Fernando Mignoni, avec le célèbre chanteur de flamenco Niño de Marchena. Elle signe un contrat pour travailler à Gijon et alterne tournées et participation à des films qui comprennent des intermèdes chantés et dansés. Elle triomphe à Madrid au milieu des années 1940 avec un spectacle intitulé Zambra à côté de Manolo Caracol qui devient son partenaire et ils tournent Embrujo (1946) de Carlos Serrano de Osma. S'ensuit une tournée en Amérique latine. À partir des années 1950, elle reprend le cinéma pour chanter dans Trafiquants d'opium de Julien Duvivier. En 1953, Lola Flores fonde sa propre compagnie. Parmi ses musiciens se trouve le guitariste Antonio González dit Antonio González dit El Pescaílla qui devient son époux.
Elle a deux filles : Rosario Flores et Lolita Flores et un fils Antonio Flores (décedè), artistes.

Source: Wikipedia.fr

CAMARON DE LA ISLA

Surnommé Camarón par un de ses oncles (« crevette » en castillan) qui, avec son physique frêle, sa peau blanche et ses cheveux roux, lui trouvait l'apparence d'une crevette, Jose Monge Cruz est un des chanteurs de flamenco les plus connus. Dès l'âge de huit ans, il commence à chanter dans des tavernes et les arrêts de bus avec Rancapino. À 14 ans, il fait une apparition dans le film El Amor Brujo avec António Gades. Deux ans plus tard, il gagne des premiers prix au festival de Cante Jondo à Mairena del Alcor. El Camarón se rend ensuite à Madrid avec Miguel de los Reyes et en 1968 devient artiste résident à la « Torres Bermejas Tablao » où il restera douze ans.
C'est là qu'il rencontre Paco de Lucía avec qui il enregistre neuf albums entre 1969 et 1977. Ils feront de nombreuses tournées ensemble pendant cette période. Lorsque Paco de Lucía devient davantage retenu par sa carrière en solo, c'est un de ses étudiants, Tomatito qui accompagnera El Camarón.
À 23 ans, Camarón se marie avec Dolores Montoya, une gitane de La Línea de la Concepción qu'il surnomme La Chispa (« l'étincelle »). La Chispa avait alors seulement 14 ans. Le couple aura deux enfants peu de temps après et deux autres par la suite.
Mélangeant flamenco archaïque et innovations de son cru, El Camarón de la Isla a profondément marqué le monde du flamenco avec ses disques comme Potro de Rabia y miel ou La Leyenda del Tiempo. Il est considéré comme le chanteur de flamenco le plus populaire de la période récente et celui qui a exercé le plus d'influence. Bien que son œuvre soit critiquée par quelques traditionalistes (il est un des premiers à avoir utilisé une basse électrique) il représente une étape de l'histoire du flamenco qui a favorisé l'émergence du nouveau flamenco et a inspiré toute une génération de chanteurs comme Diego el Cigala.
En 1992, José Monge Cruz meurt du cancer du poumon. On estime à plus de 100 000 le nombre de personnes qui ont assisté à son enterrement. En novembre 2006, la Poste espagnole lui a consacré un timbre commémoratif¹.

Source Wikipedia.

The ramadan time in Senegal, spain and all around the world

2012-07-21T01:49:00.003-07:00

If you planed to travel to Senegal at this time you should know that; as all islamic countries, Senegales muslims are celebrating the holly month of Ramadan.

Ramadan is a time of spiritual reflection and worship. Muslims of all countries are expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam and to avoid obscene and irreligious sights and sounds. Sexual intercourse among spouses is allowed after one has ended the daily fast. During fasting, intercourse is prohibited as well as eating and drinking, and resistance of all temptations is encouraged. Purity of both thoughts and actions is important. The act of fasting is said to redirect the heart away from worldly activities, its purpose being to cleanse the soul and free it from harmful impurities. Ramadan also teaches Muslims to practice self-discipline, self-control, sacrifice, and empathy for those who are less fortunate; thus encouraging actions of generosity and charity (Zakat).
It becomes compulsory for Muslims to start fasting when they reach puberty, so long as they are healthy, sane and have no disabilities or illnesses. The elderly, the chronically ill, and the mentally ill are exempt from fasting, although the first two groups must endeavor to feed the poor in place of their missed fasting. Also exempt are pregnant women if they believe it would be harmful to them or the unborn baby, women during the period of their menstruation, and women nursing their newborns. A difference of opinion exists among Islamic scholars as to whether this last group must make up the days they miss at a later date, or feed poor people as a recompense for days missed. While fasting is not considered compulsory in childhood, many children endeavour to complete as many fasts as possible as practice for later life. Fasting is not necessary for women going through menstrual bleeding. Also, those traveling (musaafir) are exempt, but must make up the days they miss. More specifically, Twelver Shī‘ah define those who travel more than 14 mi (23 km) in a day are exempt.

Increased prayer and recitation of the Quran

In addition to fasting, Muslims are encouraged to read the entire Quran. Some Muslims perform the recitation of the entire Quran by means of special prayers, called Tarawih, which are held in the mosques every night of the month, during which a whole section of the Quran (Juz', which is 1/30 of the Quran) is recited. Therefore the entire Quran would be completed at the end of the month. However it is not required to read the whole Quran in the Salatul Tarawih.
Ramadan is also a time when Muslims are to slow down from worldly affairs and focus on self-reformation, spiritual cleansing and enlightenment; this is to establish a link between themselves and God through prayer, supplication, charity, good deeds, kindness and helping others. Since it is a festival of giving and sharing, Muslims prepare special foods and buy gifts for their family and friends and for giving to the poor and needy who cannot afford it; this can involve buying new clothes, shoes and other items of need. There is also a social aspect involving the preparation of special foods and inviting people for Iftar.

Iftar

Iftar in Istanbul,Turkey

Muslims all around the world will abstain from food and drink, through fasting, from dawn to sunset. At sunset, the family will gather the fast-breaking meal known as Iftar. The meal starts with the eating of one or more (usually three) dates — just as Muhammad used to do. Then it's time for the Maghrib prayer, which is the fourth of the five daily prayers, after which the main meal is served.
Over time, Iftar has grown into banquet festivals. This is a time of fellowship with families, friends and surrounding communities, but may also occupy larger spaces at mosques or banquet halls, where a hundred or more may gather at a time.

Charity

Main article: Zakat

Main article: Sadaqa

Charity is very important in Islam, and even more so during Ramadan. Zakat, often translated as "the poor-rate", is obligatory as one of the pillars of Islam; a fixed percentage required to be given by those with savings. Sadaqa is voluntary charity in given above and beyond what is required from the obligation of zakat. Muslims believe that all good deeds are more handsomely rewarded in Ramadan than in any other month of the year. Consequently, many will choose this time to give a larger portion, if not all, of the zakat for which they are obligated to give. In addition, many will also use this time to give a larger portion of sadaqa in order to maximize the reward they believe will await them on the Day of Judgment.
In many Muslim countries, it is not uncommon to see people giving more food to the poor and the homeless, and even to see large public areas for the poor to come and break their fast. It is said that if a person helps a fasting person to break their fast, then they receive a reward for that fast, without diminishing the reward that the fasting person got for their fast.[citation needed]
Even in non-Muslim countries, no matter how small the Muslim population, a consistent increase in charitable donations to both fellows Muslims and non-Muslims occurs more so in this month. In the USA, for example, many Muslim communities dispersed throughout the country, participate in contributing food, clothes and non-perishable food items to local charities.

Laylat al-Qadr

Main article: Laylat al-Qadr

Sometimes referred to as "the night of decree or measures", Laylat al-Qadr is considered the most holy night of the year. Muslims believe that it is the night in which the Quran was first revealed to the prophet Muhammad, as stated in Chapter 97 of the Qu'ran. Also, generally, Laylat al-Qadr is believed to have occurred on an odd-numbered night during the last 10 days of Ramadan, ie-either the night of the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th or 29th.

We wish a very peacefull nd happy Ramadan for all muslims people in the all world.

El Ramadan ya llego

2012-07-21T01:24:00.000-07:00

El Ramadán( cuaresma musulman) en el año 2012 se inicia el 20 de Julio en España y el 21 de julio en Senegal y finalizara el 19 de Agosto de 2012 en España y el 20 de Agosto de
2012 en Senegal. El mes de Ramadán es el noveno mes lunar y empieza con la aparición de la luna a finales de Sha'ban (octavo mes en el calendario lunar islámico).

Durante el Ramadán, los musulmanes de todo el mundo realizan un ayuno diario desde antes del alba hasta la puesta del sol, tomando su primer comida al acercarse la oración del anochecer. El objetivo del ayuno es enseñar a los musulmanes la paciencia y la humildad, así como recordarles lo afortunados que son y hacer hincapié en la ayuda al necesitado y aquellos con menos suerte.

Asi que si debe viajar a Senegal en estas fechas recordar ser discreto a la hora de comer, beber o fumar para no llamar la atencion de los que ayunan, ya que este ejercicio es dificil por algunos.

El Eid al-Fitr (celebraciones del fin del ramadan)se inicia después del ocaso del último día del Ramadán. En las horas tempranas de la mañana del primer día del Shawwal (jornada inaugural del Eid al-Fitr), los musulmanes realizan un plegaria ritual, entonces se reparten dulces, comida y bebidas sin alcohol en las mezquitas y hogares. Las celebraciones duran tres días en los países islámicos.

Buen Ramadan a todos los musulmanes.

Senegalese traditional sport

2012-07-08T11:51:00.000-07:00

Senegalese wrestling

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Senegalese wrestling match at the stade Demba Diop in Dakar.

Senegalese wrestling (Njom in Serer, fr. Lutte sénégalaise, Laamb in Wolof) is a type of Folk wrestling traditional performed by the Serer people and now a national sport in Senegal and parts of The Gambia, and is part of a larger West African form of traditional wrestling (fr. Lutte Traditionnelle).^[1] The Senegalese form traditionally allows blows with the hands (frappe), the only of the West African traditions to do so. As a larger confederation and championship around Lutte Traditionnelle has developed since the 1990s, Senegalese fighters now practice both forms, called officially Lutte Traditionnelle sans frappe (for the international version) and Lutte Traditionnelle avec frappe for the striking version.^[2]

History

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It takes its root from the wrestling tradition of the Serer people - formally a preparity exercise for war among the warrior classes depending on the technique. In Serer tradition, wrestling is divided into different techniques with mbapate being one of them. It was also an initiation rite among the Serers, the word Njom derives from the Serer principle of Jom (from Serer religion), meaning heart or honour in the Serer language.^[5]^[6] The Jom principle covers a huge range of values and beliefs including economic, ecological, personal and social values. Wrestling stems from the branch of personal values of the Jom principle.One of the oldest known and recorded wrestler in Senegambia was Boukar Djilak Faye (a Serer) who lived in the 14th century in the Kingdom of Sine. He was the ancestor of the Faye Paternal Dynasty of Sine and Saloum (both Kingdoms in present-day Senegal). The njom wrestling spectacle was usually accompanied by the kim njom - the chants made by young Serer women in order to reveal their gift of "poetry" (ciid in Serer ). The Wolof word for wrestling - Laamb, derives from the Serer language Fara-Lamb Siin (Fara of Mandinka origin whilst Lamb of Serer origin) the chief griot who used to beat the tam-tam of Sine called Lamb or Laamb in Serer. The lamb was part of the music accompaniment of wrestling in pre-colonial times as well as after Senegal's independence. It was also part of the Njuup tradition (a conservative Serer music repertoire, the progenitor of Mbalax^[10]^[11]^[12]).
Transcending ethnic groups, the sport enjoys the status of national sport.^[13] Traditionally, young men also used to fight as a distraction, to court wives, prove their manliness, and bring honor to their villages. Usually each wrestler (called mbër) performed a particular dance (called a bàkk) before the start of the combat.
Today it is very popular in the country as an indication of male athletic strength and ability.^[14] Presently, wrestling is arranged by business-promoters who offer prizes for the winners.

Goal

Champion wrestler Yékini (Yakhya Diop).

One of the main objectives is to throw the opponent to the ground by lifting him up and over, usually outside a given area.

Training

A "false lion" (simb) dancer who participates in the ceremony prior to matches.

Senegalese wrestlers train extremely hard and may perform press ups and various difficult physical exercises throughout the day to build up their strength. However whilst they believe strength is important they also believe that there is an element of luck in the winner, and may perform black magic rituals before a match to increase their chances. Common to Senegalese wrestlers is rubbing a foot on a stone or rubbing themselves with lotions or oils to increase good luck.

Media

In April 2008 a BBC documentary entitled Last Man Standing covered the lives of a group of British and American hopefuls at a boot camp in Senegal who took on Senegalese opponents. Laamb was featured in the 2005 film L'Appel des arènes (English title Wrestling Grounds).

Etymology

Laamb is the Wolof word for wrestling which is borrowed from Serer Fara-Lamb Siin.The Serer word for wrestling is njom which derives from the Serer word jom (heart or honour).

Champions

Since the 1950s, Senegalese Wrestling, like its counterparts in other areas of West Africa, has become a major spectator sport and cultural event. The champions of traditional wrestling events are celebrities in Senegal, with fighters such as Yékini (Yakhya Diop), Tyson (Mohamed Ndao), and Bombardier (Serigne Ousmane Dia) the best known.

SENEGAL-SPAIN-WRESTLING-ESPINO

Spanish wrestler Juan Francisco Espino (C) gestures at supporters as he enters the arena for a match against Senegalese wrestler Keur Diene, at the Iba Mar Diop Stadium in Dakar on June 30, 2012. Espino, who originally discovered his passion for the sport at home with his father and family on the Canary Islands, went on to learn about a variety of forms of wrestling, in Brazil and South Korea, before developing a specific interest in Senegalese wrestling. Espino is the first foreigner to brave his way into Senegalese wrestling arenas, where fans are very excited about the sport and Espino earned the nickname 'White Lion' after winning several matches. AFP Photo

Deportes tradicionales de Senegal

2012-07-08T11:36:00.001-07:00

Lucha senegalesa

Combate en el estadio Demba Diop de Dakar.

Lucha senegalesa (Fr. Lutte Sénégalaise, wolof Lamb o Laamb) es un tipo de lucha tradicional muy popular en Senegal (principalmente en Sine-Saloum y Casamance) y parte de Gambia, y es parte de una forma de lucha tradicional en África Occidental más amplia. La variante senegalesa tradicionalmente permite golpes con las manos (frappe), y es la única de las luchas del África Occidental en hacerlo. Dentro de una confederación más grande y del campeonato africano de Lucha tradicional que se ha desarrollado desde la década de 1990, los luchadores senegaleses ahora practican ambas variantes, llamada oficialmente Lucha tradicional sin golpes Lutte Traditionnelle sans frappe (para la versión internacional) y Lutte Traditionnelle avec frappe para la versión con golpeo.

Historia

Deporte tradicional, los primeros combates de lucha tenían lugar después de la temporada de lluvias y enfrentaban a los luchadores de las aldeas vecinas en campeonatos llamados mbaapat. Esto es particularmente cierto en las regiones del norte del Seno-Saloum y Casamance.

Combate en un pueblo de Gambia.

El vencedor del torneo podía ganar ganado, granos u otros bienes. Tradicionalmente, los hombres jóvenes solían luchar como distracción, para cortejar sus mujeres, probar su virilidad, y otorgar honor a sus aldeas. Por lo general, cada luchador llamado M'burr en wolof realiza un baile antes del inicio del combate.
Con el paso del tiempo y el éxito, la lucha se fue convirtiendo en algo cada vez más importante, así como aumentaba el caché de los luchadores. Hoy en día los combates son grandes acontecimientos deportivos que movilizan a los medios de comunicación y reciben la atención de los residentes y la diáspora. Trascendiendo los grupos étnicos, el deporte goza de condición de deporte nacional. Actualmente, la lucha está organizada por empresas promotoras que ofrecen premios para los ganadores.

Reglas

El reglamento es muy estricto y complejo. Se aplica por tres jueces árbitros.

Antes del combate.

Un combate dura cuarenta y cinco minutos (45’) en tres partes con pausas de cinco minutos (5). El combate termina cuando hay una caída de uno de los luchadores. Se considera que existe caída cuando la cabeza, las nalgas o la parte trasera del luchador llegan al suelo. La victoria también puede atribuirse a un luchador cuando su oponente no presenta las condiciones físicas o médicas adecuadas para la lucha.

Noticia insolita:

La estrella de la lucha en Senegal es español ‎

14/07/2011 - Teinteresa.es

Le apodan "El León Blanco".
Su lema es "Amul Ragal": No hay miedo.
Las estrellas cobran 150.000 euros.

El pasado sábado, frente a Pape Cargo, un luchador poco conocido de 199 centímetros de estatura y 135 kilos de peso, firmó un nuevo triunfo con tanta facilidad como en sus dos anteriores combates, en los que sus adversarios no resistieron más de un minuto frente a él.
"Llego siempre a los combates con ganas de vencer y de hacerlo lo más rápido posible", comenta en una entrevista con Efe el "León Blanco", de 31 años, natural de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, con 198 centímetros y 135 kilos.
El luchador afirma que está en Senegal no por dinero, sino por la fama y las sensaciones que ofrece la lucha en este país de África Occidental: "No hay ningún otro país en el mundo -subraya- donde un combate de lucha llene un estadio de 50.000 localidades".

Descubrimiento en el 2000:

Espino, que acumula numerosos títulos nacionales e internacionales de lucha, descubrió este deporte en el año 2000, gracias a Pepe Gómez, su consejero, quien regresó de un viaje a Dakar con vídeos de combates.
"Lo que vi me pareció fascinante", dice el canario, que más tarde viajó a Dakar, en agosto de 2009, con motivo de un combate entre dos destacados luchadores: Yekini, actual "Rey de la Arena" con un récord de 19 victorias y un empate en 20 combates, y Gris Bordeaux.
El promotor de ese enfrentamiento le ofreció al "León Blanco" la oportunidad de estrenarse en la arena senegalesa, en un combate de exhibición frente a Khadim 2, un buen atleta pero de segunda categoría.
La experiencia está siendo muy emocionante para Espino, quien resalta que, en más de diez años de carrera de lucha canaria y lucha libre, no actuó jamás ante un público de más de 6.000 personas.
Desde entonces, el deportista español tomó la decisión de involucrarse en la lucha senegalesa que es muy popular en ese país y cuyos combates duran unos 45 minutos y acaban cuando hay una caída de uno de los luchadores.
Los trámites para conseguir la licencia por parte del Comité Nacional de Gestión de la Lucha, que hace las veces de federación de este deporte, duraron pocos meses, y en octubre de 2010 luchó en su primer combate como profesional frente a Mbaye Sene, alias "Dawul Xare" ("No rehuye la guerra" en wolof, idioma hablado en Senegal). El combate duró tan sólo un minuto.
De apenas una decena de espectadores durante este choque, los seguidores del "León Blanco" pasaron a ser varios centenares en el combate del pasado sábado, algunos con banderas españolas y canarias, origen del único luchador europeo de la arena.
"¡Juan, Juan!", gritaron sus seguidores, que iban vestidos con camisetas con su efigie y que acogieron su victoria con aplausos.
En su tercera presencia en la arena, el canario -cuyo lema es "Amul Ragal": "No hay miedo", en wolof- se puso a tono, adoptando el atuendo típico, bailando como los demás al ritmo de los tambores locales y efectuando el ritual de preparación.
El "León Blanco" valora esa mística del ritual, no por mimetismo, sino por total convicción de que es importante para protegerse. "Siento -asegura- los efectos positivos del ritual místico, que me da fuerza interior y fe en la victoria".
La lucha senegalesa no es sólo un combate físico, sino también un enfrentamiento místico entre adversarios, conforme a las creencias tradicionales.
De momento, no cobra los sueldos de los luchadores de elite (cuyos honorarios llegan a alcanzar los 150.000 euros), pero le falta poco para hacerse un hueco entre los mejores, según cree Balla Gaye, manager del equipo homónimo, al que pertenece Espino.
"Lo tiene todo para luchar con los mejores. Lo ha demostrado en tres combates y no tardará en entrar en ese círculo restringido de la elite, si los promotores le dan la oportunidad", dijo a Efe Gaye.
"El León Blanco" pretende dedicar parte del dinero que gana a apoyar acciones humanitarias dirigidas a jóvenes y niños senegaleses desfavorecidos: "Con lo que gano, voy a ayudar a orfanatos y centros de acogida de minusválidos".
Mientras tanto, va trazando su camino: "No es posible llegar y luchar contra los mejores de la arena. Tengo que empezar con luchadores anónimos y poquito a poco subir de categoría para formar parte de la elite".
Y así ha sido cómo este joven español se ha hecho famoso, poco a poco, tal y como se percibe por el cariño que le manifiestan en las calles de Dakar, donde ya no pasa desapercibido.

Video Juan Espino Vs "Daul Khare"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Zxv9Wj-LrM

The spanish festivities

2012-07-08T05:26:00.002-07:00

The Sanfermines, one of the most important Spanish festivities

For our first artcle about spanish festivities, we will present us the Sanfermins.

June 17th, 2011 July gets closer and the Spanish city Pamplona starts getting ready for the most important festivity of the year, the Sanfermines, a festivity in honour of San Fermin. These festivities are very well known on international level and attract people from all over the world, that’s why it becomes a big opportunity for Spanish students to enjoy one of the most representative festivities in Spain.
The festivity starts on the 6th of July at 12 noon with the chupinazo from the town hall balcony, like every popular festivity everything starts with the launch of the fireworks. The chupinazo together with the sentence “Pamploneses, Pamplonesas ¡Viva San Fermín! ¡Gora San Fermín!” (Pamploneses, Viva San Fermín!) turns into one of the pillars of the festivities, and then start all shows and events.

Click on the image to see video of the San Fermin festival.

The most famous and spectacular activity in the Sanfermines is the encierros, a race in front of or accompanied by a herd of bulls and leading bulls which starts at eight in the morning. They cover all the old Pamplona streets and finish on the “plaza de toros”, which is a total of895 meterslong. The encierros take place from the 7th until the 14th of July, and it is a dangerous activity that counts with a great tourist and Pamplona citizens participation. Before they start to run the encierro all participants sing the Prego a San Fermín, a canticle to ask him for help:”A San Fermín pedimos por ser nuestro patrón, nos guíe en el encierro dándonos su bendición. Viva San Fermín! Viva! Gora San Fermin! Gora!”.
(To San Fermin we ask for being our patron saint, he guide us in the encierra giving us his benediction…)

Running of the bulls of San Fermin

Other activities take place in the city during the festivities, the famous Riau-Riau, which is a route between the town house and the San Lorenzo church where thousands of people sing and dance the waltz “La Alegría de san Fermín”(San Fermin happiness); the group of giants and cabezudos (figures with large heads), the festivities’ symbols; the fireworks, the fire bull or the encierro of the villavesa, among many other activities.
Spanish students have to know that to go to the Sanfermines they need to be dressed with the traditional festivity clothes, the T shirt and trousers have to be white. A red wide belt and a neckerchief has to be worn on the wrist, which has to be tied around the neck after the chupinazo, never before. They also need to know and sing the festivities’ Official Anthem at all times:
“Uno de enero, dos de febrero, tres de marzo, cuatro de abril, cinco de mayo, seis de junio, siete de julio, ¡SAN FERMÍN! Uno de enero, dos de febrero, tres de marzo, cuatro de abril, cinco de mayo, seis de junio, siete de julio, ¡SAN FERMÍN! A Pamplona hemos de ir, con una media, con una media, a Pamplona hemos de ir con una media y un calcetín”
(First of January, second of February, third march, fourth of April, fifth of may, sixth of June, seventh of July, San Fermin!… To Pamplona we have to go, with a tight, with a tight, to Pamplona we have to go with a tight and a sock)
The festivities finish at midnight on the 14th of July on the city’s town house square, where thousands of citizens sing the farewell song with great sadness.
“Pobre de mí, pobre de mí, que se han acabado las fiestas de San Fermín. Pobre de mí, pobre de mí, que se han acabado las fiestas de San Fermín”.
(Poor me, poor me, the San Fermín festivities came to an end…)

Fetes Espagnoles d'interet touristique

2012-07-08T05:14:00.000-07:00

En Espagne on celebre chaque anee plus d'une centaine de fetes populaires, au moins chaque ville ou village a sa semaine de fete populaire durant la quelle les visiteurs et residants peuvent revisiter l'art, la traditon et la gastronomie locale.
Parmis toutes les fetes populaires celebrees, les Sanfermin de la ville de Pamplun sont peut etre les plus celebres et mieux connues au niveau international.
Justement en ce mois de Juillet est celebree chaque annee les Sanfermin, une belle occasion que nous saisiront pour vous parler de cet evenement qui attire chaque annee des mliers de visiteurs et touristes a Pamplun ( Pamplona pour les espagnols).

Fête de San Fermin

Fête de San Fermin 2012 à Pamplona : du 06 au 14 juillet
Connue dans le monde entier pour ses fameuses courses de taureau, les Sanfermines rassemblent de nombreux touristes venus assister à ce spectacle riche en sensations.

Déroulement des Sanfermines
Les courses, qui parcourent les rues du centre historique de la ville de Pamplona, durent 2 à 3 minutes, sous les yeux de très nombreux journeaux et chaînes de télévision du monde. Pour vivre cet événement en direct, nous vous conseillons de regarder dès maintenant pour des vols pas cher pour Pamplone.
La fête de Sanfermines, présentée comme une fête commerciale au début du 13ème siècle, s'est peu à peu transformée en une semaine de réelle euphorie, où les habitants se retrouvent traditionnellement vêtus blanc et un foulard rouge autour du cou. Entre les fêtes de jour et celles de nuit, il est possible de festoyer durant 24 heures.
Origine des Sanfermines
Les traditionnelles courses (encierros) sont nées dans les rues de Pamplone lorsque les habitants conduisaient les taureaux au combat sur la place principale, où s'exibait le torero. A cette occasion, les plus jeunes, en quête de sensations et de montée d'adrénaline, courraient devant les taureaux. On retrouve cette tradition aujourd'hui, avec pour unique différence l'importante augmentation des courageux coureurs.
Consulter vidéo et Conseil pratique pour fêter en toute tranquilité la San Fermin comme coureurs ou comme spectateurs!

Date de la Fête de San Fermin : du 06 au 14 juillet

La fête de San Fermin 2012 débute un vendredi
La fête de San Fermin 2013 débute un samedi
La fête de San Fermin 2014 débute un dimanche
La fête de San Fermin 2015 débute unl undi
La fête de San Fermin 2016 débute un mercredi
La fête de San Fermin 2017 débute un jeudi
La fête de San Fermin 2018 débute un vendredi

Fiestas de la Piedad y Feria de la Vendimia

Festivites dediees a la vierge de la piété et la foire du Vendange .
Se tiennent Chaque annee vers la date du 13 u 17 août a Almendralejo (Badajoz) les Festivites de la Piedad sont tenus en l'honneur de la sainte patrone de la ville de Almendralejo, Nuestra Señora de la Piedad. En outre, cette celebration coincide juste avec la fête du vendange, commemorant l'arrivée de la nouvelle récolte du raisin. Les festivités se deroulent durant 7jours et les activites majeurs s'organisent la nuit avec les fetes foraines ou l'ont peux profiter des nombreux maneges, commerces et autres manifestations qui se deroulent das l'enceinte de la foire locale de Almendralejo, en plus d'autres actes et activites sont celebrees durant toute la semaine, de nuit comme de jour vous aurez le choix entre les activites suivantes: la Foire gastronomique pour deguster des produits au goût de la terre, concours de maniement d'engins agricoles,, avec des tracteurs et des grappes de raisins, corridas et lachee de toros dans les rues de Almendralejos, pectacles musicaux,Discoteques types caribeennes -ibiza non stop, inauguration de la source du vin, des paellada, des activités pour les enfants et pour terminer, des actes religieuses aura lieu par la suite. Cinq jours Almendralejo résidents et les visiteurs nombreux profiter de la joie qui parcourt les rues à toutes les heures de la journée.

Hacer Negocio en senegal

2012-07-07T04:36:00.002-07:00

Razones para invertir

Senegal es un atractivo destino de negocios por más de una razón. El país ofrece a los inversores varias ventajas. Invirtiendo en Senegal, usted se beneficiará de unas condiciones incomparables y ventajosas.

Un país estable y abierto
Infraestructuras modernas y productivas
Una economía sana y competitiva
Recursos humanos de calidad
Un marco jurídico y fiscal incitativo
Un acceso privilegiado a mercados regionales e internacionales
Una calidad de vida excepcional

2. Sectores prioritarios

Senegal ofrece a los inversores numerosas posibilidades de inversión en diferentes sectores prometedores.

Agricultura y agroindustria
Turismo
Pesca y acuicultura
TIC y teleservicios
Salud
Otros sectores (educación, minas y geología, hábitat social, energías renovables)

3. Servicios a los inversores

Sea cual sea su sector de actividad, en Senegal encontrará unas condiciones adaptadas a sus necesidades de inversión y a su elección de implantación. Su empresa se creará en 48 horas y usted se beneficiará de unos costes operativos competitivos. Además, se ha implementado un nuevo dispositivo de incitaciones (Código de Inversiones y Estatuto de Empresa Franca de Exportación) para una mayor protección de las inversiones, una mejora de las incitaciones a la inversión y la toma en consideración de sectores prioritarios.

4. Los grandes proyectos de infraestructuras en Senegal

Senegal ha emprendido un extenso programa de equiparación de sus infraestructuras con los estándares internacionales. En el marco de esta nueva política, el país ha decidido realizar proyectos de infraestructuras siguiendo esquemas de colaboración público-privada. Entre los grandes proyectos que están en curso en la actualidad se encuentran la autopista de peaje Dakar-Diamnadio y el aeropuerto internacional Blaise Diagne.

5. APIX, un camino fácil y rápido

Desde la primera toma de contacto con nuestros servicios, APIX pone a su disposición una ayuda multiforme, gratuita y personalizada que le asegura tranquilidad y le garantiza profesionalidad a lo largo de todo su proceso de inversión en Senegal. Los servicios de APIX son una ventanilla única certificada, el acompañamiento gratuito y personalizado y la mejora del entorno empresarial en Senegal.

6. Contacto

APIX sa
Promoción de inversiones y grandes obras
52 - 54 Rue Mohamed V
BP 430 CP 18524 Dakar RP Sénégal
Tel. : (221) 33 849 05 55 - Fax : (221) 33 823 94 89
Correo electrónico : contact@apix.sn
Sitio web : www.investinsenegal.com
Más información

Doing business in Senegal

2012-07-07T04:29:00.002-07:00

Senegal is an attractive business destination in more ways than one.

Famous Senegalese artists, poets and writers

2012-07-07T04:16:00.000-07:00

Today we will give few informations about the best senegalese poete former president Leopold Sedar Senghor:

Léopold SéDAR SENGHOR

Biography :

Léopold Sédar Senghor (October 9,1906 -December 20, 2001), was a Senegalese statesman and first president of Senegal (1960-1980). He became a teacher, writer, and politician, a member of the French Constituent Assembly in 1945, deputy for Senegal in the French National Assembly (1948–58), and president following his country's independence. He also won several literary awards as a poet, and was the first black African to join the French literary institute, the Academie Francaise in 1983.

Leopold Sedar Senghor was not only president of the Republic of Senegal, he was s also Africa's most famous poet. A cofounder of the Negritude cultural movement, he is recognized as one of the most significant figures in African literature.

Senghor was born in the predominantly Islamic province of Joal (Senegal), was raised as a Roman catholic.

The son of a prosperous landowner, Senghor was extraordinarily gifted in literature and won a scholarship to study at the Sorbonne in Paris (grad. 1935). There he met fellow writers such as Aimé Césaire and Léon Damas, with whom he formulated the concept of négritude, which asserted the importance of their African heritage . He became a French teacher, served in an all-African unit of the French army in World War II, and after the war represented Senegal (1945–58) in the French legislature. He then held a series of offices in Senegal and became one of the founders of the African Regroupement party. Senghor was president of the legislative assembly in the Mali Federation (1959) and, when Senegal withdrew from the federation (1960), he became president of the newly formed Republic of Senegal.

Senghor continued to work for African unity, and, in 1974, Senegal joined six other nations in the West African Economic Community. He was reelected president in 1963, 1968, and 1973, remaining in office until his retirement in 1980. He lived in Normandy (France) for most of the rest of his life. A distinguished intellectual and champion of African culture, he wrote numerous volumes of poetry and essays in French, including Chants d'Ombre (1945), written while he was interned in a Nazi prison camp; Hosties noires (1948); Chants pour Naëtt (1949); and Éthiopiques (1956). At the head of his many poems, Senghor indicates the musical instruments that should accompany them, illustrating his belief that the poems should become songs to be complete.

Achieving major success as a poet, politician, and intellectual, Leopold Senghor has had a truly unique identity among African leaders. His development from tribal member in Senegal, to scholar in France, to head of the government back in Senegal made him a symbol of Africa's shift from colonial domination to self- determination.

Senghor was one of the architects of the philosophy of negritude, a movement established in France to raise black consciousness. He was the first black African to receive the equivalent of the American Ph.D. degree in France, as well as the first black African to be elected to the French Academy. As a poet, he generated a body of work that led to his nomination for the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. Senghor's poetry often reflected his problems of dual consciousness resulting from his upbringing in Senegal and education in France. In his review of Senghor's The Collected Poetry in the Washington Post, K. Anthony Appiah wrote, "By themselves these poems would justify giving Senghor a place in the history of our times."

Along with maintaining dual identities as an African and Frenchman, Senghor has remained active as both a poet and a politician during his long career. Janet G. Vaillant summed up Senghor's life in Black, French, and African: A Life of Leopold Sedar Senghor: "Just as he [Senghor] refused to choose between his talents as poet and politician, sensing that each added depth to the other, so, too, he refused to choose between his two homelands, France and Africa. He knew their strengths and weaknesses, their darkness and their light, and he loved them both.

Senghor received several international awards as a writer and a major African political opinion leader, among others Dag Hammarskjöld Prize (1965), Peace Prize of German Book Trade, Haile Sellassie African Research Prize (1973, Apollinaire Prize for Poetry (1974). He was appointed in 1969 member of Inst. Français, Acad. des Sciences morales et politiques.

There it's one of the best poema of Leopold Sedar Senghor.

Night of Sine
By Léopold Sédar Senghor

Women, rest on my brow your balsam hands,
Your hands gentler than fur.
The tall palm trees swinging in the night wind
Hardly rustle. Not even cradlesongs.
The rhythmic silence rocks us.
Listen to its song, listen to the beating of our dark blood, listen,
To the beating of the dark pulse of Africa in the midst of lost villages.
Now the tired moon sinks towards its bed of slack water,
Now the peals of laughter even fall asleep, and the bards themselves
Dandle their heads like children on the backs of the mothers.
Now the feet of the dancers grow heavy
And heavy grows the tongue of the singers.
This is the hour of the stars and of the night that dreams
And reclines on this hill of clouds, draped in her long gown of milk.
The roofs of the houses gleam gently.
What are they telling so confidentially to the stars?
Inside the hearth is extinguished in the intimacy of bitter and sweet scents.
Women, light the lamps of clear oil, and let the children
In bed talk about their ancestors, like their parents.
Listen to the voice of the ancients of Elissa. Like we, exiled,
They did not want to die, lest their seminal flood be lost in the sand.
Let me listen in the smoky hut for the shadowy visit of propitious souls,
My head on your breasts glows like a kuskmus ball smoking out of the fire,
Let me breathe the smell of our dead,
Let me contemplate and repeat their living voice, let me learn
To live before I sink, deeper than the river, into the lofty depth of sleep.

Cheikh Anta Diop The "Black Pharoah"

On the 7th of February, 1986, Africa lost one of her illustrious sons, Cheikh Anta Diop, an exceptional African whose singular destiny and contributions were in tune with an Africa sometimes (promising), hopeful and some times despondent.
While leaving us, Professor Cheikh Anta Diop bequeathed to Africa a heritage of liberation without precedence: the knowledge of one's origin.
It would not strike the mind of any historian of the ancient Mediterranean civilizations to deny the crucial role played by black Egyptian peoples, in deed Ethiopians, in the development of sciences, arts, techniques, and it was from distant antiquity. The idea of "black tabula rasa", (Africa devoid of history (culture); in short, devoid of humanity, dear to colonial histography is largely posterior.
Cheikh Anta Diop led throughout his life a patriotic struggle so that Africa might at long last get rid of the claws of cultural alienation which had lasted far too long, so that they would again become masters of a history which they had not lost before colonialism. "Black nations and culture" was within the context of an intense ideological struggle opposing the most awakened and conscious elements, the most politically awakened of the African elites to the tenants of colonial order who, to be witnesses to its collapse, were nonetheless less solid and untouchable.
The European Africanists schools (all tendencies mixed) were unanimous in rejecting, more often without examining, the fundamental theses of Cheikh Anta Diop relating to the "cultural unity" of Africa to the migrations which, taking their source from the original neolithic basin had ended up in the present peopling of the continent; to the continuity of the national historical past of Africans. It is that, in the eyes of some, the works of the Senegalese historian appear a dangerous precedent susceptible, like every pioneering and innovative work, to incite dangerous vocations. This concern was based on at at least one point: the disintegration by Cheikh Anta Diop of the fundamental postulates of the European Africanist discourse. Thus we read: "This false attribution of values of Egypt qualified as white to a Greece equally white reveals a deep contradiction which is not the least proof of the black origin of Egyptian civilization" (Nations Negres et Culture, page 40, Vol II, Presence Africaine, 3 em edition).
In that fragment Cheikh Anta Diop links up the well being with the "umbilical cord" which links "black" ancient Egypt to the rest of the continent. similarly, the insoluble contradiction which made that pharaonic Egypt, the mother of civilizations, does not the least objectively belong to a continent judged to be savage, primitive and barbarous, finally finds a rational solution.
In that regard, to measure the same time the revolutionary character of Cheikh Anta Diop's thesis and the extent of the mystification of colonial histography, let us listen to Frederich Hegel, its most qualified and profound representative: "She (Africa) is no part of the historic world, she neither shows movement nor development........., that is to say, from the north originates the Asiatic and European worlds. Cartage was in that regard an important and transient element. But it belongs to Asia a Phoenician colony. Egypt would be examined through the passage of the human mind from the east to the west, but it does not depend on the African mind." (La raison dans L'Histoirem, p 269, collection 10-18).
Through this odious falsification of history, which Karl Max qualifies a idealist, a road was made which led to the myth of anti historicity of the African continent; which continent is seen to be, in perspective of Cheikh Anta Diop, the cradle of all civilizations.
It is against such allegations, qualified rightly, by the first historian of African renaissance Cheikh Anta Diop, as "fascist" and "racist" (in the sense that they implied the incapacity of Africans to create viable political institutions), that his major work "Nations Negres et Culture", reacted. It can be deplored that his prodigious erudition, his epic style, his liberating breath had not inspired all the African intellectualls of that epoch. Worst still, African history as it is taught today in our schools does not take the Negroid dimension of ancient Egypt.
But an important question arises: in what measure do the works of Cheikh Anta Diop allow to respond to the challenges of the future? For Theophile Obenga, a disciple and a companion of the author, "with Cheikh Anta Diop, history is not defined as the study of the past of human kind, but as the construction of the future in the name of life."
Cheikh Anta Diop was not only an intellectual, he also had a past as a man of action who did not hesitate to embrace political militantism when he judged it necessary. It was in that regard that he published scathing and brilliant articles in "La voix d'Afrique", a journal of students of the RDA (Rassemblement Democratique Africain). One of his articles appeared in February, 1952, and already he had put (at an epoch where most African parliamentarians opted for a policy of compromise - not to say betrayal) on the agenda the question of independence and the federation of the ex-colonies.
One sees it, the political doctrine of Cheikh Anta Diop, consigned to "the economic and cultural foundations", having as a philosopher's stone the notion of unity under its federal or confederal; form. A certain number of factors converged to render indispensable a political unity: the imperatives of economic independence, industrial development, the inconstances of political entities issuing from colonialism, and the cultural unity of Black Africa.
These theses, to say the truth, are neither new nor original. One remembers the iterinary of Kwame Nkrumah, almost all of whose works and, in particular the famous book entitled "Africa Must Unite", offer a brilliant illustration. Nevertheless, in the light of the political experiences of African states since 1960, one realizes that as regards the economic, political and cultural necessities of unity in order to formulate an ideology of development and liberation, they are notoriously insufficient. Such a move can only end up in a voluntarist and idealist practice which substitutes the categorical imperative of unity for contradictions and objective movements of African societies - the pseudoSenegambia Confederation is a patent example of it. Here resides one of the major contradictions which undermines the work.
In effect, no infallible mathematical law has yet demonstrated that because the ancient past of a people was brilliant, so its future must, with the fatality of bronze law equally be. Undoubtedly, it has to be underscored (and deplored) that in his persistence, by the way quite judicious, to defend the thesis of "Black Egypt", the author did not analyse the concrete social realities of the African peoples in a satisfactory way; far from being homogeneous, far from constituting the only and same group of democratic and colonized, (who were disunited by interests fundamentally antagonistic, which explain the present impasses having names such as Rwanda-Burundi, Nigeria an so on and so forth. Only these contradictions explain the relatively inefficient character of an action which, at the RDA, as at the level of the Senegalese block of masses (which later became RND - National Democratic Assembly), only realized ephemeral successes. It is now the lot of today's African generation and that of tomorrow to tap the energy emanating from the monumental heritage that Cheikh Anta Diop has bequeathed to us, to propel Africa into the first row of the international community in order to remake it as a continent of inventions and liberty. This is the challenge that the pharoah of knowledge (the ancestor of our future) has bequeathed as heritage to the African youth.

FOROYAA
(Freedom)
February, 1997
ISSN: 0796-0573

A Brief Biography of Cheikh Anta Diop .
"In practice it is possible to determine directly the skin colour and hence the ethnic affiliations of the ancient Egyptians by microscopic analysis in the laboratory; I doubt if the sagacity of the researchers who have studied the question has overlooked the possibility."
--Cheikh Anta Diop
Cheikh Anta Diop, a modern champion of African identity, was born in Diourbel, Senegal on December 29, 1923. At the age of twenty-three, he journeyed to Paris, France to continue advanced studies in physics. Within a very short time, however, he was drawn deeper and deeper into studies relating to the African origins of humanity and civilization. Becoming more and more active in the African student movements then demanding the independence of French colonial possessions, he became convinced that only by reexamining and restoring Africa's distorted, maligned and obscured place in world history could the physical and psychological shackles of colonialism be lifted from our Motherland and from African people dispersed globally. His initial doctoral dissertation submitted at the University of Paris, Sorbonne in 1951, based on the premise that Egypt of the pharaohs was an African civilization--was rejected. Regardless, this dissertation was published by Presence Africaine under the title Nations Negres et Culture in 1955 and won him international acclaim. Two additional attempts to have his doctorate granted were turned back until 1960 when he entered his defense session with an array of sociologists, anthropologists and historians and successfully carried his argument. After nearly a decade of titanic and herculean effort, Diop had finally won his Docteur es Lettres! In that same year, 1960, were published two of his other works--the Cultural Unity of Black Africa and and Precolonial Black Africa.
During his student days, Cheikh Anta Diop was an avid political activist. From 1950 to 1953 he was the Secretary-General of the Rassemblement Democratique Africain (RDA) and helped establish the first Pan-African Student Congress in Paris in 1951. He also participated in the First World Congress of Black Writers and Artists held in Paris in 1956 and the second such Congress held in Rome in 1959. Upon returning to Senegal in 1960, Dr. Diop continued his research and established a radiocarbon laboratory in Dakar. In 1966, the First World Black Festival of Arts and Culture held in Dakar, Senegal honored Dr. Diop and Dr. W.E.B. DuBois as the scholars who exerted the greatest influence on African thought in twentieth century. In 1974, a milestone occurred in the English-speaking world when the African Origin of Civilization: Myth or Reality was finally published. It was also in 1974 that Diop and Theophile Obenga collectively and soundly reaffirmed the African origin of pharaonic Egyptian civilization at a UNESCO sponsored symposium in Cairo, Egypt. In 1981, Diop's last major work, Civilization or Barbarism: An Authentic Anthropology was published.
Dr. Diop was the Director of Radiocarbon Laboratory at the Fundamental Institute of Black Africa (IFAN) at the University of Dakar. He sat on numerous international scientific committees and achieved recognition as one of the leading historians, Egyptologists, linguists and anthropologists in the world. He traveled widely, lectured incessantly and was cited and quoted voluminously. He was regarded by many as the modern `pharaoh' of African studies. Cheikh Anta Diop died quietly in sleep in Dakar, Senegal on February 7,1986.

You can find further information on http://www.gambia.dk/antadiop.html

Rokhaya MAIGA KA

Rokhaya Aminata Maïga Ka was born in 1940 in Saint-Louis, Senegal. Like many Senegalese, she was born into a Muslim family . Her father was a doctor, her mother a housewife and she has very happy childhood memories. Although French was spoken in her milieu, Peul, Wolof and Bambara were also spoken at home. After primary school in Kounghel and Thiès, Aminata Maïga Ka went to high school in Thiès and later to the lycée 'Eaux Claires ' in Grenoble. She later gained a Master's Degree in English at the Dakar University, followed by a stay at the universities of San Francisco and Iowa-City. Her professional career began as an English teacher at the Lycée Malick Sy in Thiès. But after completing further training in Great Britain, she filled a variety of high level posts, both with UNESCO and the government of Senegal. She has visited numerous countries during the course of her life (France, Great Britain, USA, Mali, Guinea, Mauritania, Congo and the Central African Republic) and has lived in Dakar since 1976. Aminata Maiga Ka's first publication, "La Voie du Salut - Miroir de la Vie", in 1985 was followed by "En votre nom et au mien" and "Brisures vies", as well as works on the the condition of women in Senegal and her literary critiques on the works of Mariama Bâ and d'Aminata Sow Fall. Married to the late playwright and journalist Abdou Anta Ka, she is the mother of six children. A technical adviser to the Ministry of Education, she was also a town councillor and a member of the Central Commmittee of the Socialist Party (in 1991). From 1992 to 1995, she was a Cultural Attaché at Rome's Senegalese Embassy and a representative (représentant adjoint) to the FAO, FIDA and PAM. Rokhaya Aminata Maïga Ka passed away in November 2005.

Publications
La Voie du Salut suivi de Le Miroir de la vie [The Path of Salvation followed by Mirror of Life]. Paris: Présence Africaine, 1985. (200p.). ISBN 2 7087 0461 3. Two short stories.
The short story The Path of Salvation illustrates what little power the modern woman, initiated into the world of business and politics, actually possesses." (Back cover).
Mirror of Life describes the shameless exploitation of a young maid called Fatou: she becomes pregnant, her boyfriend betrays her and a tragic turn of events leads to her suicide. Madame Cissé, who is proud of her noble ancestry, collapses when her daughter becomes infatuated with the son of a female praise-singer. Moreover, when her son is charged with terrorist activities, her husband, who is a government minister, has to intervene in order to get him out of prison.
En votre nom et au mien [In your name and mine]. Abidjan: Les Nouvelles Editions Africaines C.I., 1989 (145p.). ISBN 2 7236 1494 8. Novel.
This novel focuses on how it is that bad choices come to be made in life. Awa Gueye marries an elderly rich man, rather than the young schoolteacher whom she loves. She is encouraged in this decision by her family, who think only of the dowry they will receive. In vain, the elderly husband exhausts himself trying to satisfy his young wife. The son of the unhappy marriage, Samba, leaves school and becomes involved in drugs, which eventually cause his death. The good choices made in life form the high points of the novel and are all the more important because they are so rare.
Brisures de Vies [Fragments of Lives]. Saint-Louis du Senegal : Editions Xamal,

OUSMANE SEMBEN

Early life

The son of a fisherman, Ousmane Sembène was born in Ziguinchor in Casamance to a Lebou family. He went to an Islamic school (common for many boys in Senegal) and to the French school, learning French and basic Arabic in addition to his mother tongue, Wolof. He had to leave his French school in 1936 when he clashed with the principal. After an unsuccessful stint working with his father (Sembène was prone to sea-sickness), he left for Dakar in 1938, where he worked a variety of manual labour jobs.
In 1944, Sembène was drafted into the Senegalese Tirailleurs (a corps of the French Army) in World War II and later fought for the Free French Forces. After the war he returned to his home country and in 1947 participated in a long railroad strike on which he later based his seminal novel God's Bits of Wood.
Late in 1947, he stowed away to France, where he worked at a Citroën factory in Paris and then on the docks at Marseille, becoming active in the French trade union movement. He joined the communist-led CGT and the Communist party, helping lead a strike to hinder the shipment of weapons for the French colonial war in Vietnam. During this time, he discovered writers such as Claude McKay and Jacques Roumain.

Early literary career

Sembène drew on many of these experiences for his French-language first novel, Le Docker Noir (The Black Docker, 1956), the story of Diaw, an African stevedore who faces racism and mistreatment on the docks at Marseille. Diaw writes a novel, which is later stolen by a white woman and published under her name; he confronts her, accidentally kills her, and is tried and executed in scenes highly reminiscent of Albert Camus's The Outsider. Though the book focuses particularly on the mistreatment of African immigrants, Sembène also details the oppression of Arab and Spanish workers, making it clear that the issues are as much economic as they are racial. Like most of his fiction, it is written in a social realist mode. Many critics today consider the book somewhat flawed^{[citation needed]}; however, it began Sembène's literary reputation and provided him with the financial support to continue writing.
Sembène's second novel, O Pays, mon beau peuple! (Oh country, my beautiful people!, 1957), tells the story of Oumar, an ambitious black farmer returning to his native Casamance with a new white wife and ideas for modernizing the area's agricultural practices. However, Oumar struggles against both the white colonial government and the village social order, and is eventually murdered. O Pays, mon beau peuple! was an international success, giving Sembène invitations from around the world, particularly from Communist countries such as China, Cuba, and the Soviet Union. While in Moscow, Sembène had the opportunity to study filmmaking for a year at Gorki Studios.
Sembène's third and most famous novel is Les Bouts de Bois de Dieu (God's Bits of Wood, 1960); most critics consider it his masterpiece, rivaled only by Xala. The novel fictionalizes the real-life story of a railroad strike on the Dakar-Niger line that lasted from 1947 to 1948. Though the charismatic and brilliant union spokesman, Ibrahima Bakayoko, is the most central figure, the novel has no true hero except the community itself, which bands together in the face of hardship and oppression to assert their rights. Accordingly, the novel features nearly fifty characters in both Senegal and neighboring Mali, showing the strike from all possible angles; in this, the novel is often compared to Émile Zola's Germinal.
Sembène followed Les Bouts de Bois de Dieu with the (1962) short fiction collection Voltaïque (Tribal Scars). The collection contains short stories, tales, and fables, including "La Noire de..." which he would later adapt into his first film. In 1964, he released l'Harmattan (The Harmattan), an epic novel about a referendum for independence in an African capital.

Later literary career

With the 1965 publication of Le mandat, précédé de Vehi-Ciosane (The Money Order and White Genesis), Sembène's emphasis began to shift. Just as he had once vociferously attacked the racial and economic oppression of the colonial government, with this pair of novellas, he turned his sights on the corrupt African elites that followed.
Sembène continued this theme with the 1973 novel Xala, the story of a El Hadji Abdou Kader Beye, a rich businessman struck by what he believes to be a curse of impotence ("xala" in Wolof) on the night of his wedding to his beautiful, young third wife. El Hadji grows obsessed with removing the curse through visits to marabouts, but only after losing most of his money and reputation does he discover the source to be the beggar who lives outside his offices, whom he wronged in acquiring his fortune.
Le Dernier de l’empire (The Last of the Empire, 1981), Sembène's last novel, depicts corruption and an eventual military coup in a newly independent African nation. His paired 1987 novellas Niiwam et Taaw (Niiwam and Taaw) continue to explore social and moral collapse in urban Senegal.
On the strength of Les Bouts de Bois de Dieu and Xala, Sembène is considered one of the leading figures in African postcolonial literature. However, the lack of English translation of many of his novels has hindered Sembène from achieving the same international popularity enjoyed by Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka.

Film

As an author so concerned with social change, one of Sembène's goals had always been to touch the widest possible audience. After his 1960 return to Senegal, however, he realized that his written works would only be read by a small cultural elite in his native land. He therefore decided at age 40 to become a film maker, in order to reach wider African audiences.
In 1963, Sembène produced his first film, a short called Barom Sarret (The Wagoner). In '64 he made another short entitled Niaye. In 1966 he produced his first feature film, La Noire de..., based on one of his own short stories; it was the first feature film ever released by a sub-Saharan African director. Though only 60 minutes long, the French-language film won the Prix Jean Vigo,^[1] bringing immediate international attention to both African film generally and Sembène specifically. Sembène followed this success with the 1968 Mandabi, achieving his dream of producing a film in his native Wolof.^[1] Later Wolof-language films include Xala (1975, based on his own novel), Ceddo (1977), Camp de Thiaroye (1987), and Guelwaar (1992). The Senegalese release of Ceddo was heavily censored, ostensibly for a problem with Sembène's paperwork, but more probably for its anti-Muslim themes. However, Sembène distributed fliers at theaters describing the censored scenes and released it uncut for the international market. In 1971, Sembène also made a film in the Diola language and French entitled Emitai.
In 1977, he was a member of the jury at the 27th Berlin International Film Festival.^[2]
Recurrent themes of Sembène's films are the history of colonialism, the failings of religion, the critique of the new African bourgeoisie, and the strength of African women.
His final film, the 2004 feature Moolaadé, won awards at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival^[3] and the FESPACO Film Festival in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The film, set in a small African village in Burkina Faso, explored the controversial subject of female genital mutilation.

Death

Ousmane Sembène died on June 9, 2007, at the age of 84. He had been ill since December 2006, and died at his home in Dakar, Senegal where he was buried in a shroud adorned with Quranic verses.^[4] Sembène was survived by three sons, from two marriages.^[5]
Seipati Bulane Hopa, Secretary General of the Pan African Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACI) described Sembène as "a luminary that lit the torch for ordinary people to walk the path of light...a voice that spoke without hesitation, a man with an impeccable talent who unwaveringly held on to his artistic principles and did that with great integrity and dignity."^[6]
South Africa's Dr. Z. Pallo Jordan, Minister of Arts and Culture, went further in eulogizing Sembène as "a well rounded intellectual and an exceptionally cultured humanist...an informed social critic [who] provided the world with an alternative knowledge of Africa."^[6]

Works

Books

Le Docker noir (novel) - Paris: Debresse, 1956; new edition Présence Africaine, 2002; trans. as The Black Docker, London: Heinemann, 1987.
O Pays, mon beau peuple! (novel) - 1957
Les bouts de bois de Dieu (novel) - 1960; trans. as God's Bits of Wood, London: Heinemann, 1995.
Voltaïque (short stories) - Paris: Présence Africaine, 1962; trans. as Tribal Scars, Washington: INSCAPE, 1975.
L’Harmattan (novel) - Paris: Présence Africaine, 1964.
Le mandat, précédé de Vehi-Ciosane - Paris: Presence Africaine, 1966; trans. as The Money-Order with White Genesis, London: Heinemann, 1987.
Xala, Paris: Présence Africaine, 1973.
Le dernier de l'Empire (novel) - L'Harmattan, 1981; trans. as The Last of the Empire, London: Heinemann, 1983; "a key to Senegalese politics" - Werner Glinga.
Niiwam - Paris: Presence Africaine, 1987; trans. as Niiwam and Taaw: Two Novellas (Oxford and Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann, 1992).

Selected filmography

Borom Sarret (1963)
Niaye (1964)
La Noire de...(1966)
Mandabi (1968)
Xala (1975)
Ceddo (1977)
Camp de Thiaroye (1988)
Guelwaar (1992)
Faat Kiné (2000)
Moolaadé (2004)

References

Los Angeles Times "Ousmane Sembene, 84; Sengalese hailed as 'the father of African film'" June 14 2007
"Berlinale 1977: Juries". berlinale.de. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
"Festival de Cannes: Moolaadé". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
Callimachi, Rukmini "Father of African cinema buried in Senegal" June 12, 2007.
Macnab, Geoffrey (2007-06-13). "Obituaries - 'Ousmane Sembene'". The Independent. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
www.screenafrica.com | news | stop press Tributes to Ousmane Sembene: 1923 – 2007

Informations extracted frome: WIKIPEDIA

Ousmane Sow

Ousmane Sow was born in Dakar in 1935. His father, from Dakar, was thirty years older than his mother, who was from Saint-Louis. He grew up in Reubeuss, one of the liveliest areas of Dakar, where he received a very strict education and was given responsibilities at a very early age by his father. From his father he inherited discipline, a sense of duty, disdain for honours and a free spirit. When his father died, despite his great attachment to his mother, he decided to leave for Paris without a penny in his pocket. He was put up in police stations and discovered the gentler side of a France that was still a welcoming place. While working at various odd jobs, and having given up his courses at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, he obtained a diploma in physiotherapy.
Although he had been sculpting since childhood, it was not till he was fifty that Ousmane Sow made sculpture his full-time profession. However his previous experience as physiotherapist can be seen in the magnificent sense of anatomy evident in his work. In the evenings throughout all those years, he would transform his consulting room and his successive apartments into sculpture studios. He would then destroy or leave behind the works he created.
Up to the time of his first exhibition, which was organized by the French Cultural Center in Dakar in 1987, nothing was known of his work, apart from an excerpt from an animated film, which portrayed small sculptures. Only six years after this first exhibition in Dakar, he exhibited his work at Dokumenta in Kassel, Germany. In 1995, the Seated Nouba and Standing Nouba closed the exhibition organized in Venice at the Palazzo Grassi for the Centenary of the Biennale.
In 1984, inspired by Leni Riefenstahl's photographs of the Noubas of Southern Sudan, he began to work on the wrestlers of this ethnic group and produced his first series of sculptures, The Nouba. In 1988, he created The Masai, in 1991 The Zulus, and in 1993 The Peulh.
In 1991 he bought the land on which to build his house, designed from his imagination. The walls and tiles are completely covered with his own sculpting media and the house symbolises the Sphinx, foreshadowing his future series of sculptures entitled The Egyptians.

In the courtyard of this house, he produced The Battle of Little Big Horn, a series of thirty-five pieces. The pieces were first exhibited in Dakar in January of 1999 and served as a preview to the Paris exhibition on the Pont des Arts, which featured all his series of sculptures and attracted over three millions visitors.

In 2001, he commissioned the Courbertin and Susse Foundries to produce three bronzes from his originals: The Dancer with Short Hair (Nouba series), The Standing Wrestler (Nouba series) and Mother and Child (Masai series). The three pieces were exhibited in the Spring of 2001 at the Dapper Museum in Paris.
Since then, « The Thrower » (Zulu series) and « Sitting Bull at prayer » (Little Big Horn series) have been produced.
In the same year, he carried out a commission for the International Olympic Commitee, « The runner at the start line ».
During the summer of 2002, at the request of « Medecins du Monde », he created a sculpture of Victor Hugo for the « Rejection of poverty and exclusion day ».
The bronze of this sculpture was commissioned by the city of Besançon, Victor Hugo ‘s native city. It was erected on October 17, 2003, in the Place des Droits de l’Homme to mark « Rejection of poverty and exclusion day » in the presence of Medecins du Monde.
During 2003, the Whitney Museum in New York also presented part of the Little Big Horn Series as part of an exhibition entitled « The american effect ».

Ousmane Sow has always sculpted without a model. He creates his own medium. In a form of subtle alchemy, he allows a number of ingredients to macerate over the years. For him this medium is a work in itself, giving him almost as much pleasure as creating the sculpture itself. He applies this material onto a framework of metal, straw and jute, allowing Nature and the medium their own freedom thus opening of the door to the unforeseen. This approach is inherently artistic, but also African.
Today his life and his work are deeply anchored in his country. He cannot imagine himself sculpting anywhere other than Senegal. Although he lived for more than twenty years in France, nothing and nobody could ever entice him to leave his native African soil.`

YOUSSOU NDOUR

N'Dour was born in Dakar to a Serer father. At age 12, he began to perform and within a few years was performing regularly with the Star Band, Dakar's most popular group during the early 1970s. Several members of the Star Band joined Orchestra Baobab about that time.
Despite N’Dour's maternal connection to the traditional griot caste, he was not raised in that tradition, which he learned instead from his siblings. His parents' world view encouraged a modern outlook, leaving him open to two cultures and thereby inspiring N'Dour's identity as a modern griot.

Career

In 1979, he formed his own ensemble, the Étoile de Dakar. His early work with the group was in the Latin style popular all over Africa during that time. In the 1980s he developed a unique sound with his ultimate group, Super Étoile de Dakar featuring Jimi Mbaye on guitar, bassist Habib Faye, and Tama (talking drum) player Assane Thiam.
By 1991 he had opened his own recording studio, Xippi, and, by 1995, his own record label, Jololi.
N'Dour is one of the most celebrated African musicians in history. His mix of traditional Senegalese mbalax with eclectic influences ranging from Cuban rumba to hip hop, jazz and soul won him an international fan base of millions. In the West, N'Dour collaborated with Peter Gabriel,^[3] Axelle Red,^[4] Sting,^[5] Alan Stivell,^[6] Bran Van 3000,^[7] Neneh Cherry,^[8] Wyclef Jean,^[5] Paul Simon,^[8] Bruce Springsteen, Tracy Chapman, Branford Marsalis, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Dido and others.
The New York Times described his voice as an "arresting tenor, a supple weapon deployed with prophetic authority".^[9] N'Dour's work absorbed the entire Senegalese musical spectrum, often filtered through the lens of genre-defying rock or pop music from outside Senegalese culture.
In July 1993, an African opera composed by N'Dour premiered at the Opéra Garnier for the French Festival Paris quartier d'été.
He wrote and performed the official anthem of the 1998 FIFA World Cup with Axelle Red "La Cour des Grands".^[4]
Folk Roots magazine described him as the African Artist of the Century. He toured internationally for thirty years. He won his first American Grammy Award (best contemporary world music album) for his CD Egypt in 2005.^{[citation needed]}
He is the proprietor of L'Observateur, one of the widest-circulation newspapers in Senegal, the radio station RFM (Radio Future Medias) and the TV channel TFM.
In 2006, N'Dour played the role of the African-British abolitionist Olaudah Equiano in the movie Amazing Grace, which chronicled the efforts of William Wilberforce to end slavery in the British Empire.^[10]
In 2008, N'Dour offered one of his compositions, Bébé, for the French singer Cynthia Brown.^{[citation needed]}
In 2011, N'Dour was awarded an honorary doctoral degree in Music from Yale University.^[11]

Activism

N'Dour was nominated Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on 16 October 2000.^[12]
In Senegal, N'Dour became a powerful cultural icon, actively involved in social issues. In 1985, he organized a concert for the release of Nelson Mandela. He was a featured performer in the 1988 worldwide Amnesty International Human Rights Now! Tour collaborating with Lou Reed on a version of the Peter Gabriel song Biko which was produced by Richard James Burgess and featured on the Amnesty International benefit album The Secret Policeman's Third Ball. He worked with the United Nations and UNICEF, and he started Project Joko to open internet cafés in Africa and to connect Senegalese communities around the world. He performed in three of the Live 8 concerts (in Live 8 concert, London, Live 8 concert, Paris and at the Live 8 concert, Eden Project in Cornwall) on 2 July 2005, with Dido.^[13] He covered John Lennon's "Jealous Guy" for the 2007 CD Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. He appeared in a joint Spain-Senegal ad campaign to inform the African public about the dramatic consequences of illegal immigration.^{[citation needed]} N'Dour participated in the Stock Exchange of Visions project in 2007.^[14]
In 2007 he became a council member of the World Future Council.^{[citation needed]}
Since 2008, he is a member of the Fondation Chirac's honour committee^[15]. The same year, Youssou N'Dour's microfinance organization named Birima was launched with the collaboration of Benetton United Colors.
In 2009, he released his song "Wake Up (It's Africa Calling)" under a Creative Commons license to help IntraHealth International in their IntraHealth Open campaign to bring open source health applications to Africa. The song was remixed by a variety of artists including Nas, Peter Buck of R.E.M., and Duncan Sheik to help raise money for the campaign.^[16]

Politics

At the beginning of 2012, he entered the race for the presidency of Senegal for the 2012 presidential election, competing against Abdoulaye Wade^[17]^[18]. However, he was disqualified from running in the election over the legitimacy of the signatures he had collected to endorse his campaign^[19].
In April 2012 it was announced that N'dour has been appointed tourism and culture minister in the cabinet of new Prime Minister Abdoul Mbaye.

Source: Wikipedia .

Xalam (band)

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Xalam is the name of a Senegalese musical group founded in 1969 founded by a group of friends. The band was originally called African Khalam Orchestra.
The band takes its name from the lute-like instrument the xalam. Xalam performed a mix of contemporary jazz tunes as well as African originals, usually sung in Wolof, the dominant local language. The band included sax, drums, African percussion, bass and electric guitar.
Xalam started playing dance music, such as Rock, Salsa, Bossa, and Rhythm and Blues. The group performed in Senegal and other countries in Africa. Numerous musicians have played in the group and through their collaboration, have become very popular.
In 1975 they went on an African tour with Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba. Later, the group decided it was time to find its own musical identity and left the stage for four years to look for inspiration in traditional folk music and mix it with their own modern music.
In 1979, Xalam made a guest appearance at the Berlin Horizonte Festival. That first trip to Europe was their opportunity to record their first LP: Ade.
In 1981, Xalam recorded music for the soundtrack of the Epcot African Pavilion videotape in Dakar for the Disney Corporation, to be used at their Epcot site in the US. They also performed at the Dakar Jazz Festival and jammed with Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Dexter, Sonny Rollins, and others. In the early 1980s, the band moved to Paris, where they became regulars on the local music scene. Prosper died in the mid-1980s, replaced on drums by his younger brother, who had been the drummer for Senemali, another Senegalese group which had moved to Amsterdam.
In June 1982, the group was revealed to the French public at Paris Africa Fête. Then, band recorded the following LP, Gorée, in London. The band was so impressive that the Rolling Stones invited the percussionists to play on their next album Undercover of the Night.
A European tour followed in 1983, Xalam opened for Crosby, Stills & Nash in Paris (Hippodrome d’Auteuil) in front of 20,000 people. With the release of the LP Gorée, the album reached the Top 5 (African, Reggae, and Folk albums) published in Le Monde for five months.
1984 found the band writing the music for the French movie "Marche à l’Ombre" (over 5,000,000 spectators), followed by 150 concerts starting in Switzerland and ending in Paris.
Xalam opened for Robert Plant at the Palais des Sports in Paris, France, in 1985.
In 1986, they performed 3 concerts at the Cirque d’Hiver, then continued on an international tour of more than a hundred gigs to support the release of Apartheid, including the Francofolies of La Rochelle, the Festag in Guadeloupe, and a long winter tour in Africa.
A Canadian tour followed in 1987, including Montreal, Toronto, Québec, etc. Xalam also performed at the Printemps de Bourges in France and then recorded the LP Xarit in Paris.
1988 was a busy year with a Parisian concert at The Wiz, a performance at the Paris Africa Fête, then a show in Geneva, Switzerland (in front of 30,000 people), to aid the Helping Hand Cooperation for the N’Dem village in Senegal. The LP Xarit was released, followed by a tour of Austria, Tunisia (Carthage Festival), and Japan (Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo and Ngoya) with resounding success. Then, they performed at the Anti-Apartheid Night: "Hommage à Nelson Mandela" in Paris, at the Champ de Mars (in front of 25,000 people), and a concert at Montreux Casino.
Between 1989 and 1992, Xalam played various concerts and venues including The Midem in Cannes: concert at the Hotel Martinez, 2 concerts at the New Morning and La Cigale in Paris; a tour of Africa in 1990, then 2 concerts at the Auditorium des Halles, Paris; in 1991, a tour of Switzerland and Germany, and back to Switzerland for ten gigs, before recording the next LP Wam Sabindam.
A 1993 French tour warmed up the public for the release of Wam Sabindam in September, followed by a Swiss tour (Arthur’s Club, Emmenthaler Thoune, Le Locle, Chapiteau Sambaille), and another in the spring of 1994 (Case à Chocs, Albani, Bus Stop, Mad, Kantonsschule, Mühle Hunziken). They were off to the US that summer, performing at the 25th Anniversary Woodstock Festival (in front of more than 500,000 people), and an English tour, including the Heathrow Festival.
After a few shows in 1995 (i.e. Festival in Senegal with RFI (Radio France; the French Cultural Center), the band took a long-needed break.
Xalam returned to the stage in 1999 in Switzerland for Le Locle Jazz Festival; a 2001 club tour in Paris, France (Baiser Salé, Petit Journal Montparnasse, etc.); a 2002 European Tour (Belgium, Switzerland, France); a Festival Tour in France in 2003; and a tour of France and Spain in 2004.
The band took another break, with some members leaving to pursue various solo projects (i.e. Taffa composing and playing with Jean-Luc Ponty, for theatrical pieces and clinics; Brahms with Manu Chao, Cheikh producing, composing and arranging with local musicians in Dakar; Henri producing and arranging, as well as managing the Quai des Arts in St. Louis, Senegal; Baye becoming involved planning events at a music center in Saint Germain en Laye, France, while playing with a Jazz trio; Souleymane leading a successful solo career in Dakar).
Recently, in the fall of 2008 and the spring of 2009, the band succeeded in realizing their grand comeback, with concerts in Dakar Senegal (Just4You, St. Louis Jazz Festival, Iba Mar Diop Stadium) and Burkina Faso. The reunion tour coincided with the re-release of Apartheid on CD and the first-time release of perhaps their best live performance, the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1991 (Live à Montreux) on CD, as well as a Best of 2-CD set [2A@Z], on which all tracks were entirely remastered.
Xalam is presently working on a new studio CD, and a DVD release of the 29 April 2009 show at Iba Mar Diop Stadium. They are also continuing to tour, with recent dates in Lebanon and Johannesburg, South Africa in September/October 2009, as well as in Dakar, where they are presently, working on new concert dates and projects.
April 2010 ushers in the 50th Anniversary of the Independence of Senegal and some special concerts/gala evenings for Xalam in Dakar, Saint-Louis, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Thione Seck

Thione Ballago Seck (born March 12, 1955) is one of Senegal's greatest singers and musicians in the mbalax genre, on par with Baaba Maal and Youssou N'dour although he hasn't achieved the same level of fame outside his country. Seck comes from a family of "griot" singers from the Wolof people of Senegal. His first job was with Orchestre Baobab, but he later formed his own band, Raam Daan, which he still heads.
Seck's album Orientation was one of four nominated for BBC3 Radio's World Music Album of the Year in 2006. In much of his music, and notably on this album, Seck experiments with the use of Indian & Arabic scales. This supplements his laid back vocals and the band's intense sabar driven rhythms, and displaces the band's more usual guitars, horns, and synthesizers. This album was made in collaboration with a range of more than 40 North African, Arab, and Indian musicians, playing diverse instruments and creating a fusion of styles. Seck has stated that Bollywood films were a longstanding musical influence for him, and the experiment in a fusion style reflects this.

OMAR PENE

is the emblematic lead singer of the Super Diamono.^[1] He was born in the working-class neighborhood of Derkle, in 1956. In the mid 1970s (1975–1976), he joined the Super Diamono, one of the longest running Senegalese popular bands- just as the Orchestra Baobab and the Super Etoile of Dakar. Recruited by Bailo Diagne, the first bass-player and a founding member of the group, Pene stood out as the most natural fixture in the band.
Along with his band members Bassirou Diagne, Bob Sene, Aziz Seck, Lapa Diagne, Adama Faye, Abdou Mbacke and shortly after, Ismael Lo - already known as 'l’homme orchestre' (one man band) due to his solo performances - they helped shape Senegalese contemporary music.^[1] During the 1980s, in Dakar, there were two dominant types of melomanes, the ones bitten by the frenetic and highly syncopative Mbalax of the Super Etoile, who frequented Djender and later on Thiossane night club, and those who religiously consumed the progressive bluesy-funky- soulful brand of local fusion of Super Diamono- who filled the Balafon Club located in the other side of town, near the Port Autonome de Dakar. Although Omar Pene and Youssou Ndour, always maintained an healthy and lively artistic competition, their supporters pledged a loyalty only seen among opposing football fans (soccer). In many ways, both used the Mbalax, which is almost unavoidable, once the Sabar is involved, but they did it differently.
Over the years many of the group’s original members went on to other things, Omar Pene stayed; and to this day- even as he is now enjoying his solo journey he uses the Super Diamono, and what ever that is left of it, as a backup band. Omar Pene established himself as a “conscious singer,” instead of indulging in praise songs- as many of his contemporaries did in honor of the riches and famous, he maintained a repertoire of socially engaged and sensitive songs. To this date, he has released dozens of hits in more than thirty albums and cassettes.
source from wikipedia

Escritores, poetas y artistas famosos de Senegal

2012-07-06T07:30:00.000-07:00

hoy hablaremos de literatura de senegal y de su maximo representante, Leopoldo Sedar Senghor, verdadero simbolo del alto grado de madurez politica como intelectual del pueblo senegales.

Léopold Sédar Senghor nació el 9 de octubre de 1906, en Joal, Senegal y estudió en la Universidad de París. En 1935 ejerció como profesor en una escuela de la ciudad francesa de Tours. Fue el primer profesor de raza negra que impartió clases de lengua francesa en Francia.
Durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial (1939-1945) se encaminó con el Ejército francés y fue capturado por los alemanes, quienes lo tuvieron prisionero de 1940 a 1943. Tras su liberación, Sédar Senghor continuó ejerciendo la docencia.
En materia política, fue elegido consejero general de Senegal en 1946, puesto en el que luchó por la independencia de su país. De 1946 a 1958 fue diputado socialista en la Asamblea Nacional Francesa.
Un año más tarde, cuando la nación africana alcanzó su independencia, fue electo presidente de la República. Léopold permaneció en el cargo hasta su retiro, a finales de 1980, tras haber sido reelecto en 1968, 1973 y 1978.
Actualmente, Senghor es considerado como el máximo exponente intelectual de África. El senegalés publicó libros de poesía y artículos sobre literatura y política.
Al lado de los escritores Aimé Césaire y Léon Damas formó el concepto de "negritud", el cual puede ser definido como el conjunto de valores culturales de África Negra, enfrentados a la política francesa con su inherente asunción de la superioridad cultural europea.
Su primer volumen de poesía titulado "Cantos de sombra" fue publicado en París, en 1945. Entre otras obras destacan "Hostias negras" (1948), "Etiópicas" (1956), "Sobre el socialismo africano" (1964), "Negritud y humanismo" (1975), "Elegías mayores" (1979), "La poesía de la acción" (1980).
En 1984, Leopold se convirtió en la primera persona de raza negra en ingresar a la Academia Francesa. El profesor falleció en la población francesa de Verson, el 20 de diciembre de 2001.

A LOS TIRADORES SENEGALESES
MUERTOS POR FRANCIA

ESTE es el sol
Que enternece el pecho de las vírgenes,
Que hace sonreir a los ancianos en los verdes bancos,
Que despertaría a los muertos bajo una tierra materna.
Oigo el ruido de los cañones-¿viene de Irán?-. Se echan
……….flores sobre las tumbas, se reaviva la llama del Soldado
……….Desconocido.
A vosotros, oscuros hermanos, nadie os nombra.
Se prometen 500.000 hijos vuestros a la gloria de los futuros
……….Muertos, se les da las gracias de antemano, futuros
……….muertos negros.
Die schwarze Schande!

Oídme, Tiradores senegaleses, en la soledad de la tierra negra
……….y de la muerte,
En vuestra soledad sin ojos y sin oídos, más que en mi piel
……….oscura al fondo de la provincia,
Sin siquiera el calor de vuestros camaradas tendidos junto a
……….vosotros como en otro tiempo en la trinchera, como en
……….otro tiempo en las arengas del poblado,
Oídme, Tiradores de piel negra, aunque no tengáis oídos ni ojos
……….en vuestro triple recinto nocturno.

No hemos alquilado plañideras, ni siquiera lágrimas de vuestras
……….viejas mujeres
-Ellas sólo recuerdan vuestra violenta ira, pues prefieren el
……….ímpetu de los vivos.
El llanto de las plañideras demasiado claro,
Demasiado pronto secas las mejillas de vuestras mujeres, como
……….en tiempos de sequía los torrentes del Fouta,
Las lágrimas más cálidas demasiado claras y demasiado pronto
……….bebidas en la comisura de los labios que olvidan.

Nosotros os traemos, oídnos, nosotros que deletreamos vues-
……….tros nombres durante los meses en que moríais,
Nosotros, en estos días de temor inolvidable, os traemos la
……….amistad de vuestros antiguos camaradas.
¡Ah! Que algún día, con una voz color de brasa, pueda yo
……….cantar
La amistad de los ardientes camaradas, delicada como entrañas
……….y fuerte como tendones.
Oídnos, muertos tendido en el agua y al fondo de las llanuras
……….del Norte y del este.
Recibid este suelo rojo bajo el sol del verano, este suelo enroje-
……….cido por la sangre de las blancas hostias,
Recibid el saludo de vuestros camaradas negros, Tiradores
……….Senegaleses

¡MUERTOS POR LA REPÚBLICA!

Cheikh Anta Diop o " Sueño de un farao nagro"

Hola a todos,

Nuestro protagonista de este rubrique de hoy es el Doctor heikh Anta Diop uno de los mas prestigiosos scientificos Africano.

Cheikh Anta Diop nació en Senegal, en 1923, en el seno de un hogar musulmán. En la inmediata Posguerra se trasladó a París, para estudiar Física. Allí encontró a su otra pasión: la historia. Su activismo en los grupos estudiantiles africanos, que militaban en pos de la independencia de las colonias, lo condujo a asumir la necesidad de completar una notoria carencia de las naciones colonizadas:

Al redescubrir así nuestro pasado, hemos buscado un medio de recrear esa conciencia histórica sin la cual no puede haber una gran nación. (Diop, 1968)
La lucha por la independencia hacía necesarias herramientas culturales que contribuyeran a afianzar la identidad nacional africana. Había quienes afirmaban que la construcción de esa conciencia histórica e identidad cultural podía postergarse para luego de la independencia. Diop sostenía lo contrario:
...las armas culturales son desde ahora necesarias; nadie puede prescindir de ellas. Por ello hay que forjarlas simultáneamente dentro de la estructura de nuestra lucha por la independencia nacional. (Diop, 1968).

En función de esto Diop atacó el núcleo duro de la tradición historiográfica hegeliana: planteó en forma contundente la africanidad del Egipto antiguo, y su lugar clave para la futura reelaboración cultural poscolonial:
...el experimento egipcio fue esencialmente negro, y que todos los africanos pueden sacar de éste la misma ventaja moral que sacan los occidentales de la civilización grecolatina. (Diop, 1968)
Se trataba, a juicio de Diop, de una cuestión clave, imprescindible punto de partida: La antigüedad egipcia es a la cultura africana lo que la antigüedad greco-latina es a la cultura occidental. La constitución de un cuerpo de ciencias humanas africanas deberá partir de ese hecho. (Diop, 1983).

Ahora bien, en el contexto historiográfico en que actuaba Diop, plantear estas cuestiones implicaba arriesgar mucho. Era salir del “consenso” científico, era no ser “correcto”. Y eso se suele pagar caro. Diop presentó estas ideas en su tesis de doctorado, en 1951. La tesis fue rechazada y sus ideas descalificadas y ridiculizadas por los bronces de La Sorbona. Aceptar la negritud de la cultura egipcia implicaba también reconocer la influencia africana en el mundo mediterráneo. En palabras de Diop:

En la medida en que Egipto fue, sin discusión, el gran iniciador del mundo mediterráneo, esta contribución existe en los campos de la ciencia, la arquitectura, la filosofía, la música, la religión, la literatura, el arte y la vida social, etc...
Razón de más para no hacerlo es que ningún duda de ello. Los especialistas se sienten satisfechos simplemente buscando un origen extra africano blanco para la civilización egipcia. (Diop, 1968)
Era una idea demasiado audaz para su época, por más que Diop la refrendara con fuentes clásicas que, desde Heródoto en adelante, proclamaban la negritud de los antiguos egipcios. Dos veces más fue rechazada la tesis de doctorado de Diop, pero sus ideas cobraron popularidad extraacadémica.

Présence africaine las publicó en forma de libro, el antológico "Nations nègres et culture". Finalmente, en 1960, Diop aprobó su tesis, más por la presión de la multitud que lo acompañó en el momento de leerla que por la convicción de los académicos.

Luego Diop retornó a Senegal, trabajó en la Universidad de Dakar (hoy Universidad Cheikh Anta Diop) donde puso en marcha un laboratorio de radiocarbono para la datación de restos arqueológicos. Allí siguió acumulando pruebas en beneficio de su tesis. También aportó una buena dosis de innovación en el campo de la metodología de la investigación histórica. En ese sentido, sus investigaciones se basaban en estudios diacrónicos, el comparativismo crítico y la multidisciplinariedad: arqueología, lingüística, toponimia, ciencias exactas, etc.

Diseñó procedimientos nuevos, como el dosaje de melanina, que le permitió establecer la identidad racial de las momias egipcias, y que hoy día se utiliza también en medicina forense. Sus estudios de lingüística le permitieron establecer con precisión mucho mayor a la de Bleek el parentesco entre la lengua de los antiguos egipcios y la de los modernos africanos. También sus estudios comparativos en el campo cultural mostraron claramente esta relación, por ejemplo en la cuestión de determinados rituales asociados a la realeza africana.

Finalmente, la egiptología africana logró hacerse un lugar. A partir del Coloquio de El Cairo sobre “el poblamiento del Egipto antiguo y el desciframiento de la escritura meroítica”, de 1974, convocado por la UNESCO, las tesis de Diop alcanzaron un consenso, aunque limitado. También su idea de elaborar una Historia General del África, en un trabajo conjunto de africanistas de todo el mundo, pudo concretarse gracias al patrocinio de la UNESCO. ..

Por último, en 1981, cinco años antes de su muerte y treinta años después de la presentación de su tesis doctoral, Diop accedió por fin a una cátedra de historia en la Universidad de Dakar. La obra de Diop fue monumental pero, al igual que muchos otros innovadores, debió afrontar el peor de los males: la soledad. Es muy frecuente que el mundo académico aisle a quienes salen de la chatura y los lugares comunes. Diop trabajó en solitario durante veinte años o más, y aún hoy hay quienes buscan la manera de descalificar su obra. Ya nadie discute la monogénesis, la anterioridad de África o la africanidad de Egipto, pero hay quienes descalifican a Diop por... racista (Wane, 1988).

Sí, “racista negro” se le rotula, como si él hubiera podido elegir el campo de batalla que le tocó vivir. La ideas de Diop sobre las razas eran por demás de claras desde cualquier punto que se las mire:
Se le da una clasificación racial a un grupo de individuos que comparten un cierto número de rasgos antropológicos, lo que es necesario para que no se los confunda con otros. Hay dos aspectos que deben distinguirse, el fenotipo y el genotipo. Frecuentemente he elaborado sobre estos dos aspectos. Si hablamos solamente del genotipo, puedo encontrar a un negro que, al nivel de sus cromosomas, está más cerca de un sueco de lo que lo está Peter Botha [Primer Ministro sudafricano]. Pero lo que en realidad cuenta es el fenotipo. Es la apariencia física lo que cuenta. Este negro, aún cuando al nivel de sus células está más cerca que Peter Botha, cuando está en Sudáfrica vivirá en Soweto. A través de la historia, ha sido siempre el fenotipo el que ha estado en cuestión; no debemos perder de vista este hecho. El fenotipo es una realidad, la apariencia física es una realidad.

Ahora bien, cada vez que estas relaciones no son favorables para las culturas occidentales, se hace un esfuerzo para debilitar la conciencia cultural de los africanos diciéndoles: “No sabemos qué es una raza”. Lo que esto significa es, no saben lo que es un hombre amarillo, pero sí saben lo que es un hombre blanco. A pesar del hecho de que las razas blanca y amarilla son derivados de la negra que, en sí misma, fue la primera en existir en tanto raza humana, ahora no queremos reconocer lo que es. Si los africanos caen en esa trampa, andarán siempre en círculos. Deben entender la trampa, entender los peligros. Es el fenotipo el que nos ha dado tantos problemas a lo largo de la historia, de manera que es éste el que debe ser considerado en estas relaciones. Existe, es una realidad y no puede ser repudiado. (Diop, 1991).

Hoy en día, luego del desciframiento del genoma humano, podemos apreciar los aciertos de Diop. Se ha comprobado que las razas humanas no existen a nivel biológico. Las diferencias genéticas entre los hombres nunca tienen la entidad de aquello que denominamos “razas” en el resto de los seres vivos. Esto ya lo tenía en claro Diop: las razas no existen, son mera apariencia, pero sí existe el racismo. Y la consideración de África como continente ahistórico es un fruto de ese racismo, como así también la negación a la africanidad de Egipto. Hubo quien consideró que se trataba lisa y llanamente del robo, de la apropiación ilegítima, por parte de los europeos, de un inmenso legado cultural.

Rokhayatou Aminata Maiga Ka
Política y escritora senegalesa

Nació en 1940, en Saint-Louis, Senegal. Su padre era médico y aunque en el medio familiar y de amistades no era extraño el uso del francés, el idioma más habitualmente utilizado era el Peul, el wolof y el Bambara, idiomas todos ellos hablados en el círculo familiar.
Aminata Maïga Ka siguió cursos en el Colegio Mixto de Thiès y después en el Liceo Eaux Claires, de Grenoble Francia). Al finalizar la educación secundaria comenzó estudios universitarios en Dakar y, más tarde, en San Francisco y Iowa (EEUU). Entre 1967 y 1975 trabajó como profesora de inglés, antes de ser contratada por la Comisión Nacionalpara la UNESCO (1975-1978).
En 1978 fue nombrada miembro del Secretariado de Estado para la Condición de la Mujer, puesto que ocuparía hasta 1980. De vuelta al Ministerio de Educación, fue nombrada Consejera Técnica de Departamento (1983-1992). Entre 1992 y 1995 desempeñó el cargo de Consejera de la Embajada de Senegal en Roma y Representante Permanente Adjunta en la FAO, FIDA y PAM. Además, ha sido consejera municipal, miembro del Comité Central del Tartido Socialista y Secretaria de Estado para la Condición de la Mujer.
Aminata Maiga Ka era tambien entre otro doctora en letras, profesora en universidades de los Estados -unidos , Europa y Africa, era tambien ciudadana de honor de Arkansas EE.UU.

A lo largo de su vida, Aminata Maiga ha vivido en numerosos paises (Francia, Inglaterra, EEUU, Mali, Guinea Conakry, Mauritania, Congo-Brazzaville, Rep.Centroafricana, etc.). Se casó con el dramaturgo y periodista Abdou Anta Ka y tuvo seis hijos(as).

sus publicacicones mas conocidas son:

1985 : La Voie du Salut suivi de Miroir de la Vie
1989 : En votre nom et au mien
1998 : Brisures de vies .

OUSMANE SEMBENE

Biografía

Nació en Ziguinchor y a los 7 años empezó a ir a la escuela coránica y a la francesa, aprendiendo árabe y francés ,su lengua materna es el wólof.
En 1942, entra al ejército francés y en 1946 se instala en Marsella, donde desempeña varios trabajos, sobre todo de estibador y se afilia al Partido Comunista Francés y a la CGT. Además milita contra la guerra en la Indochina francesa y por la independencia de Argelia.
En 1956, publica su primera novela, Le Docker noir (El estibador negro) que relata su experiencia como estibador, en 1957 Ô pays, mon beau peuple (Oh país, mi hermosa gente), en 1960, Les Bouts de bois de Dieu (Los palos de Dios), que relata la huelga de los braceros senegaleses de la línea de ferrocarril entre Dakar y Bamako que pedían tener los mismos derechos que los franceses.
Comienza a pensar en el cine en 1960, año de la independencia del Sudán francés (más tarde Malí) y de Senegal, cuando viaja por distintas áreas de África :Malí, Guinea, República del Congo, etc.
En 1961, asiste a la escuela de cine de Moscú y en 1962 realiza su primer cortometraje Borom Saret, seguido en 1964 por Niaye. Su primer largometraje, La Noire de..., sale en 1964 y recibe el Prix Jean Vigo de ese año, en él hace una crítica social y política con la historia de una joven senegalesa que va a trabajar a Francia, donde la esclaviza una familia hasta el punto de llevarla al suicidio. Su película sobre la burguesía senegalesa Le mandat (1968) fue galardonada con el premio de la crítica de la Mostra de Venecia.
En 1979, su película Ceddo fue censurada en Senegal por el presidente Léopold Sédar Senghor por una falta de ortografía, aunque más bien seguía una política de no contrariar a las autoridades musulmanas, ya que la película versaba sobre la revuelta de los Ceddos del siglo XVII, pueblo animista. Además la película ataca también contra la llegada a África Occidental el Catolicismo y el Islam, sobre todo en lo que respecta a la desaparición de las estructuras sociales tradicionales con la complicidad de la aristocracia local. Más tarde en 1988, también censurarían en Francia Le Camp de Thiaroye, film homenaje a tiradores de Senegal.
En 2000, con Faat Kiné, debuta con su tríptico sobre el heroismo cotidiano sobre la mujer africana, que le vale premios como el de festival internacional de Marrakech. Ha sido además galardonado con premios de las Universidades de Harvard o Boston o la Legión de Honor entre otros.¹

Filmografía parcial

1963: Borom Sarret, cortometraje
1963: L'Empire songhay, cortometraje documental
1964: Niaye
1966: La Noire de... (guion, dirección)
1968: Le Mandat (Mandabi) (guion, dirección)
1970: Taaw, cortometraje
1971: Emitaï (Dieu du tonnerre) (guion, dirección)
1974: Xala (guion, dirección)
1976: Ceddo (guion, dirección, actor)
1987: Le Camp de Thiaroye (guion, dirección)
1992: Guelwaar
2000: Faat Kiné
2003: Moolaadé (guion, dirección)

Bibliografía

Obras de Sembène

1956: Le Docker noir, (ediciones Présence africaine), 2000, ISBN 2-7087-0293-9
1957: Ô pays, mon beau peuple
1960: Les Bouts de bois de Dieu
1962: Voltaïque
1964: L'Harmattan
1965: Le Mandat
1973: Xala
1981: Le Dernier de l'Empire
1987: Niiwam, seguido de Taaw (edicionesPrésence africaine)
"Vehi-Ciosane, ou, Blanche-Genèse : Suivi du Mandat", Ed.: Société Nouvelle Présence africaine, 2000, ISBN 2-7087-0170-3

Obras sobre Sembène

(en alemán) Pierre Haffner, « Der Widerstandskämpfer: Sembène Ousmane », dans Revue pour le cinéma français (CICIM), n° 27-28, Institut français de Múnich, 1989, p. 76-92 (d'après une interview de 1977)
(en inglés) Samba Gadjigo, Ousmane Sembène: Dialogues with Critics and Writers, Amherst, University of Massachusetts Press, 1993
(en francés) Martin T. Bestman, Sembene Ousmane : Romancier et les fonctions socioesthétiques du roman négro-africain, Université Laval, 1972 (thèse)
(en francés) Khonde Bonfenda, Le néo-bourgeois de Dakar, d'après Sembene Ousmane, Université de Montréal, 1991 (M.A.)
(en francés) Marie A. Lanthiez-Schweitzer, Ousmane Sembène, romancier de l'Afrique émergente, University of British Columbia, 1976 (thèse)
(en inglés) David Murphy, Imagining Alternatives in Film and Fiction - Sembene, Oxford, Africa World Press Inc., 2001
(en inglés) Sada Niang et Samba Gadjigo, « Interview with Ousmane Sembene », Research in African Literatures, 26:3 (automne 1995), p. 174-178
(en inglés) Françoise Pfaff, The Cinema of Ousmane Sembène, Nueva York, Londres, 1984
(en francés) « Sembène Ousmane », CinémAction, n° 34, 1995
(en francés) Sada Niang, Littérature et cinéma en Afrique francophone : Ousmane Sembène et Assia Djebar, Paris, L’Harmattan, 1996
(en francés) Ahmed Rufa'i, L'image de la femme africaine dans l'œuvre d'Ousmane Sembene, Université de Sherbrooke, 1983 (M.A.)
(en francés) Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, Ousmane Sembène : cinéaste. Première période 1962-1971, Paris, Présence Africaine, 1972, 244 p.

Fuente: Wikipedia

Youssou NDour

Youssou N'Dour nació en Dakar, la capital de Senegal, el 1 de octubre de 1959 y comenzó a actuar desde muy joven, con tan sólo doce años de edad, logrando hacerse popular en poco tiempo. Su punto de partida fue el mbalax, la música popular del país, surgida como una mezcla del estilo de los tradicionales griot, o narradores de cuentos, con los ritmos afrocubanos traídos con el regreso de los caribeños a África Occidental entre años 40 y 60.
A mediados de los años 1970 esta fusión se remezcló con ritmos de danzas senegalesas, solos de saxofón, guitarras, percusiones marcadas y cánticos religiosos sufíes musulmanes. Además, los jóvenes músicos senegaleses recibían las influencias del jazz y el rock norteamericanos, con músicos como Jimi Hendrix, James Brown ó el mexicano Carlos Santana. Todo se amalgamaba en una Dakar cosmopolita, que a su vez trataba de descubrir su herencia musical con trovadores tradicionales o cantantes. En este caldo de cultivo musical fructífero, el mbalax encontró un baluarte en Youssou N'Dour, que en 1979 formó su propio conjunto tras actuar para varias bandas, como la Étoile de Dakar.
Comprometido social y políticamente, en 1985 organizó un concierto por la liberación del líder sudafricano Nelson Mandela y en 1988 actuó en la gira mundial de Amnistía Internacional Human Rights Now! Tour. También ha trabajado para la ONU y UNICEF y participó en el Proyecto Joko para instalar internet en Senegal.
Con el paso de los años, N'Dour se ha convertido en uno de los músicos africanos más conocidos a nivel mundial, colaborando con estrellas de la música pop occidental como Peter Gabriel, Sting, Wyclef Jean, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Neneh Cherry o Tracy Chapman y africanos como Manu Dibango. En 1998 escribió e interpretó junto con la cantautora belga Axelle Red el tema Le Couer des Grand, himno de la Copa Mundial de Fútbol de 1998. En 2005 actuó en los conciertos Live 8 de Londres y París y el 2 de julio, dentro de la misma serie de conciertos y acompañado por la cantante Dido, en el Eden Project celebrado en Cornualles. También ha participado en una ópera estrenada en la Ópera de la Bastilla.
Tiene un estudio de grabación, Xippi, y una compañía discográgica, Jololi.
En el 16 de octubre de 2000, Youssou N'Dour fue nombrado Embajador de Buena Voluntad de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura y la Alimentación (FAO).
En 2000 ganó un Premio Príncipe Claus.¹ En 2005 recibió un Premio Grammy por su álbum Egypt.
En España ha colaborado con Antonio Orozco en el tema Por qué no me devuelves el sol.
En 2012 fue nombrado ministro de Cultura y Turismo en su país, Senegal.

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