Resistencia - Ciudad de las esculturas

Before I first arrived in Resistencia, one of the only things that I knew about the city was that it was supposedly world famous for its sculptures. Every year, people from all over the world competed in a contest to be part of a sculpture festival in Resistencia. The competition is called Bienal. For one weeks, the artists fervently work from sun-up to sun-down to complete their sculptures. They must adhere to a certain pre-determined theme, and must only use the materials provided by the Municipality of Resistencia. After the festival ends, the sculptures are then strategically placed within the city, for all to see. Common non-artistic people are encouraged to make sculptures, as anyone who puts a sculpture in front of their house is pardoned from paying taxes for two years. Sounds like a good deal to me, as the taxes here are out of the roof. But even though I knew all of this mumbo jumbo about the sculptures, I didn’t really care or believe that something so important could take place in my city, that I thought at the time, appeared to be so insignificant compared to the other cities in Argentina that I had earlier yearned to live in. Apart from the sculptures, the internet didn’t say that there was anything else interesting about Resistencia, only that there was a lot of dust, and poor people. I was very mistaken. Upon entering the city, I was greeted by a mass of sculptures: some abstract, others metal, a few wooden, and a plethora of strange and twisted ones... The list goes on, and keeps growing every year. This whole sculpture thing made me feel a bit more proud about my pre-surmised dirt bowl of a city. Could it be that Resistencia actually had a bit of culture, or was perhaps a bit different and maybe even special compared to my other dream cities? Could be, I thought to myself. As one day turned into two, two into 20, 20 into a few months, I started liking my city a lot more. I think maybe the sculptures gave me a bit of pride of Resistencia, made me feel a little special. Supposedly, there are around 500 sculptures in the city, sounds like a lot. It is a lot. On almost every street corner and in front of almost every big building I constantly encounter these pieces of art, and on several occasions, pieces of abstract poorly thought out products of a bad childhood. I am not kidding, on the corner of Mitre and Concordia there is a 6 foot tall statue of a penis.... Yeah man, I am from Resistencia - Ciudad de Las Esculturas, and I gotta say that I am actually proud of it!

Below are two videos of the sculptures. The first is of the Bienal competition this year, the second is a compilation of the sculptures already placed in Resistencia.

On Sharing

From the day I arrived in Resistencia, one of the first things I noticed was the abundance of bakeries (panaderias). They were everywhere, and were filled with all kinds of European style pastries. The only difference between the pastries here and the pastries in Europe is about 8 pesos (almost 3 dollars). Here, you can buy a dozen for about 5-10 pesos, which is much less than your average 3 Euros for ONE pastry in Europe or in the United States. So I started buying a lot. Almost every day I bought a dozen, sometimes more-rarely less. I would come to the house and eat them, or go to Cima and do the same. I followed the same routine with other kinds of food and drinks. Sometimes, I would bring a coffee into the house; othertimes, an ice cream. And noone said anything, at least noone said anything for a while. Then one day, my ¨mom¨ Marcela, took me into the living room, sat me down, and let all hell loose. I never realized how important sharing is. I think they thought that I was just a selfish person, but I´m not. You can´t buy something for yourself here, without buying enough for all the other people you are around. For example: If you want to eat a slice of pizza from the pizza store and you plan on showing your face around your friends or your family, you must buy a piece for everyone. I had spent the first 2 months buying huge amounts of food for myself, sharing, but not thinking about other people when I bought food. In the US, I think people are a generally lot more self centered. Back home in the US, I did´t have a problem buying something and eating it around my friends or family-they didn´t seem to have a problem with it either. But here, its totally different. People get genuinly offended. From mate, to whatever else you are drinking or eating, you share. Its a country much more focused on the group, not so much on the individual. This theme seems to apply to everything. You know how in the US, girls go to the bathroom together? Here, guys go to the bathroom together as well. You don´t take a dance lesson or any type of class alone-you always do it with a friend. One thing I noticed that tops it all, is what people do when they leave the house. They almost never leave alone. If I want to go buy a coke a block down the street, I go with my uncle. You are always with your friends or family, sharing everything. You are part of a bigger thing here. There is not a me, only an us. But I think I like it. Sure, more effort is put out for the same thing, but somehow its better.