Shame on National Geographic



It's been an up-and-down couple of days, and for that reason I'm going to post a little bit of bitterness here.

This National Geographic article from last month is one of the worst examples of cliche journalism I've seen in a while. Colombia really seems to attract cliche journalists--people who look for the story of the drug lord, the photograph of the funeral, or the quote from the impoverished. It's pure sensationalism, because there's always an audience for this type of horrific story, but it doesn't tell us anything new; it only shocks us.

When I lived in Bogota 4 years ago, I had some experience with photojournalists hoping to catch the gruesome on film. "To document the situation," they said, but they knew this would bring them some attention. As a cliche, it's as egregious as a photograph of an elderly person dressed in traditional clothes, with a Coca-Cola in hand, or maybe with a pair of Nikes. Oh, you mean globalization is threatening the culture of indigenous peoples? No way. Oh, you mean drugs and civil war have made life harsh for a great number of Colombians? You don't say.

But National Geographic didn't go for the stories of hope and inspiration that have come out of this situation. Instead, they opted to follow some of the nastiest stories out there. Pedro Medina of Yo Creo en Colombia makes a great point: of the 17 stories in the March edition, this is the only negative story. But it makes the cover. Because it's sensationalist.

In an earlier post I remarked that I think it's a shame that another documentary has come out showing the disaster of Colombia's civil war. But from everything I've read, it was done in good taste, and it manages to evoke the human side of events. This article, on the other hand, reads more like a script for The Sopranos, and worse, presents the story as if it were indicative of life in Medellin. In fact, violence in Colombia is at its lowest levels in 16 years, and, as NG mentions in its "More to Explore" section (which from what I can tell isn't in the print version), things are looking up for Medellin. But this isn't the story they tell.

The victims of this cliche journalism are the Colombians who are working like mad to show the world the progress they've made, and to change the country's image that no longer applies the way it once did. Eventually I'm sure they'll succeed, even in spite of article such as this one.


Reina Sofia

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It's a big day here at the Santa Clara, because Queen Sofia of Spain is arriving tonight to participate in the 4th Annual Microcredit Forum. The city definitely has a more visible security presence, but the hotel itself is still pretty tranquil. The Queen will be staying in one of the amazing suites on the top floor of the hotel--but I'm not jealous, because I just found an amazing apartment I'll be moving into. It's owned by the Consul of Spain, and she's giving me a great price on it. She's also a good friend of Gisele's--whom doesn't that woman know?

The apartment itself is in Bocagrande, the modern part of Cartagena, but only a couple minute's taxi ride to the old city. It's beachfront, on the 4th floor, with a balcony and beautiful furniture. And... I have extra rooms, so let me know if you want to visit!

I'll post some pictures, and I also need to post some pictures of Gisele's place. Last night she and I stayed up late drinking rum and listening to Ruben Blades, Pablo Mayor, and Devendra Banhardt. She was blown away by Devendra's voice. Too bad he's such a happy hippy. Today I met with the management of the Teatro Heredia, and everything's coming together. Following a salmon lunch at the Alliance Francaise, it's now time to make some calls to the press.

Back in Cartagena

Nothing special to report this time, except that I'm much better suited to the humid coast than I am to the cloudy, dismal Andes. Bogota was very busy, but lots of fun. I stayed with my friends Andres and Maria Paula, saw my friend Sebastian (who's blog I'll talk about in a future post), and saw some (but not all) of my family. Also went to the Feria del Libro (book fair), where the big themes were Don Quixote's 400th birthday and China.

Here are a couple links about a documentary called La Sierra about paramilitaries near Medellin, this one from the NY Times, and this from eye, which features the following quote:

There may be more depressing ways to spend an hour-and-a-half than watching La Sierra but it's hard to imagine what they'd be, unless they involved black garbage bags, a lake and a large quantity of kittens. Scott Dalton and Margarita Martinez's astounding documentary follows the lives of several youths in the barrio of Medellín, Colombia -- gun-wielding teenage proxies for the country's many paramilitary and guerilla groups. It's murderous, heartbreaking stuff seeing 15-year-olds so fatalistic even Travis Bickle would duck for cover -- but this is essential viewing, if lacking in contextual detail.

Great, all Colombia needs is more publicity about its violence. I give Juan Forero of the Times credit--he does his best to write some intriguing features on the complexity of life here. But for the most part, the only time Colombia appears on the news in the States is when there's a drug bust, or a kidnapping, or something in that vein. It's kinda like that way we only hear news about Germany when there's a neo-Nazi rally or something. This June you'll be able to see for yourself at the Walter Reade Theater--or you could come to Cartagena and see a much more beautiful side of Colombia.

More on this theme to come. As for now, I have to see about sorting out an apartment and getting in touch with some musicians in the city. Tomorrow's a full day, with meetings here at the Santa Clara and at the Teatro Heredia. I need to schedule a swim in the ocean sometime this week....

Colegio del Cuerpo

Hey while the article is still free, make sure you read this New York Times feature on Cartagena's youth modern dance troupe, the Colegio del Cuerpo. Its founder, Alvaro Restrepo, is a hero among the supporters of the arts here in Cartagena, especially because of his insistence on reaching out to the poor who make up a vast majority of the city's population. (Alvaro is also good friends with Gisele--what luck I have.)

One distressing line in the article reports that when the Colegio del Cuerpo performed late last year at the Teatro Heredia (one of our venues), the theater was only half full. Such is the state of support for the arts in the city, located along a stretch of coast that has produced an incredible number of legendary artists, musicians, and writers in the past 50 years or so.

We hope we'll be able to work with Alvaro in the festival, maybe even have a dance performance one night. I'll keep you updated.

Hector Martignon


Our first officially announced artist is Hector Martignon, a superstar of Latin Jazz and also a Colombian active in the jazz scene down here. Hector lives in New York, but he's a ubiquitous presence in the jazz festival circuit here. He plays with Ray Barretto and Arturo Sandoval, and before arriving here in Cartagena, he'll be touring Colombia with Cuban legend Paquito D'Rivera.

Here's my favorite line from his bio: "In the fall of 2003 Hector visited Slovenia and Russia to collaborate with singer-songwriter Vitaly Osmsçko’s first symphonic CD . The Russian Philharmonic Orchestra recorded in Moscow the orchestrations written by Hector." Pretty versatile guy.

One thing Hector gives us is a lot of credibility. He's well known down here, and people are immediately impressed that we'll be having him at the festival. And he puts on such a great show!


Por fin...

Hello everyone,

So after just over a week on the ground here, I've finally got this blog up and running. The point here is to let everyone know how the progress of the Festival Jambalaya Cartagena is going, and also to document my experience here--the places, the people, the customs and the culture. So the posts will involve a little bit of show-and-tell, a little bit of journalism-lite, and quite a good bit of promotion for the festival and for the city of Cartagena de Indias!

Just to get you caught up, I'm in Cartagena for the next 3 months, but for the next 2 I'll be working ceaselessly on organizing the first annual Festival Jambalaya Cartagena. This is a great opportunity I stumbled upon when I was in Rio last year and my friend Kit and I ran into a guy wearing a Princeton t-shirt, who happened to be Tom Andre, the producer of the Jambalaya! festival in Brazil. One of his contacts became the general manager of the Hotel Sofitel Santa Clara in Cartagena, and he wrote Tom asking if it might be possible to do a festival in Cartagena, which is a beautiful and culturally rich city, which unfortunately is lacking a music festival at this point.

The festival will be held the last weekend of June (23-26), and the main idea is to show the similarities between New Orleans jazz and the music of the Caribbean coast of Colombia. But more than that, we're going to be bringing some of the culture and food of New Orleans to Cartagena, and the experience should be really unique and exciting. I'll go into more detail in future posts.

But the past week has been extraordinary, to say the least. I arrived in Cartagena the afternoon of the 13th, with a reservation at a little hostel and little idea what I was going to do. After dropping off my bags, I called a contact: the mother of the wife of a friend of a friend of Pedro Medina, the founder of the Foundation "I Believe in Colombia" (Fundacion Yo Creo en Colombia) and a contact of mine. The woman's name is Gisele, and she's a Swiss lady who splits her time between Cartagena, Bogota, and Rome. (Her daughter is also a fantastic musician who will almost certainly be playing the festival.) Gisele's house is in the breathtaking Old City, and when I stepped inside I was amazed. She has a small courtyard with a pool, a large sitting room with 20+-foot-high colonial ceilings, and a terrace on the top of the house that allows views of all of Cartagena. She offered me a great price for the rest of the month, and I took it.

After that, Gisele has been so kind as to introduce me to many of her friends, many of whom are artists, musicians, and cultural and business leaders in Cartagena. We spent a fantastic day on the island of Baru about 40 minutes off the coast of the city, and we went to a goodbye party for the manager of the Alliance Francaise. My days have been full of meetings and e-mails and phone calls, and have been notably lacking in beach time. But my skin color is returning to a more healthy shade of tan, which was necessary after another long New York winter.

Now I'm in Bogota, and things are going really well. I'm here until Sunday, and I've had nonstop meetings since I got here a few days ago. It's so much colder and rainier here (the London of the Andes), but nice to feel that Big City feeling again. I've got a ton of family I still have to see, so no rest for the weary, I suppose. But I'll write some more soon.