This February, San Pedro has a special show of Chilean handicraft, one awarded in 2009 by the UNESCO “Seal of Excellence” and “First Crafts and Design Competition CREA”.
ARTEMINGA and NGO TSA opens tomorrow Thursday February 11 the exhibition “Multiple Parallel ” in Caracoles 183, which I consider one of the most interesting shops in the area, the perfect place to go if you look for special pieces that combine  design with materials and traditions.
On my vacations I had the privilege of meeting  Silvana Martinez, manager of this initiative, a young law student who carries the art in her veins, which was motivated by her atacaman ancestors, and has developed a career as a goldsmith reusing old atacaman  tissues, combined with work in copper, which works in creating jewelry crudely carrying the history of its previous owners, in this case the Zutar family, (her paternal grandmother).

Everything on their collars emulates the desert, the red and earth colors of the tissues, the metal she uses, which together with the reuse of materials earned merits enough to be one of the winners of CREA.
The installation “Multiple Parallel” evokes in its structure the way our long country is transversally divided by parallels, imaginary lines that create divisions within our territory, where locations are also different and unique cultural expressions, which are part of a larger agenda: our idiosyncrasy

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The pieces presented in this exhibition are Loza Rings by Carolina Contreras Collao who presented framed fragments of pottery belonging to the ancient northern Chile saltpeter, wooden rings by Marcel Pinilla Cancino, native objects made with wood from old fallen buildings of Valparaíso, Loom Necklace by Nicolas Hernandez Meza and Juan Pinochet Acosta a pectoral ornament with saddlery and goldsmith techniques with ancient materials used in handicrafts; Manto Intervenido by Irene Vacaro Cuevas made from felt and multiple techniques; Kallwe Necklace by Valeria Martinez Nahuel a creation of silver, sheep and alpaca wool hand-dyed with natural products; Jewels of native wood and silver by Pauline Aranguiz Montesi inspired in Mapuche traditional ornamentation.

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit models found the perfect fit at the Alto Atacama Desert Lodge & Spa in Chile’s Atacama Desert—part of the hotly anticipated 2010 Swimsuit Edition, which hits newsstands today. The Atacama, the driest desert in the world and one of the most otherworldly destinations beyond the moon, gave celebrated photographer Raphael Mazzucco the chance to work with a endless array of colorful and one-of-a-kind Andean “altiplanico” backdrops to showcase high-fashion swimwear and the beautiful models who wore them.

Four of Sports Illustrated’s models traveled to the Atacama Desert including Julie Henderson, Daniella Sarahyba, Irina Shayk, and Zoe Duchesne. The models posed for thousands of photos in the Alto Atacama Lodge’s guestroom terraces and against the dusty orange hills that surround the lodge property, at turquoise-colored salt flats, sand dunes and oases.

Following two days of acclimatization, Julie Henderson and Irina Shayk traveled to altitudes of up to 14,000 feet to pose at the Salar de Tara’s wetlands and the world’s highest active geysers at Tatio. The Alto Atacama Lodge’s alpaca “Pepito” got camera time too, sidling up to a bikini-clad Irina Shayk.

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Atacama not only provides travelers with a variety of stunning landscapes, it also offers an unsuspected cultural scenery, which are extremely gratified by those spirits who are open to meet a town full of ancient traditions that break the silence of the desert in rumblings of colors and sounds. During February, Atacama communities celebrate their Carnival.
Etymologically, the word carnival comes from the Latin carne-levare (leave the meat), which refers to the Catholic custom of fasting during Lent and carnival happens to be a period before Ash Wednesday were consume was excused with the reason that they had to face 40 severe withdrawal days with the body stronger and well prepared.
During the 7 weeks before Easter atacama communities celebrates “Holy Carnival”, one of the most deeply rooted traditions of indigenous peoples, which is developed in two stages: first and foremost, “chaya” which begins with Carnival on Sunday and continues until Ash Wednesday, here they dance in groups and sing “coplas”, and the second stage is the release of the carnival, here are three central characters, which are represented by men chosen by Neighborhood: the old man, the old woman and the young man, which have distinctive and special features in their apparel. The old woman wears a scarf covering her head, while the old and the groom are covered with leather masks. The function of these three characters is walk through the town from house to house, singing songs and carrying knapsacks on their backs, which will be filled with food by the community. Un to the end the Pujillay is buried, an ancient god of Quechua mythology that symbolizes prosperity and abundance, embodied in a doll, is burried with fruits and other symbolic objects invoking the Pachamama.
In San Pedro, Carnival is celebrated in different ayllus, day and night. If you encounter gangs do not panic if they throw flour, is part of the party, join them and live the experience of being part of one of one of the most important traditions of our northern country.

Photo: Caspana Carnival by Javiera García Bombal

This year again, the Rally Dakar was held in Argentina and Chile, revolutionizing both countries and especially the towns where it passed from Patagonia to the Atacama desert.

The most attractive aspect of this race is that entries are open allowing fans to participate in this tremendous adventure in any of the following transportation: cars, motorcycles, trucks and quads.

This test was originally known as Rally Paris – Dakar, since from it began in 1979 it was run from the French capital to the city of Senegal. In 1995 it was opened to other routes starting in places like Granada and Lisbon and ending in different parts of Africa such as Cape Town and Cairo.

Political problems or advertisements are almost always the reason for the changes of town, however in 2008 it experienced the most complicated problem, threats of terrorist attacks forced the organization to suspend all competition. And so how it came to South America. In 2009 this race was held for the first time on our continent, starting and ending in Buenos Aires.

Rally Dakar 2010 Argentina – Chile took place between 2 and 17 January, covering 8600 km in 14 stages, 7 in each country. Attended by 138 cars, 184 motorbikes and quads and 50 trucks. Among the competitors certainly a highlight was the Chilean Francisco “Chaleco” Lopez, winning on his motorbike 3 stages and finishing as 3º of the entire competition.

Although not without tragedies, the success of this rally has brought many benefits to these countries, this year it was broadcast by over 300 journalists and 180 channels worldwide, and left around USD 80 million in both countries.

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