On Friday, September 2, the Embassy of the Plurinational State of Bolivia in the Netherlands will open its doors for you to get to know a little of its culture with the ritual offering to the Pachamama.
And on Saturday, Bolivia will present three Afro-Bolivian dances by the group Bolivia Minka: La Saya, the Tundiqui and the Caporales.
DEN HAAG – Embassies. They are those buildings that you normally just walk or cycle past. There is a flag hanging outside and with a bit of geographical knowledge, you might be able to identify it. Otherwise, the embassies in The Hague are closed strongholds, except during the Embassy Festival. During the Tour on Friday, September 2, you can look inside several embassies. A unique opportunity, because normally these buildings are closed to the public. Omroep West got a sneak preview of the festivities at the embassies of Estonia, Azerbaijan and Bolivia. We were treated to song, dance and coffee.
What began in 2012 as a small party with seven participating countries has now grown into a two-day festival with a number of embassies holding open house on Friday – and for which you do have to buy a ticket – and on Saturday at the Lange Voorhout in The Hague several stages and over fifty participating embassies. The latter is accessible free of charge.
For the embassies, participating in the festival is a way to present their country to the public in a beautiful way. We received a warm welcome at the various embassies. Stately chandeliers, mirrors on the wall and art on the wall. There are similarities in the decoration of the embassies.
Watch a preview of the Embassy Festival Tour here:
At the same time, each country very much shows its individuality. At the Embassy of Azerbaijan, there are many rugs hanging and lying around. ‘The Azerbaijani rug has been part of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity on the UNESCO list since 2010,’ Sabine Sadigl, our friendly guide, tells us. She will be showing people around the property on the Andries Bickerweg on Friday. ‘There will be snacks and drinks and I will teach people a few dance steps.’
At the Estonian Embassy, the focus this year is on singing. Because singing in Estonia is more than just performing a song in one’s own language. The country has numerous song festivals. ‘Singing reminds us of the song revolution, with which the Baltic States regained our independence from the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War,’ explains Marje Pihlak of the Estonian Embassy.
Before Estonia gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, it was forbidden to sing in Estonian. A commandment that caused a lot of resistance and a lot of Estonian singing. In the garden of the embassy three ladies in traditional costume perform an Estonian song.
The Bolivian ambassador promises to show a special ritual with coca leaves during the open house. It is a ceremony for Pachamama or Mother Earth. The coca bush is considered a sacred plant by many Bolivians and is called “cultural heritage” in the 2009 Constitution. In addition, coffee is served at Nassau Square, of course from Bolivia.
If you didn’t get your hands on a ticket for the tour on Friday, you can stroll past over fifty embassy stalls on Saturday. You can go from Palestine to Chile in one step. You go from stall to stall and can taste local specialties, such as Romanian cozonaci, Filipino biko, Azerbaijani dolma, Vietnamese bánh mì, Georgian khachapuri and Austrian kürbiskernöl.
At some of the stalls, the ambassadors in person are enthusiastically selling the snacks and drinks. The festival is also very popular among the expats who come to The Hague from all over the country for this reunion.
View the entire program of the Embassy Festival here: https://embassyfestival.com/programme/
This Friday, September 2, you can visit the Bolivian embassy and learn a little of their culture with the ritual offering to the Pachamama and visit some of Bolivia’s tourist sites such as the Uyuni salt flat, the waters of the Silala, the Chiquitanía or the Madidi Park.
The Bolivian ambassador, Roberto Calzadilla, will show a special ritual, a ceremony to Pachamama or Mother Earth. In addition to explaining the cultural importance of the coca leaf which is considered a sacred plant by many Bolivians and is called “cultural heritage” in the Bolivian constitution of 2009.
This festival started in 2012 as a small festival with seven participating countries, now it has become a two-day festival with several embassies holding open days on Fridays, and on Saturday at the Lange Voorhout in The Hague with stages and more than half a hundred participating embassies.
Last weekend, September 27 and 28, the Embassy of Bolivia to the Kingdom of the Netherlands participated in the Connecting Cultures fair held in the Almere center.
Bolivia participated with a stand that allowed transporting more than 300 visitors to different tourist sites in Bolivia such as the Uyuni salt flat, the waters of the Silala, the Chiquitanía or the Madidi Park. In addition, the Diablada and Tobas dances were performed by three dance groups, Alma Laritina, Jallalla Bolivia and Bolivia Minka, which enlivened both days.
This meeting aims to connect cultures through food, dance, music, clothing and art. It counted with the participation of several Latin American countries such as Panama, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Panama.
“Outstanding cultural and artistic positioning of Bolivia” highlighted Ambassador Roberto Calzadilla, when thanking the visitors and exhibitors of the Bolivian community who participated with music by the Bolivian Dutch singer, Charo Duran and Alvaro Pinto, and the rhythm of Pujllay with the group Asociación Yatiyaña.
Café Illimani also participated with the sale of Bolivian coffee and chocolate, and the works of the Alteña painter Elizabeth Lizaso Quispe and the plastic artist Grace Méndez were exhibited. On the second day, participatory workshops were held by artist Elizabeth Lisazo on weaving using the Aymara Sayuña technique, which is still used in some Bolivian villages.
Película boliviana de Alejandro Loayza Grisi “Utama” gana primer lugar en el festival de cine internacional World Cinema Ámsterdam.
The 12th edition of World Cinema Amsterdam, the film festival that has been screening the best films from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean for more than a decade, took place from August 20-27, 2022 in the city of Amsterdam.
With the premise of generating a meaningful conversation about the things that matter, the World Cinema Amsterdam festival awarded first place to the work directed by Bolivian filmmaker Alejandro Loayza Grisi. The film tells the story of an elderly Quechua couple, Virginio and his wife Sisa, who live in the Bolivian highlands and as a result of climate change and drought have to make the tough decision to stay in their home or migrate to the city like the majority of their community.
“It is very important that we can show our culture, our beautiful country on movie screens. We have so many beautiful stories to tell that we must continue to work on the art,” Loayza said.
It is worth noting that the shooting of this film was in the south of Potosí, a place that offers magnificent landscapes. According to the director, the challenge of the film was to transmit and transport the viewer with photography and music to this special place on earth.
Raymond Walravens, director of the festival, highlighted the quality of the work and the strength of the characters; he also encouraged the production of more Bolivian films.
In addition, the Bolivian Embassy in the Kingdom of the Netherlands provided continuous support to director Loayza and the presentation of this Bolivian work at the WCA festival. It was also in charge of promoting this film among the Bolivian community in the Netherlands, its screening schedules and theaters where all Bolivians could appreciate it.
