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Dear Readers,

Welcome back to the Canning House cultural agenda with a fresh programme of events to celebrate the upcoming harvest season. We are lucky to host two distinguished authors and journalists, Paul Preston and Chris Moss to speak on the Spanish Civil War and Patagonia respectively. We also look forward to an exquisite exhibition of paintings on plants and landscapes of the Costa Rican island of Cocos by Deirdre Hyde. In October we welcome the cellist Laura Isaacson for her first concert of Iberian music at Canning House. Don't forget to check out the abundance of events across the capital to delight you and awaken us all from the balmy slumber of August.

Disfruten y saboreen,


Larissa Litchfield
Canning House


Talk | PATAGONIA - HISTORY & MYTH
Talk based on a new book by Chris Moss,
published by Signal Books
17 September, 6:30pm

Patagonia is the ultimate landscape of the mind. Like Siberia and the Sahara, it has become a metaphor for nothingness and extremity. A vast triangle at the southern tip of the New World, this region of barren steppes, soaring peaks and fierce winds was populated by small tribes of hunter-gatherers and roaming nomads when Ferdinand Magellan made landfall in 1520, and since then it has captivated the imagination of explorers, sailors and traders in the endless search for Eldorado.

Chris Moss is a travel writer and a former journalist at The Buenos Aires Herald. He lives in the UK.

Tickets: £4/£6 non-members
Book online: www.canninghouse.com
Screening | BLACK GOLD
Directed by Marc Francis & Nick Francis
24 September, 7pm

Coffee is not just a drink. It's a global commodity. While Americans and Europeans continue to pay for luxury lattes and cappuccinos, the prices paid to coffee farmers remain so low that many have been forced to abandon their fields. BLACK GOLD tells the complex story behind an attempt to make globalization work for the producers of the second most traded commodity in the world, after oil. Nowhere is the disparity of the coffee industry more evident than in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee, where the film follows one producer and campaigner from the field to the international negotiating arena to London and Seattle.
Q&A - After the screening we will discuss the relevance of this film to Latin American coffee production and trade, with speaker TBC.

2006, UK, 77 mins
www.blackgoldmovie.com
Tickets: £4/£6 non-members
Book online: www.canninghouse.com
Talk | WE SAW SPAIN DIE
Talk by Paul Preston based on his new book published by Constable & Robinson
02 October, 6:30pm

Based on a huge variety of diary material and personal letters from principally British and American, but also Russian and French sources, We Saw Spain Die is a study of how the war correspondent came of age in this devastating conflict. It highlights the difficult circumstances - political, professional and personal, faced by some of the century's greatest correspondents both within Spain and in America, Britain, France and Russia.

Paul Preston is regarded as the leading historian of twentieth-century Spain. He is Principe de Asturias Professor of Contemporary Spanish History and Director of the Canada Blanch Centre of Contemporary Spanish Studies at the London School of Economics.

Tickets: £4/£6 non-members
Book online: www.canninghouse.com
Exhibition | ISLA INSOLITA DE COSTA RICA
Paintings by Deirdre Hyde
Private View 09 October, 6:30-8:30pm
10 October — 17 October
Opening Times Mon - Fri, 2pm-6pm

Cocos is a speck in the Eastern Pacific, a dynamic focus for the area's ocean currents, weather and spectacular sealife. Its sheer cliffs contain unique, exuberant forests and the traces of many a buccaneer. British artist Deirdre Hyde first went there thirty years ago has returned many times. This exhibition shows her recent figurative paintings of Cocos Island and its botanical treasures.

Free entrance
Talk | COCOS AND GAIA
By Dr. Stephan Harding
14 October, 6:30pm

Cocos Island, Costa Rica, may seem isolated, but in fact it helps to regulate the temperature of the entire Earth via a tangled web of relationships between its rainwater, rocks and teeming biodiversity. In this talk we will discover how the story of these interactions helps us to recover a deep sense of connection to the extraordinary life of our planet, which is so sorely needed at this time of ecological meltdown.

Stephan Harding gained his doctorate in ecology from the University of Oxford in 1986, and then taught for several years at the National University in Costa Rica, where he became a good friend of Deirdre Hyde. He is currently the Coordinator of the MSc in Holistic Science at Schumacher College in Devon, and is author of 'Animate Earth: Science, Intuition and Gaia', published by Green Books.

Tickets: £4/6 non-members
Book online: www.canninghouse.com
Concert | AN EVENING OF MUSICA IBERICA WITH CELLIST LAURA ISAACSON AND PIANIST MASA TAYAMA
23 October, 7:30pm

This remarkable duo will perform an exciting repertoire of music by Manuel de Falla, Luis de Freitas Branco, Enrique Granadas and others. Both musicians studied at the Guildhall School of Music, and have since toured extensively across the US and Europe, playing with various orchestras and at Festivals. For more info see our website.

Tickets: £10/£15 non-members
Book online:www.canninghouse.com

This is a fund-raising event to support cultural activities at Canning House.
Talk | REEVALUATING AZTEC GOLD
By Dr. Elizabeth Baquedano
29 October, 6:30pm

The aim of this talk is to present an overview of the role that gold played in Aztec society. Contrary to popular belief that gold came second after jade and turquoise, we shall see that gold was very important to the Aztecs in the fields of politics, economy and religion. Furthermore gold conveyed a message of power and wealth and Aztec rulers used it lavishly to distance themselves from the rest of the people both in life and in the afterlife. History, archaeology and the painted books (codices) will testify to the importance of gold among the Aztecs.
Elizabeth Baquedano is a Lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London and at the Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London.

Tickets: £4/£6 non-members
Book online: www.canninghouse.com


Exhibition | RIVERS OF THE WORLD
PART OF THE THAMES FESTIVAL
21 August — 14 September, 11am — 6pm daily
Venue: the.gallery@oxo, Oxo Tower Wharf,
South Bank
London, SE1 9PH
Over 2,000 students from around the world have created these inspirational and vibrant artworks. Pupils from countries including the UK, Mexico and Brazil have taken part in this international arts project which has linked them with their counterparts overseas and has resulted in the production of artworks based on the study of their rivers.

Admission free
For more information: www.rivers.thamesfestival.org
Theatre | SUEÑO LORCA (LORCA DREAMS)
BARAKA THEATRE COMPANY
25 August — 06 September, 8pm
Venue: Arcola Theatre, 27 Arcola Street
London, E8 2DJ
Baraka returns to the Arcola Theatre with the UK Premiere of their latest production. Bursting with colour, live music, physical theatre and dance, Lorca Dreams is a poetic journey through the life and work of Federico Garcia Lorca.
The play presents a collage of "Federicos," in love with life and freedom, stirring emotions which live inside us all.
Discover Lorca's voice, his characters, family and friends, most importantly the eccentric Salvador Dali.
In Spanish with English surtitles

Tickets: 020 7503 1646
www.arcolatheatre.com
Festival | CASA THEATRE FESTIVAL
09 - 27 September
Venue: Union Theatre, 204 Union Street, Southwark, London, SE1 0LX
Following a successful five week inaugural CASA Festival in 2007, Tangram Theatre Company and Discovering Latin America are proud to present CASA Theatre Festival 2008, an annual festival of Latin American theatre. Over three weeks, three new plays from Puert Rico, Venezuela and Ecuador will be performed at the brilliant Union Theatre, one of London's most atmospheric fringe theatres.

Box Office: 0207 261 9876
www.discoveringlatinamerica.com/casa/
Dance | RIVER TANGO
PART OF THE THAMES FESTIVAL
13 — 14 September
Venue: Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG
Star performances, cutting-edge workshops, live music and, of course, dancing into the night on London's vibrant riverside, under the shadow of the iconic Tate Modern.

Admision: Free
www.rivertango.co.uk
Film | LA AMERICANA (THE AMERICAN)
(PG) + Q&A
24 September, 8:30pm
Venue: Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS
When her daughter is badly injured in a bus accident, Carmen, a young single mother from Bolivia, is unable to pay for the care her daughter needs.
After six years working illegally in the US to raise what she believes will be enough money to support her daughter for life, Carmen discovers the money is nowhere near enough. Should she stay with her ailing daughter, or make the perilous journey back to the US?
This timely film is a heartbreaking portrait of the human side of the current immigration crisis in America.

Tickets: 020 7638 8891
www.barbican.org.uk
Concert | AFROREGGAE - FAVELIZATION
25 and 27 September, 8pm
Venue: Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS
Rio's cultural warriors return to the Barbican with an explosion of percussion. Hip-Hop and reggae rhythms from the heart of the favela fuse with the deep funk sounds of James Brown.
Featuring sounds and images from young performers in East London, inspired by AfroReggae.
'The audience are out of their seats and dancing... dazzling' The Independent.

Tickets: 020 7638 8891
www.barbican.org.uk
Exhibition | COMMON PEOPLE
PAINTINGS BY ADRIAN NAVARRO
03 — 19 October, 12pm — 6pm, Wed to Sun
Venue: Ada Street Gallery, 2a Ada Street
London E8 4QU
Artist Adrian Navarro presents a new series of works combining painting and screen-printing on canvas at the exhibition Common People. The paintings are individual and group portraits of urban character which arise from the artist's direct contact with the city of London. The flâneur has paced the streets, observed and listened to the city; he has gathered information, gone back to the studio and renders it on the canvas.

Admission free
For more information:www.adriannavarro.com
Concert | JUANA MOLINA AND MAX TUNDRA
05 October, 7:30pm
A Domino Records Crystal Anniversary Event
Venue: LSO St Luke's, 161 Old Street
London EC1V 9NG
Juana Molina is a singer/songwriter from Argentina whose quirky, atmospheric songs bring to mind other modern chanteuses Lisa Germano and Beth Orton. She is best known in South America as a comedic television actress.
Molina uses her voice as an instrument in the most abstract sense; live, flanked by a bank of synthesizers and delay effects, her performances are a three-way exchange between the artist, the audience and whatever processes and re-processes the moods dictate.

Tickets: 020 7638 8891
www.lso.co.uk
Theatre | TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
NOS DO MORRO
08 — 18 October, 7:45pm
(also 2:30pm on 18 October)
Venue: Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS
A fresh, raw and energetic performance of one of Shakespeare's earliest comedies tells the tale of friendship, love and betrayal.
The performers use their bodies to create a continually changing tableau that forms a playful backdrop to the drama.
Traditional Brazilian song punctuates the production, supported by a trio of onstage musicians.
In Portuguese with English subtitles

Tickets: 020 7638 8891
www.barbican.org.uk
Lecture | MARIO VARGAS LLOSA - LITERATURE AND HISTORY IN LATIN AMERICA
14 October, 5:30pm
Venue: Great Hall, Strand Campus, King's College
Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru, 1936) is one of Latin America's leading novelists and essayists. After living in Europe for over 30 years and acquiring Spanish nationality, Vargas Llosa returned to live in Lima. His work has often critiqued the hierarchy of social class and race present in contemporary Peru and Latin America.

Admission free but ticketed
www.kcl.ac.uk
Exhibition | CILDO MEIRELES
14 October 2008 — 11 January 2009
Venue: Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG
Cildo Meireles is a Brazilian artist who makes mysterious and atmospheric installations which invite participation, with works ranging from a tiny single object that can fit on a fingertip to vast installations.
This exciting exhibition includes a number of large-scale works that engage you with their striking presence and then draw you in with their complexity. This is his first major retrospective in the UK.

Tickets: 020 7887 8888
www.tate.org.uk/modern
Debate | RAZING THE RAINFORESTS
22 October, 7pm
Venue: Royal Geographical Society,
1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR
Join a panel of international experts discussing the challenge of how best to conserve the world's rainforests.

Information: 020 7591 3000
www.rgs.org
Festival | THE 2ND NATIVE SPIRIT FESTIVAL
OCTOBER
In the last week of October 2008 the 2nd Native Spirit Festival returns to London with a week of films and workshops promoting the cultures of indigenous people of the three Americas. This years' festival will focus on the environment and issues surrounding climate change.

www.nativespiritfestival.com
Concert | SEU JORGE AND GILLES PETERSON
30 October, 7pm
Venue: Roundhouse, Chalk Farm Road
London NW1 8EH
Seu Jorge returns to the Roundhouse with his expanded band playing music from his brand new album America Brasil. Jorge's repertoire ranges from his intense urban sambas to bouncing, big band, Brazilian funk.
Jorge's set is preceded by a DJ set from Radio One's Gilles Peterson.

Tickets: 0844 482 8008
www.roundhouse.org.uk

COFFEE — A FAIR DRINK
By Larissa Litchfield

On 24th September Canning House will be screening BLACK GOLD directed by Marc and Nick Francis. A poignant documentary of our times, its relevance reaches all parts of the globe and all sectors of society, as coffee has entered the daily consumption habits of nearly every society on earth.

Roughly 125m people depend on coffee production for their livelihood. Coffee is the world's most valuable trading commodity after oil. Coffee has historically been one of Latin America's most widespread principal export crops. For more than a century, it was a mainstay in Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. In some places, such as Brazil and Colombia, coffee production proved to be a steppingstone to industrialization, but the impact of the crop has been quite variable. Coffee was cultivated by slaves on large plantations and continues to be grown by smallholders on family farms. Nowadays, coffee is grown purely for export.

CLICK HERE for more info

TROPICAL BABYLONS: SUGAR AND THE MAKING OF THE ATLANTIC WORLD, 1450—1680
Edited by Stuart B. Schwartz. University of North Carolina Press, 2004

A collection of nine essays by leading scholars from the US, the Dominican Republic, Belgium and Madeira that re-examine the 'sugar revolution' and the beginnings of the Atlantic world, with the overall aim of bringing together some of the more recent research on sugar and the Atlantic economies. Their focus is on former Spanish and Portuguese colonies, and reveals the variety of means that existed in sugar production despite the common knowledge and technology that were involved. The essays examine the cases of Iberia, Madeira and the Canary Islands, Española, Cuba, Brazil, and Barbados, illuminating similarities and differences between plantation colonies, the multiracial "tropical Babylons" where oppression ruled the day, and challenging the idea of a sugar revolution. The studies follow the steady movement westwards of sugar production from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean. William Phillips's opening chapter surveys sugar in Iberia, after which Alberto Vieira examines the industry in Madeira and the Canary Islands. These are followed by chapters on three other important sugar economies — Española, Cuba and Brazil. Broader themes of the Atlantic sugar economy are covered in succeeding chapters, including the slave trade before 1650 and the European market for sugar during the same period. The final study returns to a regional focus, looking at Barbados, "the first non-Iberian colony to develop an important sugar economy", demonstrating a continuity of practice from the Iberian colonies.


Text provided by Alan Biggins, Librarian at Canning House



The Canning House library is a hidden treasure. Open Mon-Fri from 2pm-6pm, it has a wealth of books, journals and films to nourish your continuous curiosity - in Spanish, Portuguese & English.

CLICK HERE for updates
Canning House Latin American Literature Book Group
Love reading? Read & discuss Latin American literature in English. The group meets once a month at
Canning House.

CLICK HERE for more info

Selected Latin American fiction in translation

Charún-Illescas, Lucía. Malambo
(Swan Isle Press, 2004) Peru


Coelho, Paulo. The Zahir
(HarperCollins, 2005) Brazil






Fuentes, Carlos. The eagle's throne (Bloomsbury, 2006) Mexico


Rivera-Garza, Cristina. No one will see me cry
(Curbstone Press, 2003) Mexico


Rubén, Rey. Patria
(Timbazo Books, 2003) Cuba

Selected non-fiction in English

Susan Dwyer Amussen, Caribbean exchanges: slavery and the transformation of English society, 1640—1700
(University of North Carolina Press, 2007)


Doris Summer (ed), Cultural agency in the Americas
(Duke University Press, 2006)


Dina Berger, The development of Mexico's tourism industry: pyramids by day, martinis by night
(Palgrave Macmillan, 2006)


Nancy Birdsall and others. Fair growth: economic policies for Latin America's poor and middle-income majority
(Center for Global Development / Inter-American Dialogue, 2008)


Carolyn Hall and Héctor Pérez Brignoli, Historical atlas of Central America
(University of Oklahoma Press, 2003)




Stephanie Dennison, Joaquim Nabuco: monarchism, Panamericanism and nation-building in the Brazilian Belle Epoque
(Peter Lang, 2006)


Maria Lorena Cook, The politics of labor reform in Latin America: between flexibility and rights
(Pennsylvania State University Press, 2007)


Mauro F. Guillén, The rise of Spanish multinationals: European business in the global economy
(Cambridge University Press, 2005)


Ana Mariella Bacigalupo, Shamans of the foye tree: gender, power, and healing among Chilean Mapuche
(University of Texas Press, 2007)


Roddy Brett, Social movements, indigenous politics and democratization in Guatemala
1985—1996.
(Brill, 2008)




MEXICAN RECIPES BY SOFIA CRAXTON
SOPA DE TORTILLA (TORTILLA SOUP)
This is the most Mexican of soups, it is a classic soup that has garnishes added to them and garnishing is half the fun of savouring this soup.

Serves 6

Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes

1 tablespoon corn oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
4 ripe vine tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 dried ancho chilli, de-seeded
1 1 /2 litres / 6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
30 yellow or white plain corn tortilla chips
2 avocados, peeled, pitted and sliced
110 g / 4 oz feta cheese
110 g / 4 oz crème fraiche or soured cream
4 limes, halved

Soak the chilli in 125 ml / 1 /2 cup boiling water for 5 minutes, or until soft. Add the soaking water to the stock and finely chop the chilli.

Heat the oil in a saucepan, and then add the onion, garlic, chopped tomatoes and chilli. Sauté for 5 minutes. Put the mixture into a liquidiser; add 2 tablespoons of stock and process until smooth. Return to the pan and add the remainder of the stock, bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add the tortilla chips and simmer until they become just soft. Serve immediately garnished with avocado, feta cheese, crème fraiche and a squeeze of lime juice. Cut the remaining 3 limes in half and serve with each bowl. If you wish, you could serve thinly sliced dried ancho chilli, with the seeds taken out; this chilli will add more piquancy to the soup.


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