WOW : WORLD OF WONDERS

HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

VISUAL ARTS

Latin American art is the combined artistic expression of South America, Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico, as well as Latin Americans living in other regions.

The art has roots in the many different indigenous cultures that inhabited the Americas before European colonization in the 16th century. The indigenous cultures each developed sophisticated artistic disciplines, highly influenced by religious and spiritual concerns, and their work is collectively known as Pre-columbian art. The blending of Native American, African and European cultures has resulted in a unique mestizo tradition.

ARCHITECTURE

The earliest big buildings from South Americaare in Central America (modern Mexico). Olmecpeople built them, about 1150 BC. Olmec kings got their people to build groups of big stone temples at Tenochtitlan and other Olmec cities. People built these temples out of limestone.

For several hundred years only Olmec people built big stone buildings. By about 700 BC, though, other people in Central America also began to build temples. The Maya built stone temples in Central America (modern Guatamala). Most of the greatest Maya temples are from between 250 BC and 900 AD, although some were built later

LITERATURE

Latin American literature, the national literatures of the Spanish-speaking countries of the Western Hemisphere. Historically, it also includes the literary expression of the highly developed American Indian civilizations conquered by the Spaniards. Over the years, Latin American literature has developed a rich and complex diversity of themes, forms, creative idioms, and styles.

“Things have a life of their own," the gypsy proclaimed with a harsh accent. "It's simply a matter of waking up their souls.”
― Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
( columbian writer )

PERFORMING ARTS

Brazilian dance has multiple origins and receives influences from other countries, mainly African, Moorish, European and indigenous. They are different in each region of the country; some of the best known are: samba, maxixe, xaxado, baião, frevo and gafieira. There are also folk and traditional dance

In Brazil, music is one of the most important art demonstrations and national culture, also respected internationally. Noteworthy because it goes beyond the world-famous Carnival. With the distribution of immigrants throughout the country each region of the country developed its own rhythm. Rio de Janeiro is known for the bossa nova of Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes and the sambas of Noel Rosa. Pernambuco stands out for Frevo and Maracatu. In Bahia the rhythm is called Axé Music. In the South, specifically the Rio Grande do Sul is known for its Gaucho songs, played with guitar and accordion, an instrument also used in the Northeast, by interpreters of forró, maxixe and baião, popularized by Luis Gonzaga.

MUSICAL STYLES

• Samba - Of African-Bahian origin, the rhythm descends from lundu and was used in regional parties between Umbigadas and Pernadas de Capoeira. In the early twentieth century, composers such as Ernesto Nazareth, Noel Rosa, Cartola and Donga, adopted it and withdrew it from obscurity and legitimized it in official culture.

FILMS

Latin American cinema refers collectively to the film output and film industries of Latin America. Latin American film is both rich and diverse, but the main centers of production have been Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. Latin American cinema flourished after the introduction of sound, which added a linguistic barrier to the export of Hollywood film south of the border.

CUISINE

Due to the ethnic fusion of South America, South American cuisine has many influences. The most characteristic are Native American, African, Spanish, and Italian. The customs and food products greatly vary according to the physically distinct regions. The consumption of carne asada is wide spread throughout much of the continent. It is popular to grill in the open air as in asado or churrasco.

CLOTHING

In Argentina, the gaucho is an essential wardrobe piece. Today the iconic outerwear is considered a national symbol, and worn with pride to display the love Argentines have for their culture.

With a variety of historical cultural influences, it is no surprise that traditional attire in Brazil varies by region. Women from the State of Bahia are known for the Bahiana dress, which embraces their African and Indigenous roots.

FESTIVALS

Semana Santa
Perhaps the most famous Semana Santa celebrations occur in Ayacucho, Peru, where the entire town participates in the Holy Week event. There is an added attraction for many celebrants: an anything-goes period in which no sins are committed.n Peru, Semana Santa celebrations are concentrated in the Andean highland villages, where the mix of Catholicism and pagan religions creates some of the most colorful and fervent festivals.

Carnival of Brazil is an annual Brazilian festival held between the Friday afternoon (51 days before Easter) and Ash Wednesday at noon, which marks the beginning of Lent, the forty-day period before Easter. On certain days of Lent, Roman Catholics and some other Christians traditionally abstained from the consumption of meat and poultry, hence the term "carnival," from carnelevare, "to remove (literally, "raise") meat."

SPORTS

Association Football (soccer) is the most popular sport in almost all South American countries. There are a wide range of sports played in the continent of South America. Popular sports include baseball(most popular in Venezuela) basketball, rugby union, tennis, golf, volleyball, hockey, beach volleyball, and motorsports. South America will hold its first Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016. Two years prior to this, major cities in Brazil hosted the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

The 2016 Summer Olympics (Portuguese: Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad and commonly known as Rio 2016, was a major international multi-sport eventheld in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 August to 21 August 2016.