(Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Cultural Center), located at the former
Central Post Office, is the largest of South America. As Buenos Aires is strongly influenced by
European culture, the city is sometimes referred to as the "Paris of South America". With its scores of theaters and productions, the city has the busiest live theater industry in South America. In fact, every weekend, there are about 300 active
theaters with plays, a number that places the city as 1st worldwide, more than either London, New York or Paris, cultural Meccas in themselves. The number of cultural festivals with more than 10 sites and five years of existence also places the city as 2nd worldwide, after Edinburgh. The
Palacio Libertad, located in Buenos Aires, is the largest cultural center of
Latin America, and the third worldwide. Buenos Aires is the home of the
Teatro Colón, an internationally rated opera house. There are several
symphony orchestras and choral societies. The city has numerous museums related to arts and crafts, history, fine arts, modern arts, decorative arts, popular arts, sacred art,
theater and popular music, as well as the preserved homes of noted art collectors, writers, composers and artists. The city is home to hundreds of bookstores, public libraries and cultural associations (it is sometimes called "the city of books"), as well as the largest concentration of active
theaters in Latin America. It has a
zoo and
botanical garden, a large number of landscaped parks and squares, as well as churches and places of worship of many denominations, many of which are architecturally noteworthy.
Art Buenos Aires has a thriving arts culture, with "a huge inventory of museums, ranging from obscure to world-class." The
barrios of
Palermo and
Recoleta are the city's traditional bastions in the diffusion of art, although in recent years there has been a tendency of appearance of exhibition venues in other districts such as
Puerto Madero or
La Boca; renowned venues include
MALBA, the
National Museum of Fine Arts, Fundación Proa,
Faena Arts Center, and the
Usina del Arte. Other popular institutions are the
Buenos Aires Museum of Modern Art, the
Benito Quinquela Martín Museum, the Evita Museum, the
Museo de Arte Hispanoamericano Isaac Fernández Blanco, the José Hernández Museum, and the
Palais de Glace, among others. A traditional event that occurs once a year is
La Noche de los Museos ("Night of the Museums"), when the city's museums, universities, and artistic spaces open their doors for free until early morning; it usually takes place in November. The first major artistic movements in Argentina coincided with the first signs of political liberty in the country, such as the 1913 sanction of the secret ballot and universal male suffrage, the
first president to be popularly elected (1916), and the cultural revolution that involved the University Reform of 1918. In this context, in which there continued to be influence from the
Paris School (Modigliani, Chagall, Soutine, Klee), three main groups arose. Buenos Aires has been the birthplace of several artists and
movements of national and international relevance and has become a central motif in Argentine artistic production, especially since the 20th century. ) Examples include: the Paris Group – so named for being influenced by the
School of Paris – constituted by
Antonio Berni,
Aquiles Badi,
Lino Enea Spilimbergo,
Raquel Forner and
Alfredo Bigatti, among others; and the La Boca artists – including
Benito Quinquela Martín and Alfredo Lazzari, among others – who mostly came from Italy or were of Italian descent, and usually painted scenes from working-class port neighborhoods. During the 1960s, the
Torcuato di Tella Institute – located in
Florida Street – became a leading local center for
pop art,
performance art,
installation art,
conceptual art, and
experimental theater; this generation of artists included
Marta Minujín,
Dalila Puzzovio,
David Lamelas,
Clorindo Testa and
Diana Dowek. Buenos Aires has also become a prominent center of contemporary
street art; its welcoming attitude has made it one of the world's top capitals of such expression. However, not all of its street art concerns politics, it is also used as a symbol of democracy and freedom of expression. This has to do with the legality of such activities —provided that the building owner has consented—, and the receptiveness of local authorities, who even subsidize various works. The abundance of places for urban artists to create their work, and the relatively lax rules for street art, have attracted international artists such as
Blu,
Jef Aérosol, Aryz,
ROA, and
Ron English.
Literature , a celebrated bookstore located in the
barrio of
Recoleta Buenos Aires has long been considered an intellectual and literary capital of
Latin America and the
Spanish-speaking world. Despite its short urban history, Buenos Aires has an abundant literary production; its mythical-literary network "has grown at the same rate at which the streets of the city earned its shores to the pampas and buildings stretched its shadow on the curb." During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, culture boomed along with the economy and the city emerged as a literary capital and the seat of South America's most powerful publishing industry, and "even if the economic path grew rocky, ordinary Argentines embraced and stuck to the habit of reading." and the arrival of prominent Spanish writers and editors who were escaping the
civil war. Buenos Aires is one of the most prolific book publishers in Latin America and has more bookstores per capita than any other major city in the world. Buenos Aires has at least 734 bookstores—roughly 25 bookshops for every 100,000 inhabitants—far above other world cities like London, Paris, Madrid, Moscow and New York. and "the most important cultural event in Latin America". In its 2019 edition, the Book Fair was attended by 1.8 million people.
Music According to the
Harvard Dictionary of Music, "Argentina has one of the richest
art music traditions and perhaps the most active contemporary musical life" in South America. Buenos Aires boasts of several professional orchestras, including the
Argentine National Symphony Orchestra, the Ensamble Musical de Buenos Aires and the
Camerata Bariloche; as well as various conservatories that offer professional music education, like the
Conservatorio Nacional Superior de Música. The city considers itself the Tango World Capital, and as such hosts many related events, the most important being
an annual festival and world tournament. Tango music experienced a period of splendor during the 1940s, while in the 1960s and 1970s
nuevo tango appeared, incorporating elements of classical and jazz music. A contemporary trend is
neotango (also known as electrotango), with exponents such as
Bajofondo and
Gotan Project. On 30 September 2009, UNESCO's Intergovernmental Committee of Intangible Heritage declared tango part of the world's cultural heritage, making Argentina eligible to receive financial assistance in safeguarding tango for future generations. The city hosts several music festivals every year. A popular genre is
electronic dance music, with festivals including
Creamfields BA, SAMC,
Moonpark, and a local edition of
Ultra Music Festival. Other well-known events include the
Buenos Aires Jazz Festival,
Personal Fest,
Quilmes Rock and
Pepsi Music. Some music festivals are held in
Greater Buenos Aires, like
Lollapalooza, which takes place at the
Hipódromo de San Isidro in
San Isidro.
Cinema venues in Corrientes Ave.
Argentine cinema history began in Buenos Aires with the first film exhibition on 18 July 1896 at the
Teatro Odeón. With his 1897 film,
La bandera Argentina,
Eugène Py became one of the first filmmakers of the country; the film features a waving Argentine flag located at Plaza de Mayo. , as part of the 2011 edition of
BAFICI During the second half of the decade, films of social protest were presented in clandestine exhibitions, the work of
Grupo Cine Liberación and Grupo Cine de la Base, who advocated what they called "
Third Cinema". At that time, the country was under a
military dictatorship after the
coup d'état known as
Argentine Revolution. One of the most notable films of this movement is (1968) by
Fernando Solanas. During the period of democracy between 1973 and 1975, the local cinema experienced critical and commercial success, with titles including
Juan Moreira (1973),
La Patagonia rebelde (1974),
La Raulito (1975), and
La tregua (1974) – which became the first Argentine film nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. However, because of censorship and a new military government, Argentine cinema stalled until the return of democracy in the 1980s. This generation – known as "Argentine Cinema in Liberty and Democracy" – were mostly young or postponed filmmakers and gained international notoriety.
Camila (1984) by
María Luisa Bemberg was nominated for the Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards, and
Luis Puenzo's
La historia oficial (1985) was the first Argentine film to receive the award. Located in Buenos Aires is the Pablo Ducrós Hicken Museum of Cinema, the only one in the country dedicated to Argentine cinema and a pioneer of its kind in Latin America. Every year, the city hosts the
Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema (BAFICI), which, in its 2015 edition, featured 412 films from 37 countries, and an attendance of 380 thousand people. Buenos Aires also hosts various other festivals and film cycles, like the
Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre, devoted to horror.
Media Buenos Aires is home to five Argentine television networks:
America,
Television Pública Argentina,
El Nueve,
Telefe, and
El Trece. Four of them are located in Buenos Aires, and the studios of
America is located in
La Plata.
Fashion in 2013, as part of
BAFWEEK Buenos Aires' inhabitants have been historically characterized as "fashion-conscious". National designers display their collections annually at the
Buenos Aires Fashion Week (BAFWEEK) and related events. Inevitably being a season behind, it fails to receive much international attention. Nevertheless, the city remains an important regional fashion capital. According to
Global Language Monitor, the city is the 20th leading fashion capital in the world, ranking second in
Latin America after
Rio de Janeiro. In 2005, Buenos Aires was appointed as the first
UNESCO City of Design, and received this title once again in 2007. Since 2015, the Buenos Aires International Fashion Film Festival Buenos Aires (BAIFFF) takes place, sponsored by the city and
Mercedes-Benz. The government of the city also organizes La Ciudad de Moda ("The City of Fashion"), an annual event that serves as a platform for emerging creators and attempts to boost the sector by providing management tools. The fashionable
neighborhood of Palermo, particularly the area known as
Soho, is where the latest fashion and design trends are presented. In particular,
Avenida Alvear is home to the most exclusive representatives of haute couture in the city.
Architecture Buenos Aires architecture is characterized by its eclectic nature, with elements resembling
Paris and
Madrid. There is a mix, due to
immigration, of
Colonial,
Art Deco,
Art Nouveau,
Neo-Gothic, and
French Bourbon styles. Italian and French influences increased after the
declaration of independence at the beginning of the 19th century, although the academic style persisted until the first decades of the 20th century. Attempts at renovation took place during the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, when European influences penetrated into the country, reflected by several buildings of Buenos Aires such as the Iglesia Santa Felicitas by Ernesto Bunge; the Palace of Justice, the
National Congress, all of them by
Vittorio Meano, and the
Teatro Colón, by
Francesco Tamburini and
Vittorio Meano. The simplicity of the
Rioplatense baroque style is evident in Buenos Aires through the works of Italian architects such as André Blanqui and Antonio Masella, in the churches of
San Ignacio,
Nuestra Señora del Pilar, the
Cathedral and the
Cabildo. and
Diagonal Norte, in Buenos Aires' historical center. The city's characteristic convergence of diverse architectural styles can be seen, including
Spanish Colonial,
Beaux-Arts and
modernist architecture. In 1912, the Basilica del Santisimo Sacramento was opened to the public; its construction was funded by the generous donation of Argentine philanthropist
Mercedes Castellanos de Anchorena, a member of Argentina's most prominent family. The church is an excellent example of French neo-classicism. With extremely high-grade decorations in its interior, the magnificent Mutin-Cavaillé coll organ (the biggest ever installed in an Argentine church with more than four thousand tubes and four manuals) presided the nave. The altar is full of marble and was the biggest ever built in South America at that time. In 1919, the construction of Palacio Barolo began. This was South America's tallest building at the time and was the first Argentine skyscraper built with concrete (1919–1923). The building was equipped with 9 elevators, plus a lobby hall with paintings in the ceiling and Latin phrases embossed in golden bronze letters. A 300,000-candela beacon was installed at the top (110 m), making the building visible even from Uruguay. In 2009, the Barolo Palace went under an exhaustive restoration, and the beacon was made operational again. In 1936, the
Kavanagh Building was inaugurated. The building, with its 12 elevators (provided by
Otis) and the world's first central air conditioning system (provided by the North American company
Carrier), is still an architectural landmark in Buenos Aires. The architecture of the second half of the 19th century continued to reproduce French
neoclassic models, such as the headquarters of the
Banco de la Nación Argentina built by
Alejandro Bustillo, and the Museo Hispanoamericano de Buenos Aires of Martín Noel. However, since the 1930s, the influence of
Le Corbusier and European
rationalism consolidated in a group of young architects from the
University of Tucumán, among whom
Amancio Williams stands out. The construction of skyscrapers proliferated in Buenos Aires until the 1950s. Newer modern high-technology buildings by Argentine architects in the last years of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st include the
Le Parc Tower by Mario Álvarez, the Torre Fortabat by Sánchez Elía, and the
Repsol-YPF Tower by
César Pelli.
Theaters . Buenos Aires has over 280
theaters, more than any other city in the world. Because of this, Buenos Aires is declared the "World's Capital of Theater". They show everything from musicals to ballet, comedy to circuses. Some of them are: •
Teatro Colón is ranked the third best opera house in the world by National Geographic, and is acoustically considered to be among the world's five best concert venues. It is bounded by the wide
9 de Julio Avenue (technically Cerrito Street), Arturo Toscanini Street, Tucumán Street, as well as Libertad Street at its main entrance. It is in the heart of the city on a site once occupied by
Ferrocarril Oeste's
Plaza Parque station. •
Cervantes Theater (Teatro Nacional Cervantes), located on
Córdoba Avenue and two blocks north of Buenos Aires' renowned
opera house, the Colón Theater, the Cervantes houses three performance halls, of which the María Guerrero Salon serves as its main hall. Its stage features a rotating circular platform and can be extended by a further . The Guerrero Salon can seat 860 spectators, including 512 in the galleries. A secondary hall, the Orestes Caviglia Salon, can seat 150 and is mostly reserved for
chamber music concerts. The Luisa Vehíl Salon is a multipurpose room known for its extensive
gold leaf decor. •
Teatro Gran Rex opened on 8 July 1937 as the largest cinema in
South America of its time; it is an
Art Deco-style theater. •
Teatro Avenida (Avenida Theater) was inaugurated on Buenos Aires' central
Avenida de Mayo in 1908 with a production of
Spanish dramatist Lope de Vega's
Justice Without Revenge. The production was directed by
María Guerrero, a
Spanish Argentine theater director who popularized classical drama in Argentina during the late 19th century and would establish the important Cervantes Theater (Teatro Nacional Cervantes) in 1921.
Sports . Buenos Aires has been a candidate city for the Summer Olympic Games on three occasions: for the
1956 Games, which were lost by a single vote to Melbourne; for the
1968 Summer Olympics, held in
Mexico City; and in
2004, when the games were awarded to
Athens. Buenos Aires hosted the first
Pan American Games (1951) In July 2013, the IOC elected Buenos Aires as the host city. with many of its teams playing in the major league. The
best-known rivalry is the one between
Boca Juniors and
River Plate, the match is better known as
Superclásico. Watching a match between these two teams was deemed one of the "50 sporting things you must do before you die" by
The Observer. , home of the
Argentine Open Polo Championship, the most important global event of this discipline hosted the
1978 FIFA World Cup final In 1912, the practice of basketball in Argentina was started by the
Asociación Cristiana de Jóvenes (YMCA) of Buenos Aires, when Canadian professor Paul Phillip was in charge of teaching basketball at the YMCA of Paseo Colón Avenue. The first basketball clubs in Argentina,
Hindú and
Independiente, were located at the YMCAs of the
Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area. By 1912 the first basketball games were held by YMCA headquarters in Buenos Aires. Nowadays, the
Argentine Basketball Confederation is headquartered in Buenos Aires. Argentina has been the home of world champions in professional
boxing.
Carlos Monzon was a hall of fame World Middleweight champion, and the former lineal Middleweight champion
Sergio Martinez hails from Argentina.
Omar Narvaez,
Lucas Matthysse,
Carolina Duer, and
Marcos Maidana are five modern-day world champions as well. Argentines' love for horses can be experienced in several ways:
horse racing at the
Hipódromo Argentino de Palermo racetrack,
polo in the
Campo Argentino de Polo (located just across Libertador Avenue from the
Hipódromo), and
pato, a kind of basketball played on horseback that was declared the national game in 1953. Polo was brought to the country in the second half of the 19th century by English immigrants. The first rugby union match in Argentina was played in 1873 in the
Buenos Aires Cricket Club Ground, located in the neighborhood of
Palermo, where the
Galileo Galilei planetarium is located today. Rugby enjoys widespread popularity in Buenos Aires, most especially in the north of the city, which boasts more than eighty rugby clubs. The city is home to the Argentine
Super Rugby franchise, the
Jaguares. The
Argentina national rugby union team competes in Buenos Aires in international matches such as the
Rugby Championship. Buenos Aires native
Guillermo Vilas (who was raised in
Mar del Plata) and
Gabriela Sabatini were great tennis players of the 1970s and 1980s and the
2018 G20 summit. ==International relations==