Beginnings Andres Neumann was born in
Cochabamba,
Bolivia in 1943, to central European parents. His family moved to
Montevideo, Uruguay, when he was five years old. His mother tongue was
German, and he learned
Spanish, the official language of Uruguay, only at elementary school. He developed a specific interest for the
arts and
culture very early, and especially for
film and
theater. At age 21 he married Betina Camacho, age 15. Together with his wife he joined the theater company from the
Alliance Française in
Montevideo, directed by
Bernard Schnerb, a professor from the institute. Neumann quickly became active in the cultural life of Montevideo, working professionally for theater,
dance and
music events held in the main venues of the city, including
Teatro Solis,
Teatro El Galpón, and
Teatro Circular. He cooperated with artists such as
Omar Grasso,
Carlos Manuel Varela,
Luis Cerminara,
Roberto Restuccia,
Teresa Trujillo,
Carlos Carvalho,
Hugo Mazza,
Jorge Carrozino and
Carmen Prieto,
Eduardo Mateo,
Diane Denoir, and
Bernardo Bergeret. During the same years Neumann made frequent trips to
Europe and the
US, where he became acquainted with the
avant garde movements of the time. In 1970 he received the award for "Best Soundtrack of the Year" conferred by the Theater Critics Association of Uruguay, and in 1972 he received, jointly with
Jorge Carrozino and
Carmen Prieto, a commission from the Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales (MNAV) to fit out an important anthological exhibition of
paintings and artwork by
Rafael Barradas.
Relationship with France The
Alliance Française in
Montevideo was central to the cultural life of Montevideo in a critical moment for the country and the continent. A new and modern building had been specially commissioned and constructed in Calle Soriano 1180, including a theater venue with a
seating capacity of 200. For this institution, Neumann, Jorge Carrozino and Carmen Prieto (CPN) created several theatrical audiovisual environments (inspired by the French
Son et Lumière):
Figari,
Picasso 90 and
73 Dias. Thanks to these performances the trio received in October 1972 a grant from CUIFERD, sponsored by
Jack Lang (future
Minister of Culture of
France), to work for the Festival Mondial du Théatre de
Nancy. This invitation came at the right time, because the arts and artists began to be persecuted by a deteriorating political system. Military dictatorships were in the making in
Chile,
Argentina,
Brazil and
Uruguay. The departure of Neumann won right-wing newspaper headlines suspecting him of leaving the country in order to be trained by the French government in
urban guerrilla. In the meantime, Neumann had married his second wife, Lily Salvo, an important painter and artist belonging to the
Taller Torres García. She was part of the active cultural life in Latin America, including
Pablo Neruda and
Ernesto Sabato. From their marriage a daughter named Mara was born. Andres, Lily and Mara left Uruguay in October 1972 and settled in Nancy, France, for the next two years. The Festival Mondial du Théatre de Nancy was at the time the world center for
experimental theater, and in general for the research of new languages in the arts and culture. There Neumann met
Tadeusz Kantor,
Bob Wilson,
Meredith Monk,
Augusto Boal,
Peter Schumann,
Pina Bausch and
Dario Fo. Neumann was an active member of the staff of the festival until 1978, appointed to curate the artistic delegations of various Scandinavian and Eastern countries as well as
Italy, where he settled with his family in 1974.
Relationship with Italy In 1974 Neumann, encouraged among others by
Luigi Nono, Italian avant-garde composer and member of the central committee of the
Communist Party, settled in
Florence while continuing his cooperation as artistic curator of the Italian delegation to the Festival Mondial du Théatre de Nancy. The role of curator had put him in connection with the Italian theater world and in particular with the Teatro Regionale Toscano (now Fondazione Toscana Spettacoli). He was soon engaged by this organisation to curate a special section dedicated to experimental theater at Teatro Rondo di Bacco, a venue in the left wing of
Palazzo Pitti. Neumann curated three seasons at Teatro Rondo di Bacco in Florence, inviting among many others the Bread and Puppet Theater, Bob Wilson, Meredith Monk from the US, Tadeusz Kantor with the
Cricot 2 from Poland and
Roberto Benigni from Italy. As talent scout, Neumann promoted internationally the work of Italian theater artist and companies such as Magazzini Criminali and Pierluigi Pieralli from Florence, and Remondi & Caporossi and
Memé Perlini from
Rome. After his engagement in Florence he was commissioned by Carlo Molfese to create for
Teatro Tenda (Piazza Mancini, Rome) a
festival under the name of
Rassegna Internazionale di Teatro Popolare, where artists such as
Marcel Marceau from France,
Vittorio Gassman and
Gigi Proietti from Italy,
Teatro Campesino from the US,
Tadashi Suzuki from
Japan,
Robert Serumaga from
Uganda and
Jango Edwards from
Netherlands were presented. During this activity in Rome Major, Carlo Giulio Argan, and Secretary for Culture,
Renato Nicolini, invited Neumann to develop for the city of Rome a special project dedicated to cutting-edge performing arts. A long and close working cooperation with Renato Nicolini to enhance national and international cultural exchange programs in the arts and culture between the City of Rome and other important Italian and world cities was put in place. Part of this program was a production of a performance directed by
Richard Foreman with the Ontological-Hysterical Theater from
New York City, guest performances of
Ariane Mnouchkine and the
Théatre du Soleil, of
Peter Brook,
Terry Riley, and the
National Theater from London, the projection of the film
Napoleon by
Abel Gance with live orchestra directed by
Carmine Coppola (father to
Francis Ford) in front of the Roman
Colosseum to the presence of
Jack Lang and
Danielle Mitterrand. == Andres Neumann International ==