by Antonio Mejías-Rentas
Los Van Van
GUEST OF HONOR: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called his city the “Venice of the 21st century” and boasted its multiculturalism at one of the opening events of the Feria Internacional del Libro (FIL) in Guadalajara, Mexico, this month.
L.A. is the first city to be invited as guest of honor of the prestigious book fair, the largest in the continent and the second largest in the world, which continues through Dec. 6.
Villaraigosa, the son of Mexican immigrants, said Los Angeles is home to the world’s second-largest population of Mexicans — and to dozens of second-largest populations of people from countries around the world.
“What makes a city great?” he said in his remarks. “A city is defined by the words of its poets, the sounds of its musicians, the images of its artists. Today Los Angeles is honored to present all that represents the city and its diverse spirit.”
Several Latinos are included among the nearly 500 writers and artists who traveled to Guadalajara with funding provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Among them were writers Héctor Tobar and Alex Espinoza and musicians Los Lobos and Ozomatli.
The fair will include an installation of the art exhibit Phantom Sightings: Art After the Chicano Movement, organized in 2008 by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Scheduled events at the 23rd annual edition of the book fair include presentations by writers Carlos Fuentes and Mario Vargas Llosa and this year’s winner of the Premio FIL to Venezuelan poet Rafael Cadenas.
A 70th birthday celebration for José Emilio Pacheco was followed by the surprise announcement that the Mexican poet was this year’s winner of the Premio Cervantes, the most important award in Spanish literature.
COMING AND GOING: Los Van Van, one of Cuba’s most beloved salsa and Latin jazz combos, is marking its 40th anniversary with a 70- concert tour of the United States.
At a news conference in Havana, the group’s founder and leader Juan Formell said the tour, to take place in 2010 and 2011, may include several dates in Miami, where Los Van Van were boycotted and physically attacked by members of the Cuban exile community when they last performed in that South Florida city there in the late 90s.
“Miami has changed a lot in the last 10 years,” said Formell, who spoke during the presentation of the documentary Eso que anda, which chronicles the history of the band, which was founded in 1969.
Los Van Van would follow two Cuban acts that toured the U.S. in recent weeks: Buena Vista Social Club diva Omara Portuondo and folk group Septeto Nacional de Cuba.
In a related item, organizers of this month’s Havana Film Festival say they have invited Puerto Rican singer René Pérez, of Calle 13, to present his documentary Sin mapa and that he is awaiting permission from the U.S. government to travel. Pérez, better known as Residente, has already said in a Twitter message that he will go to Havana.
In a new signal of U.S. opening to travel to Cuba by artists, veteran R&B group Kool and the Gang announced that they will perform in the island Dec. 19-22.
ONE LINERS: Bob Keane, the founder of Del-Fi Records in the 1950s, best known for discovering and recording rock legend Ritchie Valens, has died of renal failure; he was 87…
Puerto Rico’s a cappella group NOTA is competing in the NBC reality show The Sing-Off, now taping in Los Angeles… and Mexican singer-songwriter Juan Gabriel will receive a star on the Las Vegas Walk of Fame on Dec. 1… Hispanic Link.
