More than 8,000 people participated today in Tecnópolis in the various activities of the popular meeting for the 40 years of the Malvinas War, where they shared spaces for reflection, music shows, plays and photographic exhibitions linked to the commemoration of Veteran’s Day and the Fallen in that warlike conflict.
With the slogan “Malvinas Unites Us”, the property of the Buenos Aires town of Villa Martelli, opened its doors at 2:00 p.m. with free admission so that hundreds of people with flags, t-shirts and chinstraps from Argentina entered to enjoy the activities that ended at 8:00 p.m.
In front of the main entrance, the Navy music band played military marches and popular songs, while the musicians were applauded and recorded by visitors with their cell phones.
Under the arch of the entrance adorned with light blue and white fabrics, Estefania, 37, said that she took her 4-year-old daughter “so that she can learn a little about history in a more playful way, that it is easier to explain something so hard. This uniting for a cause is great,” he said.
Then it was the turn of the Patricios Regiment band, which marched down the main street until they reached the fair, of the Ministry of Social Economy, where they could find magnets, books, games, t-shirts and dolls alluding to Malvinas.
The stalls of temporary tattoos and T-shirt prints or posters with the silk-screen printing technique with slogans such as “Memory, pride and sovereignty”, were the attractions of the afternoon with long lines.
“The whole family got tattoos,” said Celeste, who came from La Matanza, along with her husband and two children, while they wore tattoos on their forearms with the phrase “Las Malvinas son argentinas.”
“This is a reason for them to count on Monday at school, they have homework on the subject and what better way to bring them,” he added.
Visitors could take photos with a replica of the A-4B Skyhawk/ C-240, one of the planes of the Argentine Air Force, watch videos and objects of ex-combatants, as well as a space for children to paint, draw, learn geography and history.
In the fairgrounds, the news agency Télam inaugurated the photographic exhibition “Télam: Memory in photos. Malvinas, 1982” with images taken during the warmany of them unpublished and recovered from censorship.
In the sample, covered by the president of Télam, Bernarda Llorente, and the defense minister, Jorge Taiana, the public agency exhibited 16 photos taken by photojournalists Roman Von Eckstein and Eduardo Farré, sent to the Malvinas.
“This exhibition means first a huge emotion and then a very important fact: today Tecnópolis has opened especially for Malvinas and it means being part of that,” said Llorente.
Among the audience was Sebastián Gómez, a war veteran, who pointed to the iconic photo of Télam where soldiers are seen sitting reading Chronicle in the area surrounding the islands’ airport, taken by photographer Eduardo Farré.
“The images take us to everything we live,” said Gómez, who belonged to the army’s first heavy artillery group.
“This exhibition means first a huge emotion and then a very important fact: today Tecnópolis has opened especially for Malvinas and it means being part of that”Bernarda Llorente
“We were kids. No one asked me if I wanted to go to war, but I went because it was my flag. I live this day with many emotions,” he recalled hugging his wife.
And, he narrowed down: “The people have to know what it is about and what the kids that we were at that time did with courage and greatness.”
Meanwhile, in the Hall of the National Theater Institute, the play “Islands of memory. Post-war war stories”, directed by Julio Cardozo, was presented.
After 3:30 p.m. with a sapucay strong enough to reach Malvinas, the show “Zamba and Nina’s Big Dance” was presented live at the Tecnópolis Micro-stadium, where hundreds of girls and boys danced and sang to the rhythm of the most iconic songs from the public signal’s animated series.
With a tour of different genres from chamamé to cumbia through rock, the hosts of the show asked the boys to get up from their seats and dance.
After the show, 8-year-old Ailén came out of the micro-stadium dancing and said that she “liked” the show a lot, while her mother, Maira, assured that this April 2 is “a very important date for them to learn and keep in mind what happened and continues to mark Argentina”.
In another sector of the park, the family of ex-combatant Oscar Jorge Rochini walked around wearing military clothing and carrying Argentine flags.
“We came for my dad who couldn’t come because he has a heart condition. You have to be in his place,” said Jonathan Rochini accompanied by his wife and three children.
The family stressed that today’s meeting was “an example for the boys and we brought the flags so as not to lose respect for the heroes who went to fight.”
In the hall of the National Theater Institute, the play for adults “Facfolc. A mantle of mist”, directed by Fernando Locatelli, was presented.
Throughout the day, the public media carried out a live broadcast of the activities.
Hosted by Luciano Galende and Analía Argento, Bruno Arias, REP, Pedro Saborido, the writer Julia Rosemberg, Hernán Brienza, Alfredo Rosso, Alejandro Fabbri, the journalist Viviana Vila, the president of Télam, Bernarda Llorente; the director of Canal Encuentro, Cecilia Flachsland; the director of National Radio, Alejandro Pont Lezica; the director of National Rock, Mikki Lusardi; the director of the Malvinas Museum, Edgardo Esteban; and the Secretary of Malvinas, Antarctica and the South Atlantic and Guillermo Carmona.
the musical shows
In the micro-stadium, unique versions of the Malvinas Songbook were performed by artists such as Julia Zenko, Leo García, Daniela Herrero, Richard Coleman, Julián Baglietto, Cucuza Castiello, Abril Olivera, Luna Sujatovich, Bisherop, Fryja and Bruno Arias.
The person in charge of closing the night “Music for Sovereignty” was David Lebón with an ensemble made up especially to commemorate the Day of the Veteran, Ex-combatants and Fallen of the Malvinas Islands that took place from the afternoon in Tecnópolis.
Photos: Alfred Moon.
The legendary multi-instrumentalist is the main number of a great musical show that was part of a series of cultural activities organized by the Malvinas Museum, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Communication, which also included theater, exhibitions, fairs and talks broadcast live.
The experienced musician opened his show with “I will always be close” and continued with songs from his time in Serú Girán, “Oh God, what can I do” and “Waiting to be born”, demonstrating a great vocal quality that remains intact.
Lebón continued with “Without you I’m going to explode” and “32 pots” to give way to a duet with Marcela Morelo who performed her classic “Time is fast” and “I can feel it”
A former member of iconic national rock bands such as Pappo’s Blues, Pescado Rabioso and Sui Generis, Lebón advanced in his show with “San Francisco y el lobo”.
The second guest of the night was Lula Bertoldi, leader of Eruca Sativa, with whom Lebón sang an exciting version of his well-remembered hit “Mundo Pleasant”, followed by “Noche de perro” by Serú Girán.
