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Blind Insect presented the tenth installment of BARRIO! This month we are featuring Colombia. This culture is rich, colorful, and vibrant, influenced by its ancient civilizations and diverse heritage. The culture of this country is starkly contrasted, diverse, and vibrant. Colombia's people are as varied as its landscape. This rich cultural mix makes the experience of their foods, music, dance, and art diverse and unique. We will explore this culture with the participation of several members of this community.

The dance rhythms of Colombia will be presented by the ensemble "Mestizo" lead by the dancer Valentina Ramirez, known as The Valent in the artistic world. She has been dancing since she was a kid. Starting out with learning the basic steps of Salsa, Merengue, Reggaeton, Cumbia, and Bachata, which she learned from her family. Mestizo will present the traditional AfroColombiana dance Mapale, Cumbia & Salsa with the participation of 20 dancers from different dance backgrounds/experiences as well as ages. We dance with DJ Giova who played the sounds that exemplify the rhythms of Colombian music.

Inside Blind Insect Gallery, we're featuring the painting artwork by the Colombian artist Tatiana Phelan-Sandoval with her solo exhibition “Elevación” Her collection of watercolor paintings pays homage to my upbringing in a land steeped in these enchanting Pacific Northwest landscapes that explore her deep appreciation for the significance that mountains represent. Outside of the gallery Erick Martinez is presenting his figurative sculptors that explore his fascination with the human figure and the complexity of emotions.

This BARRIO, we are bringing together the flavors of Colombia via a participatory style pot luck and you can also buy food with the participation of the restaurants "Qué Bacano" & "El Pilon". And a taste of the delicios tinto of the coffee roaster "Futura"

We will also have the participation Oregon Humanities a non-profit organization committed to bringing people together and right they are looking for Spanish-English bilingual community members who are interested in facilitating conversations as part of the Conversation Project. We will also have a "Mayavita", a movement and expressive arts facilitator, who will have an art making activity inviting people to participate in a collaborative collage to express what our bodies and minds hold as members of a diasporic community.
We will try a traditional drink called "Canelazo" Sugar cane and Cinnamon cold drink. Let's dance with DJ Giova who will play the sounds that exemplify the rhythms of Colombia music.
More surprises are part of this event.

We close the season of the summer BARRIOS of 2022 with the ninth installment of the year. Blind Insect Gallery presented the BARRIO of Cuba. The culture of Cuba is a complex mixture, a rich amalgam of African, Spanish, and Caribbean pastimes; the food, the religions, and of course the music and dances all combine elements of the Old World and the New.

We will have rhythms of Latin jazz with 1,000 Fuegos. This band has become a cultural bridge between ancient sounds of afro-Cuban, and timeless rhythms of Latin music & EDM.

Let's dance with Rueda de Casino, a Cuban salsa danced in a circle. This style of dance is brought by Gabby and Aaron Webb, who has the goal to spread the love of the music and dance of Cuba. They cohost a Timba (Cuban Salsa) Night at Akadi every first and third Friday of the month.

BARRIO is bringing together the letters and the literature of Cuba with the collective of writers of Homagno, who gathers a group of Cubans, professionals, writers, and artists, who have come together freely and sovereignly, by exclusive mandate of the soul. We will have Jorge Porrata presenting some of the work and books of this collective.

Inside Blind Insect Gallery, come and sip a mojito with us, meanwhile you enjoy the artwork by Mexican artist Pepe Moscoso with his solo exhibition "Uncovering Dreams".