Zona Expresion's first anniversary Barva,
a place for the ARTS

By Franco Cartín

April 9th will be filled with magic: A documentary and up close and personal photography exhibition by Costa Rican photographer Joaquin Rodríguez Rodríguez. Musical groups, art creation on location and art sale. Folkloric dances, the presentation of the national singer songwriter Humberto Vargas... and much, much more.

In the province of Heredia, there is a town called Barva de Heredia. A place full of tradition, exhibiting the best on what national culture has to offer. The voluntary community creates the right atmosphere to enjoy a day in the Culture House and the town’s Central Park... the same park that is not letting a colonial Barva vanish into modern times, it reinvents itself every first Sunday of the month, complete with cultural activities, art, friendship and communal complicity.

A lot of circumstances have made of Barva de Heredia a remarkable community. One of them is perhaps the fact that there is an enormous amount of artists (musicians, poets, actors, painters, engravers, sculptors, dancers, craftsmen and photographers among others) living within a close area, less than 3 miles from Barva’s Central Park. With so much cultural heritage to choose from, the next logical step was to join forces as a proactive group, carrying out activities and transforming this town into a “zone of expression...”

Due to this, a group with the same name was born: ZONA EXPRESIÓN. As a community devoted to the arts, this group is concerned with transmitting art in all its forms to the inhabitants. Children, adolescents and adults gather around to enjoy these activities; such as the Sculpture Symposiums celebrated every year, the Artisan Fairs, the Traditional Mask parades, concerts and the diverse theatre, dancing and musical groups that, among others, exist in calm Barva de Heredia. Local artists, outsiders and international artists have teamed up to collaborate and participate with the community.

The first Sunday of every month:
Such a date is easy to remember. With the first Sunday of every month the community aims to establish the “Park of Expression”. These Sundays are the creation of the Zona Expresión group; it convokes craftsmen, plastic artists, poets, photographers, film directors, dancers, musicians and actors in a common event open to the national as well as the international community. On these Sundays it is common to see the artists creating their work of art right on the spot. At the same time, the public has the opportunity to buy the already finished pieces of art, or the work that’s just coming out of the oven. During the last occasions, the first Sunday of the month counted on the active participation of new artists, who have added color and grace to each corner of the Central Park. Artists such as surreal and traditional painters are received with open arms, as well as young talents like Alejandro Centeno Roathe, whose magnificent chalk work displays an almost photographic realism. These activities will continue being carried out each and every first Sunday of the month... except this coming edition which will take place on April 9th!

April 9th, Photography Exhibition by Joaquin Rodríguez Rodríguez
The enchanting photography exhibition: “Barva, un lugar para el arte” (Barva, a place for the Arts) will be open to the public from Sunday the 9th until April 23rd.

This time, Joaquin Rodriguez Rodriguez, a Costa Rican who just a few years ago entered into digital photography, reveals to us his innate sensitivity towards the precise handling of light and shades. He, who shortly after fell in love with doing portraits, has made this technique his battle field. One can easily be immersed in the enchantment of light and contrasts of the photographic exhibition, where everyone will be able to appreciate two displays: the first, the Graphical Documentation of the last couple of “first Sundays of every month”, is a selection of photos of the artists and their work, the public and the activities at the Park of Expression. In this section, you will have the chance to see the community of Barva on its artistic tasks and you will recognize some of the villagers among the characters in the pictures. The second display is an Intimate Retrospective of the Photographer, this private collection is full of shades and shining contours caught by the lens of Rodríguez Rodríguez, who still finds himself amazed by the effect of light over objects. As spectators we can be marvelled by the secrets hidden in the dark cavity of the camera of this artistic photographer. The exhibition will be inaugurated on Saturday April 8th in a private “vernissage” and will be open to public the very next day, Sunday 9th.

This exhibition and many other activities will be held to celebrate the first anniversary of Zona Expresión.

How to get to Barva?
By car? Very easy. When you arrive at Heredia downtown, ask for the “Carretera” (road) to Barva de Heredia. You will be told to go to the north of the Central Park, and when you arrive at the Police station, keep driving north about 3 miles more and you will arrive, right there at the traditional square of this beautiful village. But there aren’t just artistic activities; Barva offers an enormous selection of restaurants, little bars, cafés and soda parlours where you can enjoy a sophisticated seafood meal or steak house, all the way to a “casado” (assorted dish usually eaten by married men) dumplings, tacos with a glass of fresh fruit juice. Should we try them? By bus? Even easier. When you have arrived at downtown Heredia go to the North flank of the park. “El bus para Barva”.