Mankind´s two most civilised inventions

Downtown Santiago is not exactly Florence but there are some interesting places scattered about. Calle San Diego lies off the Alameda and at first glance is like the majority of the other clogged and grimy streets that lace the city centre, with buses belching out fumes, skanky fast food joints and general unban filth, but it also has its charm. In Santiago, particular streets are known to sell particular things and San Diego is the place for mankind´s two most civilised inventions: books and bikes.

If you turn off the Alameda and head south down San Diego, the first thing you pass is a row of old kiosks bulging with stacks of second-hand books, piled up until barely a millimetre from the roof of the kiosk or lying on small tables on the pavement. The booksellers, who I imagine have been here for decades, smoke and chat with each other, quick to encourage any passers-by who show mild interest.

Three or four blocks further along, next to the rickety old indoor funfair, a plaza opens out where a number of other booksellers strut their stuff. The plaza is a very nice place to amble around the kiosks and stalls and discover Latin American authors and books unavailable in English on the history and politics of the region. I am a big fan of both plazas and books so the two together for me is a treat.

It must be hard to make a good living selling books in Chile as there is not such a culture of reading as in other places. It’s rare to see people reading on public transport or in parks for example. The government does its part to discourage reading by putting inexplicably high taxes on books (a new novel can cost up to fifteen luca which is about twenty pounds) and inadequate funding for libraries. Buying books second hand is obviously cheaper although I still don’t imagine the booksellers of San Diego sell many copies per day. But in spite of that they are friendly and chatty, working for themselves in the field of knowledge and wisdom. A part of me envies them. Who doesn’t have dreams of one day being a bookseller?

(To be fair the government has introduced a book rental system on the metro, where numerous stations have libraries and books can be returned at whichever place, making them much more accessible to people who don’t read very much. The tax on books still baffles me though.)

A bit further down the street are the bike shops. Cycling is seen here as a leisure activity rather than a potential form of commuting which is a shame because Santiago could be ideal for riding about. Unfortunately, the reality is that cycling about the city seems to be an early death waiting to happen and it´s another thing that the government ought to work on and find ways to encourage its citizens to pedal power. Anyway, I wrote a (poorly edited) article a while back for Revolver Magazine about cycling in Santiago. Here it is:

http://www.santiagomagazine.cl/living/00692-two-wheels-good-answer-santiagos-problems

San Diego also has Teatro Caupolican, where international bands play, with Motorhead, Human League and Jeru the Damaja playing in the last month or so (on different bills obviously). Then there’s Las Tejas, a raucous alternative venue for cumbia, punk or reggae vibes. So there’s plenty going on in San Diego.

Koen Wessing RIP

I was down at the Centro Cultural Gabriela Mistral (known as GAM) the other day where, as it was in its final week, I went to the Koen Wessing exhibition for the second time. Wessing was a Dutch photographer who died in February this year and was one of the first international photographers on the scene following the military coup on 11th September 1973 that brought Pinochet into power. As well as documenting the soldiers on the streets of downtown Santiago, he also managed to get into the national stadium where thousands of Chileans were imprisoned and where many were murdered for their supposed leftist connections or sympathies.

Wessing´s photos capture the tense and stricken atmosphere of Chile at the time, the aftermath of the overthrow of the democratically-elected government, the death of President Allende, and the brutal lockdown of the country. The shock of the people is obvious from photos that show civilians passing rows of heavily-armed soldiers in the streets, women hurrying their children past the barrels of guns. Men are escorted into the stadium, from where many would never return. They stand proud as they are photographed by the military, their crimes being membership of trade unions or the Communist Party. They stand on the terraces of the stadium, not knowing what will become of them.

There is also a smaller section of photos from Wessing´s time in Nicaragua during the Sandanista revolution and in El Salvador following the assassination of Archbishop Romero in 1980. The only violent image in all the exhibition is from El Salvador, in which the body of a shot man is loaded onto the back of a pick-up truck. The power of Wessing´s work lies in the human aspect, through expressions of trauma and fear, or defiance. It is a fascinating exhibition.

The GAM is a new cultural centre in Santiago where I often go in my spare time. I´ve written a couple of articles about the place and its significance as a symbol of modern Chile, particularly relevant when you consider its previous function. Here´s the one I did a while ago for thecommentfactory :

http://www.thecommentfactory.com/chiles-art-and-culture-flourishing-at-last-3853/

For more details on the late Koen Wessing, there's a Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Koen-Wessing/185967098104951

View from Cerro San Cristobal in winter - you see? It's pretty nice.

Escape

There´s a change in the air over Santiago. It´s still just as contaminated with the fumes of half a million cars but there´s a nip now. While the UK´s been basking in lovely Easter heat, we´re heading into autumn and then the chilly Chilean winter. The nights and mornings are pretty cold now but the afternoons are still sunny and warm. A lot of people find this time of year miserable in Santiago - the pollution is worse and a lack of central heating means turning on the ancient gas heaters and wrapping up warm inside. Be careful not to nod off or you may not nod back on.

It´s true that the summer in Santiago is pretty nice. Barbecues up on Cerro San Cristobal are a right good laugh. If you head up to El Hermitaño, on the north-facing side of the mountain with a stunning view of the city, on a weekend afternoon in summer you´ll be hard-pressed to nab a spot. There are built in asados (BBQs) all over the place and everywhere people are sizzling meat and swigging cerveza and piscola. Everyone seems to bring an instrument with them so it's musical vibes galore, groups bellowing out Latin rock songs or hippies beating out rhythms on bongos. There's the odd obligatory carabinero but you get those guys everywhere. Other than that, it's more or less a weekly festival. The summers up on the hill that dominates the city are pretty special.

I love San Cristobal. Sometimes I've headed up there and barely seen anybody. Even though it's slap bang in the centre of Santiago, you can easily feel out of the loop and at peace. The views are incredible and every time I go I end up wandering around some new part. I like it in winter too, when you can look across the city to the snow-capped cordillera and remember that you're nicely nestled in The Andes. The Andes. Just writing it makes me break out in a grin.

And it is this that represents the natural magic of Santiago. For a city of six million, it's very easy to escape and find a sense of isolation. In the summer I went a few times to Parque Mahuida and El Sanctuario de la Naturaleza, a couple of places reachable by micro (regular city bus) where I went walking for hours without seeing a soul (I'll blog about these places in more detail some other time). I could see the whole city but I was utterly alone. Were it not for the sprawling urban metropolis below me, I could have imagined I was hundreds of miles from civilisation. The arid natural beauty of the foothills of the mountains is a place of tranquility, like trekking a lost land. I felt like an adventurer. I even found a machete and went on my path swinging it at random weeds and dead branches.

Bring The Noise!

Welcome to the first post of the blog of Santiago Underground. As you will realise, Santiago Underground is the city as I see it. Or as I want to see it and how I know it and love it. What I hope to bring is a different perspective on Santiago, a side that you only get to know after spending time here and absorbing the alternative cultural identity of the place. When I arrived here I was keen to learn about the less mainstream movements that give the city its edge and its individuality, its onda, and discover for myself the sub-currents that ebb and flow through this Latin American metropolis. Yet it was difficult to get information on the internet, particularly before I left the UK, and it is only really now that I have delved under the skin and into the belly of the beast that I feel able to embark on this project. This is an alternative guide to the offbeat jewels that shine amid the grit and shit of the streets and give Santiago's underground culture a vibrant energy, still uncorrupted and uncommercial, that manifests itself through the creative expression of all those who contribute to the movement. This is me trying to act as a portal to that and bring it to a wider crowd. Think of this as an anti-Lonely Planet if you like.

The main body of work here is the home page of Santiago Underground, where eventually you will find a comprehensive breakdown of the city's music and venues, while this blog is more a record of my daily thoughts, experiences and basically anything else that I think worth writing about. Hopefully it will provide at least a little insight into what makes the city tick. And remember that opinions and comments are always gratefully received. Saludos.