Cultural Warriors: Why Buenos Aires Loves Her Books

When you've got bookstores like this, who needs a Kindle? BA's cultural commitment garners praise.

As governments around the globe are seeking ways to curb spending and slash deficits, Andrew Cohen says “cutting culture” is not an option in Buenos Aires. Cohen, the president of Canada’s Historica-Dominion Institute, pens a smart op-ed praising the cultural commitment one sees daily on the streets of BA from the bookstores to the theater to annual gatherings like arteBA and the Feria del Libro.

Cohen describes BA as “a city in love with books” where small, independent booksellers are on equal footing with the big box hipermercados thanks to laws requiring books be sold at the same price throughout the country. He then traces Argentina’s modern-day obsession with books back to the cultural priorities and donations of founding fathers like San Marti­n and Belgrano.

The piece concludes with a 1-on-1 conversation with a serious BA cultural warrior, Hernan Lombardi. “If you don’t invest in culture, you go home,” Culture Minister Lombardi tells Cohen adding “In a crisis, we worry about losing identity. That’s when we need to support culture.”

When Lombardi was named Minister of Culture, it coincided with a decision to place the city’s tourism promotion arm under the umbrella of culture. At the time of his appointment in 2007, La Nacion said it showed the Macri administration’s commitment to attracting more domestic and foreign visitors to BA for major cultural events. The renovation and re-opening this year of the Teatro Colon was another feather in the City’s ever-expanding cultural cap. (Cultural Capital by Andrew Cohen)