SOMETHING IN THE AIR
In Buenos Aires it seems that the cultural landscape changes with each passing year. When I came here 10 years ago, it was the place to be, thronging with tourists, attractive to migrants, with people enjoying its public art and cafes. But, marked by a brutal economic crisis and ongoing pandemic, the picture has become greyer by degrees.
Today each city block has its rough sleepers, sometimes groups, known as, clustered under ramshackle self-built roofs. People lucky enough to have homes do not seem particularly animated either; on public roads the faces are tired, sad, often gazing into the distractions offered by mobile phones. This is the general urban climate, although from time to time we find a bit of hope: a group of people in a park dancing to cumbia blaring from a car, another group at an intersection handing out food and offering a helping hand… until the police arrive to move them on. The police are on almost every street corner, uniformed or undercover, a fundamental, unchanging part of the landscape.
