Culture

A New Era for the Afro-Bolivian?
05 Oct, 2015 | Olivia Hylton-Pennant
For centuries, the presence of black people in Bolivia went unnoticed and unappreciated. Now they are making their voices heard, but will anything ever change?I arrive at Malegria, a club in La Paz’s...

Humans of Mercado Rodriguez
05 Oct, 2015 | Anna Bellettato
The Vendors of La Paz’s Grand MarketA Photoessay by Anna BellettatoEvery day at Mercado Rodriguez – the biggest food market in La Paz – human activity runs smoothly and frenetically from dawn to sunse...

Whose Wall Is It Anyway?
05 Oct, 2015 | Celia Dyson
Public Notice: Rubbish Kills. The Pope Is the Antichrist. Evo 2015. What do these three statements have in common? They are all found written on the walls of La Paz – a city whose graffiti stands out...

MI PLAZA ES TU PLAZA
26 Aug, 2015 | Hannah Mills
Chaos and calm in the most public of placesAs I sat for the first time in Plaza España, reading my book and watching the world go by, I vaguely wondered why so many different people had gathered in th...

Llama Droppings -The World’s Greatest Manure
25 Jul, 2015 | Fergus Morgan
Llama manure is amazing stuff. This outstanding fertilizer comes delivered fresh in handy odorless pellets, often stacked neatly by the obliging llama. Now, thanks to pioneering work conducted b...

Plotting Spirituality in La Paz
29 Jun, 2015 | Laura chitty
Spirituality comes in many shapes and forms, and that is certainly the case in La Paz. To show off the variety of religious systems found here, we have created a map showing seven of the most intrigui...

Zombie Politics
29 Jun, 2015 | Laura Chitty
Nuclear Power and the PachamamaThe Bolivian government turned heads around the world in 2010 when it introduced a controversial and ground-breaking regulation called the ‘Law of Mother Earth’. It was...

Brain Training
29 Jun, 2015 | Katherine Browning
Vipassana Meditation in Bolivia“Anger is anger. When one becomes agitated as a result of this anger, this agitation is not Christian, or Jewish, or Muslim.” S.N. GoenkaThe first time I heard about Vip...

The Rise of the Past
29 Jun, 2015 | Laura Chitty
Bolivians Between Spiritual WorldsThe largest indigenous groups in Bolivia are the Aymaras and Quechuas. The former are mostly found in the vast plains of the altiplano region on the west of Bolivia,...

The Church of Ayahuasca
28 May, 2015 | Valeria Wilde
ILLUSTRATION: MARCO TOXICOFor Andean and Amazonian indigenous cultures in Bolivia, hallucinogenic plants are synonymous to medicine, spirituality and even religion. Ever since ancestral times, a...

The Danish Invasion
28 May, 2015 | Sophia Vahdati
PHOTO: JULES TUSSEAUDenmark and Bolivia are worlds apart, both geographically and culturally. Yet a Danish community is emerging in La Paz, made up of more than typical expats who have come to ‘find t...

El Clásico
28 May, 2015 | Sophia Vahdati
PHOTO: MICHAEL DUNN CACERESPapá Bolívar in our hearts and celestial blue passion running through our veins. The age-old rivalry fuels an ever unpredictable outcome. Win or lose, triumph or defeat—we a...

The Many Colours of Carnaval
28 May, 2015 | Sophia Vahdati
PHOTO: SZYMON KOCHANSKIOver 200 years old and officially one of UNESCO’s Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, the Carnaval de Oruro, a tradition of hedonism and spectacle, rem...

Lolita the Kosher Chef
28 May, 2015 | Sharoll Fernandez
PHOTO: NICK SOMERSEvery morning, Lolita leaves her house at 8 am so she can be on time to make the bread. She has been part of the Chabad Lubavitch for four years, working for the rabbi’s family as a...

Michael Jackson is alive
28 May, 2015 | Rodrigo Barrenechea
PHOTO: IVAN RODRIGUEZ PETKOVICOne of the most striking characteristics of La Paz, emerging from the depths of informal labour, is the artistic display of informal shows that take place in the centre o...