Laid back Panama where its all happening

By Dylis Jones

Whatever your cultural leanings, film, theatre, sculpture, painting, music, sport, even fine dining and conversation, Panama is the place to be during the rest of April and May.

The International Film Festival is underway with opportunities to see something other than shoot-em-up Hollywood blockbusters through to Wednesday April 17, and even the opportunity to go star gazing and bump into some of the international movie celebrities who will be out there doing some sightseeing. The likes of Geraldine Chaplin, Spanish film director and award winner Pablo Berger, and our own Ruben Blades maybe sampling some of the gourmet delights being served at special prices by some of the city’s leading restaurants during Restaurant Week which runs from Monday April 15 to April 30. Yes I know that’s more than a week, but this is Panama.

Also on Monday Over 300 artists from around the world will take over the city for Panama’s first Biennial Del Sur to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the South Sea by Vasco Nunez del Balboa.
Wherever you go it will be hard to escape the contributors' works, and who would want to? They will present their creations solo or in groups and un kocations from Casco Viejo to Panama Viejo, Tocumen International Airport to the Figali Convention Center, The Amador Causeway to the Miraflores Visitors’ Center, and Panama’s Cultural Institute (INAC) in Plaza de Francia, to Teatro National and Chorillo and much more.
Even the façade of La Prensa will become part of the show With Colombian painter Yobany Guerrero working on a mural which will feature a thematic series "Headlines". Let’s hope they won’t upset too many politicians who have been targeted by the newspaper.
The schedule of activities includes exhibition of drawing, painting, sculpture, video, installations, murals, street art, performances, media art and new art forms.

THE ARTISTS

It will bring together the talents of  artists from countries like Spain, England, Germany, Holland, Italy, France , Russia, Dubai, Turkey, Iraq, China, Japan, India, Korea, Luanda, Lithuania, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Mexico, the United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, and of course Panama. The Panamanian artists confirmed so far are: Aristides Ureña, José Luis Rodriguez Pitti, Olga Sinclair, Rita Adames, Gabriel Batista, Brooke Alfaro, Cisco Merel, Gladys Sevillano, Alicia Viteri, Osvaldo Herrera Graham, Bernice Abbo Abadi and Bela.
Don’t rush to get it all in during the first week as the extravaganza event organized by  Panama’s Mayor Roxana Mendez  under the heading “Summoning the World” runs to the end of May, and Newsroom will keep you informed
If sport is your entertainment , you can pop over to the Fred Maduro Athletic complex at Los Llanos de Curundu from April 13 to 21 for the ATP’s second tennis Challenger event in Panama, for the Panama Cup.
In the meantime Expocomer opens at the Atlapa Convention Center on April 17, the day the Film Festival closes. Are you getting dizzy? What was that about a restful retirement?
Expocomer will be celebrating its 31st birthday and will be attended by 35 countries including, for the first time, Turkey.
Coming up on April 25 the Azuero International Fair. But I will give you time to get a breath and be back with more details next week on the entertainment  Panama, where It’s all happening If the thought of it makes your feet hurt, download Nancy Sinatra’s 1960’s hit These Boots Were Meant for Walkin’

If you want to keep your social calendar up to date with what's ahead to the end of the year, click  What's On which will be updated on April 13.