Archive for the 'La Laguna' Category

Exhibition reveals the secrets of old underwear

Saturday, April 14th, 2007
A hundred years of underwear is the unlikely theme of an exhibition currently being staged at the Museum of Anthropology in Tenerife. The years in question are from 1850-1950 and the exhibition includes more than 60 items of clothing that were once worn by men and women of the island, the grandparents, or even great-grandparents of today’s younger generation. The purpose of the exhibition is to show the rapid evolution in the design and use of materials in that time. The lingerie items that make up the exhibition are particularly well conserved because many of them have been hidden away in the depths of the museum for many years. Bodices, girdles, corsets, petticoats, nightdresses and other, more intimate items, including a heavy hand-knitted brassiere worn in the early 1900s, are included in the exhibition, part of the 20th anniversary celebrations of Casa de Carta in Valle de Guerra, ...
Posted by Ken

Comments: Leave a Comment » Categories: All about Tenerife, Culture, History, La Laguna, Museums

Grand processions mark Holy Week in Tenerife

Saturday, March 31st, 2007
Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the most important week in the religious calendar in Tenerife, the start of Semana Santa, or Holy Week. Easter celebrations in Tenerife are known for their magnificent processions, which take place all over the island throughout the week, though the ones in La Laguna, La Orotava and Puerto de la Cruz are among the grandest. As the seat of the Bishop of Tenerife, the celebrations in La Laguna are the most important and culminate in the magnificent Magna procession on Viernes Santo (Good Friday, April 6), which starts at 5pm from the church of Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion, one of the oldest churches on the island, dating back to 1502. The Magna procession is followed by the Silence procession, starting at 9pm, in which all ...

Man Ray portraits on view

Wednesday, March 28th, 2007
Works by the renowned American avant-garde photographer Man Ray are on display in Tenerife until April 5. Included in the exhibition of 87 photographs at the Caja Canarias Sala de Arte y Cultura in Plaza de la Concepcion, La Laguna, are portraits of such famous 20th century figures as Picasso, Einstein, Dali, Ava Gardner, Catherine Deneuve and Ernest Hemingway. Though born in Philadelphia in 1890, Man Ray first honed his artistic talent in New York before spending the biggest part of his working life in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s, where his reputation as a fashion and portrait photographer was made, though he preferred to think of himself as an artist. He went back to the States in 1940 and stayed there until the war ended, returning to his beloved Paris after hostilities ceased and died there in 1976. The exhibition also includes some ...
Posted by Ken

Comments: Leave a Comment » Categories: All about Tenerife, La Laguna

Santa Cruz bids to be European Capital of Culture

Friday, March 16th, 2007
Spain has been designated to provide the European Capital of Culture in 2016 and already a dozen cities, including the Tenerife capital of Santa Cruz, are lining up to compete for the glittering prize. Also battling for the coveted nomination will be the mainland cities of Cordoba, Cuenca, Cáceres, Burgos, Tarragona, Pamplona, Zaragoza, Segovia, Valencia and Alcalá de Henares. And while Santa Cruz may not have some of the glamour of its peninsula rivals, it need not feel inferior in any way. The stunning Auditorio rivals any concert hall anywhere in Spain for sheer architectural magnificence, while the annual carnival is hugely popular both locally and internationally. It also has in its environs the World Heritage Site of La Laguna and the sheer natural beauty of the Anaga Mountains. The European Capital of Culture is designated by the European Union for ...

The Great Tenerife Fireball

Thursday, March 15th, 2007
It happened nearly 12 years ago but people still recall it today – the Great Tenerife Fireball of 1995. Thousands saw it, mostly in the east and north of the island, describing a brilliant fireball that flashed across the night sky shortly after 10pm. It happened on Sunday May 7 and hundreds of people called the Canarian Institute of Astrophysics (IAC) seeking an explanation of the phenomenon. Because it happened at a weekend there were many witnesses to the unusual event. Sunday had been a fine day on Tenerife and many people were returning to their homes from a day at the beach, in the mountains or with friends and family. From the many hundreds of eye witness accounts, scientists were able to paint what they believe to be a fairly accurate picture of what happened. It was around 10.30pm that radio stations on the island broke into their normal programmes ...