The quintissential character of Argentine literature is Jorge Luis Borges. His work was acknowledged and it epitomized a rupture with national tradition. With works such as Fervor de Buenos Aires written in 1923 he temporarily became a follower of the criollista line. Don Segundo Sombra written by Ricardo Güiraldes in 1926 represented the acme of this narrative style portraying the gaucho, cattle breeder rambling on his horse accross the vast Pampa lands. Juan Moreira written by Eduardo Gutiérrez in 1879, and Martín Fierro written by José Hernández in 1872, which is regarded as “The Argentine National poem”, immortalized the gaucho and became pieces of art being worthy of popular admiration.

With the emergence of the notion of “cultural industry” towards 1930, most renowned writers and poets were working as reporters. Borges published the short stories that would later on become part of his Historia universal de la infamia (Universal History of Infamy) in Crítica, one of the newspapers having the largest print run. This work precedes others such as Ficciones (Fictions) 1944 and El aleph ( The Aleph) (1949), which would cause him to rise as the master of the fantastic tale. In the same breath, Borges worked for the Sur magazine grouping other renowned writers such as Adolfo Bioy Casares, Silvina Ocampo, Manuel Mujica Láinez, Silvina Bullrich. Cosmopolitism and liberalism stand as the imprinting marks of this group. Nevertheless, the one depicting the epoch atmosphere of the so-called “infamous decade” better than anyone else was Roberto Arlt, who by adopting a “disarrayed” style for the precepts of that time managed to express the imaginary context of modern Argentine people. El juguete rabioso (The Mad Toy) and Los siete locos ( The Seven Madmen) are regarded as his best-known novels.

With the arrival of Peronism in 1945, tensions between cult and popularity were on the rise. The elite conservative intellectuals were antiperonists just as the left party members. Arturo Jauretche and Leopoldo Marechal, author of Adán Buenosayres (1948), regarded as one of the most outstanding Argentine novels, adhered to Peron´s tenets and became pioneers in a movement that gave rise to the Sociology course of studies in the 50´s. READ MORE

Argentine music is famous for the tango all over the world. According to an official survey, this musical genre stands as the major porteño product sold by foreign tour operators. In fact, it creates a 3.000 millon dollar outflow from the international market on an annual basis, through the sale of records, tickets for concerts, dance shows, dancing classes, shoes, souvenirs and specialized magazines, to mention just a few. Born at the end of the XIX century, tango gained worlwide popularity through Carlos Gardel and his voice. Outstanding musicians such as Aníbal Troilo, Osvaldo Pugliese, Enrique Cadícamo, Tita Merello, Enrique Santos Discépolo, Horacio Salgán and Homero Manzi, turned the 30´s and the 40´s decades into the tango´s golden age. As from the 50´s Ástor Piazzolla, acknowledged as one of the major composers of the last century´s , expanded the tango frontiers through the combination of this genre with classical music and jazz. Another great trend characterizing popular music is that of folk, with Atahualpa Yupanqui READ MORE

The 2007 Venice Biennial´s International Exhibition evidenced the dynamism of Argentine plastic arts. León Ferrari, acknowledged as one of the world´s five major living artists by the The New York Times was awarded a Golden Lion in recognition of his political and ethical commitment and the lifelong aesthetic values of his work extending over a six-decade period. Ferrari took part in this event by exhibiting his collages of a series known as L´Osservatore Romano (2001) and the sculpture entitled “The Western and Christian Civilization” (1965), which displayed a Christ crucified against an American bomber. Robert Storr, the Biennial director, also invited Guillermo Kuitca to join the major exhibition and display his recent works, which make reference to other national artists such as Alfredo Hlito and Lucio Fontana.

2007 witnessed an unprecedented growth in the sale of Argentine works of art thus amounting to the largest figure ever recorded in history. Roughly 4.000 works were sold for a total amount of 16 million dollars. Some of the best paid artists apart from Ferrari and Kuitca are still Antonio Berni, Emilio Pettoruti, Benito Quinquela Martín, Raúl Soldi, Fernando Fader, Florencio Molina Campos, Prilidiano Pueyrredón, Xul Solar, Jorge de la Vega, Rómulo Macció, Carlos Alonso, Marta Minujín amd Guillermo Roux. 
About 200 exhibitions can be enjoyed daily in Argentina. As a matter of fact, more than 1.200.000 people attended the Buenos Aires city museums in 2006. The Fine Arts National Museum, regarded as the major official art museum in Argentina, not long ago announced that it would double the current area size of its premises.

Tango can also be regarded as the quintissential Argentine dance. It can be dated back to 1870 and it was performed by the black, the immigrant and the gaucho who arrived in the Buenos Aires suburbs and later on became a compadrito. These men used to meet at a brothel, where fashionable music rhythms were danced. The black danced in their own settings, which were known as tambos or tangos. This term is said to have been one of the origins of the word “tango”. Actually, the black people´ s dance was characterized by full body movements, contorsions, and cortes and quebradas(“pauses and breaks”). Thus, the compadritos who watched them dance used to imitate them so as to have fun and then began practising those dances in brothels. Among the top and oldest tango dancers we ought to recall Benito Bianquet, Casimiro Ain and Tito Lusiardo; and regarding contemporary artists Virulazo, Juan Carlos Copes, María Nieves and Miguel Angel Zotto and Mora Godoy are worthy of being mentioned. They all formed part of the cast performing Tango Argentino, which was regarded as a huge success in Broadway. The major tango events such as the Buenos Aires Tango Festival and the World Tango Championship take place in Buenos Aires, which gathered between 170.500 and 50.000 people respectively in their latest editions. READ MORE

The national film industry reached its acme last decade with the arrival of young directors making up the “new Argentine theater”. In 2007 Argentina witnessed an unprecedented growth in the cinema industry considering that 92 national films were released in that year. This team of new theatre artists, which was identified with independent theater type of plays, realism and the performance of non-professional actors, embodied a radical shift being praised all over the world. Furthermore, this movement, which was headed by directors like Raúl Perrone, Martín Rejtman and Esteban Sapir, reached the height of its success with Pizza, birra, faso directed by Bruno Stagnaro and Adrián Caetano at the Mar del Plata Festival held in 1997. Shortly afterwards there arose further opera primas like Mundo Grúa (1999) directed by Pablo Trapero, and La ciénaga (2000), which was directed by Lucrecia Martel. The Silver Bear awarded at the Berlín Festival in 2004 to the movie El abrazo partido, which was directed by Daniel Burman, epitomized the full-fledged development of this theater movement. Buenos Aires´ Independent Cinema Festival, gathering over 200.000 spectators in its last edition makes up an outstanding scenario for these new entrepreneurs. READ MORE

Argentina is endowed with a theatre industry that can be compared to that of very few countries in the world. As a matter of fact, more than 2.000.000 attended the Argentine theater in 2007. Furthermore, over 200 plays may be shown on Saturdays regularly, that is to say 10 shows per one hour-time.

The General San Martín and Cervantes theaters are regarded as the major official theatersin Buenos Aires and the great shopping district theaters lie on the mystic Corrientes avenue. For many, the off- theater is deemed to be the most precious type of theater style, both as regards the creativity that it displays, and he number of theaters showing its plays. After the 2001 meltdown, there suddenly appeared the genuine alternative theater shows. By then, actors, directors, and dramaturgists began to set up their own theaters, which were smaller than the traditional ones and generally had a capacity to host between 50 and 100 audience members.The granting of state subsidies by the National Institute of Theater and Proteatro over the last years has caused the already prominent theater industry to grow. The off- theater plays have largely been written by national authors appearing on a list that comprises classical artists, 60´s generation texts writers and new figures. READ MORE