Friday 22 January 2010 Annual General Meeting
6.30pm, The Bolivian Embassy, 106 Eaton Square, London SW1W 9AD.
We have a number of other events in the pipeline. Some of these are firmer than others. We shall of course keep you informed of developments. Send us an email to be added to our email list.
Events will be posted here when they occur.
Recent Events
Wednesday 11 November 2009 A Culinary Evening come along and learn how to prepare Bolivian dishes.
Bolivia's diverse geological and climatic zones have led to very different culinary styles in different regions of the country. Papa, chuno, quinoa, maize, and of course llajua. We cannot promise which dishes our chefs Annie Copponex will choose, but we can assure you that you will be able to try the food.
For more details, including prices and how to apply for tickets, you can download a flyer here (opens in a new tab).
Thursday 29 October 2009 News from the Bridge with Meriel Larken, 6.30pm Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PJ.
Meriel Larken will entertain us with the latest developments on board the M.S.Yavari (1862) berthed in Puno Bay and sailing on Lake Titicaca and with tales of related and unrelated matters and happenings around the Lake in Peru and Bolivia. With the Anglo Peruvian Society. Read about the Yavari project at http://www.yavari.org/
For more details, including prices and how to apply for tickets, you can download a flyer here (opens in a new tab).
Saturday 10 October 2009 A Festival of Bolivian Film with the Friends of Bolivia, Bolivar Hall, 54 & 58 Grafton Way, London W1T 5DL.
For more details, including prices and how to apply for tickets, you can download a flyer here (opens in a new tab).
Friday 25 September 2009 The Condor and the Maiden a play reading, 6.30pm Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PJ.
Clarisa is ten and the stories she loves seem to be a good way to make sense of what is happening in the adult world around her.
She lives on a small-holding with her mother, Lucía, who tries to make a living growing herbs and flowers. Clarisa's father has disappeared in Argentina, from where one of her uncles has just returned. Lucía welcomes help from another uncle, Domingo, but is suspicious of someone else who comes offering support, a fieldworker for a development charity. What will happen when, as in one of Clarisa's favourite stories, the condor arrives to court the maiden?
The Condor and the Maiden is set in the countryside in present day southern Bolivia and based on real events in the life of a mother like Lucía. It sketches out many of the issues encountered in development projects working with people who live below the poverty line.
Dermot Murphy made many visits to Bolivia as a consultant working with university language departments. He often stayed on to go and see projects run by Plan in rural communities, where the ideas for the play came from.Simone Vause is a highly experienced director and teacher who has worked in theatre and in drama schools since the early 1980s.
For more details, including how to apply for tickets, you can download a flyer here (opens in a new tab).
Friday 3 July 2009 Ghost Train Through the Andes, A Railway Engineer in Bolivia, 1911-1914 a talk by Michael Jacobs, 6.30pm Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PJ.
Bethel Jacobs was a railway engineer working on the now defunct line between Oruro and Cochabamba. Bethel wrote long, passionate letters to his fiancée Sophie. In these he described the hardship and deprivation he suffered whilst working on a railway through the Andes, far from England. His grandson Michael Jacobs will talk about Bethel's life in Bolivia, while relating his own recent experiences in retracing his grandfather's footsteps from Hull to Antofagasta, Potosí, Oruro and Cochabamba.
Dr. Michael Jacobs is an author, hispanist and art historian. His most recent books are The Factory of Light: Tales from My Andalucían Village, and Ghost Train through the Andes: On my Grandfather's Trail in Chile and Bolivia. Granta Books will be publishing next year his account of an Andean journey from Venezuela to Tierra del Fuego.
For more details, including how to apply for tickets, you can download a flyer here (opens in a new tab).
Friday 8 May 2009 Economic Downturn, Political Upturn in Bolivia. 6.30pm at Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PJ.
George Gray Molina will talk about the current situation in Bolivia, covering the economic situation and the future political framework.
For the poorest economies, the impact of the most recent crisis is significant, but mostly indirect. It runs through a decline in world commodity prices, slower demand for exports, lower investments, and a gradual decline in overseas remittances. Together, these effects are likely to add to an increase in poverty in Bolivia.
Politically, Bolivia is on the move with a new constitution bringing about widespread change to both the divisions and structures of power. With the Bolivian parliament passing an electoral law paving the way for elections on 6 December the next few months will be very interesting indeed.
George Gray Molina is an Oxford-Princeton Global Leaders Fellow, currently based at University College, Oxford. He was the coordinator of the Human Development Report at UNDP in Bolivia, director of the Bolivian government's Unit for Economic Policy Analysis (UDAPE). He is currently a research partner of Oxford's Centre for Research on Inequality, Ethnicity and Human Security (CRISE) and a member of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington DC.
George is co-editor of The Bolivian Growth Puzzle, 1970-2005 (forthcoming), co-editor of Tensiones Irresueltas, Bolivia, pasado y presente (Plural 2009) with Laurence Whitehead and John Crabtree, and author of a number of articles on politics and economics.
For more details, including how to apply for tickets, you can download a flyer here (opens in a new tab).
Friday 27 March 2009 The British Ambassador to Bolivia, Nigel Baker. 6.30pm at Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PJ.
HE Nigel Baker has been Ambassador to Bolivia since September 2007 and this will be a rare opportunity to hear a personal, yet authoritative, perspective on recent events in Bolivia, including the implications of the recent referendum for a new Constitution, from someone who is close to where the action is.
The Ambassador will also reflect on developments in the relationship between Britain and Bolivia, including the recent decision to require visas of all Bolivian visitors to Britain from May this year, and, on a lighter note, share with us some of his personal experiences of living in Bolivia, which have included getting his feet wet in the Beni floods of 2008, watching the glaciers melt on Chacaltaya, sampling wine in Tarija and off-roading in Potosi.
For more details, including how to apply for tickets, you can download a flyer here (opens in a new tab).
Monday 2 March 2009 Annual General Meeting.
Thursday 13 November 2008 Unresolved Tensions, Bolivia Past and Present. 6.30pm at Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PJ.
John Crabtree and Lawrence Whitehead will be presentating their latest book on Bolivia. An authoritative account of recent developments in Bolivia by two of the leading British academics on the area.
For more details, including how to apply for tickets, you can download a flyer here (opens in a new tab).
Thursday 30 October 2008 Youth Enterprise in Bolivia: Why a British inspired Bolivian initiative to bring opportunity to young Bolivian entrepreneurs may change the country. 6.30pm at Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PJ.
Download the presentation (1.44mb) here (opens in a new tab).
This promises to be a fascinating presentation. Alvaro Bazan will talk about the efforts of his organisation, INNOVA, to help young Bolivians of limited means to escape poverty by becoming successful entrepreneurs. We shall also hear from Andrew Davenport of the Prince of Wales Youth Business International, INNOVA's partner, which has carried out ground-breaking work worldwide in this area.
For more details, including how to apply for tickets, you can download a flyer here (opens in a new tab).
16 September 2008
Spirit of Andes. A second chance to see the documentary on the life and work of Bolivian artist Fernando Montes.
3 August 2008
Carnaval del Pueblo. Members of the Anglo-Bolivian Society are meeting
up at the riot of colour, taste and smell that is the annual Carnaval del Pueblo.
We shall be gathering at the Andean stage at 4:30, when we hope that members
of the Anglo-Peruvian Society will also be gathering.
The programme for the 2008 Carnaval del Pueblo can be found at www.carnavaldelpueblo.co.uk
The float procession is due to leave London City Hall at noon and arrive at
Burgess Park at 3:00pm. There are some Andean events (including a mini-Bolivian
carnival) on the main stage between 3:00 and 4:00. After that the main Andean
action is on the Andean stage.
19 June 2008 Railways of Bolivia: A historical perspective from their inception through the era as the prime form of land transportation and the age of steam. 6.30pm at Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PJ. Christopher Walker will take us on a historical journey on the railways of Bolivia - from the inaugural line to serve the Huanchaca mines through the next one hundred years including the international connections to La Paz, attempts to cross the Andes, industrial-owned railways and finally the oriental lines. The illustrations will range from early images of the late nineteenth century up to the 1980s, with a significant colour element from the 1950s-60s.
For more details, including how to apply for tickets, you can download a flyer here (opens in a new tab.)
30 April 2008 Evo Pueblo 6.30pm, Embassy of Bolivia, 106 Eaton Square. A screening of the biopic of Evo Morales, President of Bolivia's life. The film shown is an original copy of Tonchy Antezana's directors cut. Please note, the film is in Spanish (without English subtitles). The trailer is available to view on YouTube here (opens in a new tab).
21 February 2008 On a Wing and a Prayer: Kota Mama VI presentation by John Blashford-Snell of the Scientific Exploration Society on the results of the latest Kota Mama expedition taking place in Bolivia during summer 2007. For more details and to book a place, you can download a flyer here.
14 February 2008 Annual General Meeting 6.30pm. All members are welcome. Please note that the AGM is a week later than originally planned.
17 January 2008 Fernando Montes: A Celebration of His Life and Works
This event is now sold out.
The evening comprises the UK premiere of a string quartet by Bolivian composer Agustín Fernández composed in memory of Fernando Montes, the screening of a documentary filmed in London in 2006 by Argentinean director Verónica Souto, followed by a wine reception. The composer and director will introduce their works.
Fernando Montes was one of Bolivia's most distinguished artists. His work was inspired by "the relationship of Man and Earth as you see it in the High Andes", shown in paintings of indigenous people sitting in the vast Andean Altiplano and of pre-Columbian ruins set harmoniously in the mountain landscape. His art was a meditation on the place of the human being before the immensity of nature, infinite time and space. Montes exhibited widely in Europe, the Americas and the Far East. From 1960 until his death in 2007, he lived and worked in London.
For more details, download the flyer here. Please note that it is no longer possible to book tickets as this event is sold out.
You can download our autumn 2007 programme here
4 December 2007 Why Andeans Love Coca with Professor Sir Ghillean Prance and Dr John Hemming. A joint event with the Anglo-Peruvian Society. 6.30pm at the Instituto Cervantes, 102 Eaton Square, London, SW1W 9AN.
Professor Sir Ghillean Prance, former Director of Kew Gardens and Britain’s foremost botanist on South America, will describe the remarkable coca plant, whose many beneficial qualities make it a staple of Andean Indians, but whose leaf can be transformed into the powerful cocaine. Historian Dr John Hemming, one of the world's experts on the Incas and Peruvian archaeology, will tell how coca was an important element among the Incas and their predecessors. Download a flyer here.
29 November 2007 Bolivian Cuisine Demonstration. Bolivia's cuisine is little known outside Bolivia and therefore much underrated. This Bolivian cookery presentation will also include an opportunity to sample the produce. It will take place at Westminster Kingsway College's School of Hospitality in Pimlico, which has a small theatre especially designed for such demonstrations.
Tickets are limited by the size of the theatre, so please book as early as you can for what is sure to be an entertaining evening. Download a flyer here.
1 November 2007 Blue Peter's Summer Expedition to Bolivia. 6.45pm Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PJ. This year the popular BBC children's television programme Blue Peter visited Bolivia for their annual summer trip. The four presenters spent a month travelling around the country, seeing places such as La Paz, Lake Titicaca, Potosi, the Salar de Uyuni, Chapare, Rurrenabaque and Santa Cruz. This is probably the first time that such a large audience of children have been introduced to Bolivia. The 9 programmes, transmitted in October and November, seek to discover the country through the eyes of Bolivians and their children. Blue Peter visited a family living in the jungle and the Tahuichi Football Academy in Santa Cruz. Debbie Martin, the director, and Audrey Neil, the series producer, will talk about their experiences on the trip and show clips from the TV programmes.
Download a flyer here.
20 September 2007 Bolivians in London Challenges and Achievements of a Community in London. 6.45pm Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PJ. The Runnymede Trust, an independent policy research organisation, published a report into Bolivians living in the UK in January. It was launched in June at the House of Commons at an event chaired by Simon Hughes, MP for Bermondsey. Its author Kjartan Sveinsson, Research Policy Analyst at the Trust, will talk about his findings.
The 2001 census put the number of Bolivians living in London at 525, but some estimates suggest the figure today may be as high as 10-15,000. The majority have arrived in the last 5 years, but Bolivians have been coming to Britain since at least the 1960s. Based on a series of interviews, the report aims to map the main issues facing Bolivians in London, but also highlights a lack of communication between long-term residents and recent arrivals with little contact between the two groups.
This report poses some important challenges for the Anglo-Bolivian Society. Come along and join what should be a highly stimulating debate.
5 August 2007 Carnaval
del Pueblo An all day fiesta in Burgess Park, with a Float Procession
with the participation of 11 Latin American countries from City Hall to Burgess
Park via London Bridge and Elephant & Castle 12pm – 3pm.
More details on their website at http://www.carnavaldelpueblo.co.uk/
members are invited to congregate informally at the Andean Stage from 3pm.
14 June 2007
HE Mrs Maria Beatriz Souvirón Climate Change, Global Warming and Risk
Management on Natural Disasters in Bolivia. 6.30pm Canning House, 2 Belgrave
Square, London SW1X 8PJ.
We are very pleased that HE Ambassador Souviron, President of the Anglo-Bolivian Society has agreed to speak to us. Download a flyer here.
16 May 2007 Angus Morris Improving Human Security in Bolivia - What the UK is doing to help. 6.30pm Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PJ. A briefing and discussion on UK assistance to recent Government of Bolivia initiatives for Human Security improvements.
Angus Morris from the UK's Security Sector Development Advisory Team has recently returned from Bolivia where he has been working with the Bolivian government on improving the delivery of Public Order and discussing ways to transform their Security Sector. This is British Government initiative jointly sponsored by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, the Department for International Development and the Ministry of Defence. He will share his experiences in the challenging area of helping the Government to improve the provision of security for the people of Bolivia. Download a flyer here.
20 March 2007 Henry Stobart and The Royal Holloway Andean Band 6.45pm Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PJ. The Royal Holloway Andean band will present a lively array of music and dance from several regions of Bolivia, featuring a diverse range of instruments and sonorities. The music will be introduced by Dr Henry Stobart (senior lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London), who has written extensively on the music of the Bolivian Andes. This will be a fun packed but also highly informative evening.
Download a flyer here.
Henry brought some students to the launch of his book Music and the Poetics of Production in the Bolivian Andes last year (See below), giving us a taster of what is guaranteed to be a very entertaining evening.
Download our Autumn 2006 programme here.
Monday 19 February 2007 Maggie Bolton Sud Lipez: From Colonial Silver to Globalised Ch'arki. Dr Maggie Bolton is a social anthropologist and Latin Americanist who has conducted research in the southwest of Bolivia. 6.30pm Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PJ. Download a flyer here.
Monday 12 February 2007 AGM and Drinks The Society's 15th Annual General Meeting will be held at 6.30pm Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PJ. This is a members only event, but non-member guests may attend the drinks at 7pm, price £8 (members free). Read the Chairman's report here.
Monday 29 January 2007 Brian Reynolds will give a talk on the Land Rover G4 Challenge, that ended in Sucre last year, and in which he competed. 6.30pm Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PJ. Download a flyer here.
10-19 November 2006 Latin American Film Festival which includes the screening of Bolivian film American Visa. 10 November 6.30pm and 14 November 8.30pm, the Curzon Mayfair, Curzon St London W1J 7TY www.latinamericanfilmfestival.com
Wednesday 8 November Diego Zavaleta After 10 months in power, what has been the political and economic impact on Bolivia of Evo Morales and his government? Will the Asamblea Constituyente make a difference? Are the government's proposals really so novel? And how much is the government's programme driven by ethnicity?
Diego Zavaleta is a doctoral scholar at the Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity at the University of Oxford. Before coming to Oxford he was the Secretary for the National Dialogue in Bolivia.
6.30pm Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PJ. For more information , dowload a flyer here.
Wednesday 1 November 2007 The Chamber of Commerce of the Department of Santa Cruz, Bolivia (CAINCO) Bolivian Commercial Prospects in a Global Economy. 9.30am Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PJ. Download the flyer here.
Monday 9 October Music and Poetics of Production in the Bolivian Andes A launch, in collaboration with the Institute of the Study of the Americas, of a book by Dr Henry Stobart, senior lecturer in ethnomusicology, Royal Holloway, University of London. 6.30pm, ISA, 35 Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9HA
Henry focuses on the role of music in the lives of a community of Quechua speaking herders and agriculturalists of northern Potosi, Bolivia. In this highland hamlet, music making is deeply interwoven with agricultural production and the renewal of the community. His powerful and often personal account questions many basic assumptions about music and reveals a rich array of anthropological insights, including remarkable perspectives on llama husbandry and potato cultivation. The talk will be illustrated with live and recorded musical examples.
For more details on how to book a place, download the flyer here.
Saturday 7th October ALAF Christmas Fair. The Anglo-Latin American Foundation for the Children of Latin America (registered charity No. 1071796) is holding its annual Anglo Latin American Fiesta on Saturday, October 7th 2006 from 12.00 to 6.30 pm at Kensington Town Hall, Hornton Street, London, W8. Amongst the other regional food on offer will be Bolivian fare courtesy of Friends of Bolivia who will also have a stall selling Bolivian Handicrafts with proceeds going to help the children of Bolivia Tickets at the door: Adults £5, Under 16s £2.00, Under 5s free.
Monday 25 September The House on the Sacred Lake Dame Magaret Anstee. 6.30pm Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PJ.
Margaret Anstee fell in love with Bolivia at first sight in 1957 and vowed it would be her next UN post. After five and a half stirring years there as Head of Mission in the 1960s, her UN career took her to many other countries and continents but her heart remained in Bolivia. When democracy was restored in 1982 President Hernan Siles Zuazo asked the Secretary General to appoint her as his Special Representative to help restore the country's international standing after years of military dictatorship, a role she continued to fulfil, along with many others, for the next decade.
After her retirement in 1993, she made her home on the shores of Lake Titicaca and has continued to advise successive governments in an honorary capacity. She will tell the story of her adventures, and misadventures, over the last twenty-five years, building a house and living in an Andean community, while at the same time being involved in some of the dramatic events of Bolivia's recent history. She just returned from Bolivia at the end of August. Download the flyer here.
3 July 2006 Join us on a visit to Parliament The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Bolivia have invited members of the Anglo-Bolivian Society to participate in a joint event at the Houses of Parliament to discuss the current situation in Bolivia. There will be a panel, which on current plans will consist of Lord Lea, Chairman of the All-Party Group, Pablo Ossio, Charge d'Affaires at the Bolivian Embassy, and Graham Minter, our own Chairman.
There is no charge for this event and no refreshments will be served. However, there may be the possibility of accompanying the parliamentarians for a drink in one of the bars in the building after the event. Alternatively, we have the option of transferring to one of the many pubs in the vicinity.
Members will receive all details through the post. It is very important that you bring the flyer with you, as you may not be admitted to Parliament without it.
13 June 2006 How we kept Bolivia Poor: Dare we Change? 6.30pm Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PJ.
Claire McGuigan is the economic policy officer in Christian Aid’s Latin America and Caribbean department. Her work focuses mainly on trade and investment in Latin America and the Caribbean and includes a special focus on Bolivia. She studied at Exeter University and the London School of Economics and spent 5 years living in Latin America.
In her talk Claire will examine Bolivia’s economic policies, the role of Western governments and the international financial institutions in deepening the economic crisis in the country and the possibilities for future economic development and poverty reduction in Bolivia. The talk will be preceded by the showing of a recent video made by Christian Aid about privatization and the role of foreign investment in Bolivia. It features the well known British actor Damian Lewis and several Christian Aid partners in Bolivia. Download the flyer.
27 April 2006 The Governability of Bolivia and Challenges for the New Government, a talk by Gregorio Lanza. Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London, SW1X 8PJ.
Gregorio Lanza is a former member of the Bolivian parliament and senior civil servant. He was Director General for Conflict Resolution in Carlos Mesa's government. In his talk, Gregorio Lanza will examine the underlying causes of recent political developments in Bolivia and the challenges facing the new Morales administration. For more details download the flyer.
11 - 21 April 2006 Spirit of the Andes: A retrospective exhibition of the works of Fernando Montes. The Mall Galleries, The Mall, London. Members of the Anglo-Bolivian Society are invited to a talk by the Bolivian painter at the gallery on Wednesday 19th April 2006 at 6.30pm. For More details, visit the Mall Galleries website or download a flyer.
17 January 2006 Annual General Meeting 6.30pm at Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square, London, SW1X 8PJ. All members are invited. To be followed by a new-year reception with Bolivian and other tasty food. Free to members. Read the Chairman's Report.
7 November 2005 Che Guevara: On film and in print (Download Flyer)
28 November 2005 Bolivia's Political and Economic Landscape: A view from Westminster (Download Flyer)
For more information, email: info@angloboliviansociety.org.uk
Or for membership information click here.