Hipsters, the MALBA, and Moacir

As an out-of-the-closet hipster, I’m on a constant search for hippest spots in Buenos Aires. I’ve stumbled upon limited edition clothing stores, a kitschy 70s-themed bar, an excellent microbrewery called Antares, and more than one breezy bookstore-cum-café.

But I didn’t get the chance to actually chat with any BA hipsters until I went to a party at my friend’s apartment. She’s a native Brit that lives in Brooklyn and signed up for the Intensive Spanish Language class that I’m taking. She lives in Palermo with another Brit and a Buenos Aires native.

I’m pretty good at speaking Spanish with non-native speakers, because we talk slow and have basically the same limited vocabulary. But when I got to the party, I couldn’t hold a conversation at all. I have a hard enough time paying attention to conversations at parties when people are talking in English (I like to sit back and watch), so there was no way I could do it in Spanish. Suddenly I empathized with all the non-English speakers that have ever moved  into CZ. Lots of different conversations, loud music, fast talk– I realized my listening skills are far below par. If I’m going to make friends with Argentines, I want to be able to add more to the conversation than , “sí, sí…. okay… right…”

So I gave myself two assignments to help me practice listening. First, watch TV. Second, go to the movies.

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I visited the MALBA (Museo de Arte Latinoamericana – Buenos Aires), where the boys wear flannel and the girls wear cat-eye glasses. I went just before 8pm to catch a documentary called Moacir at the hip museum’s cine.

The documentary, which was filmed in Buenos Aires, follows a man named Moacir as he achieves his dream of being a professional musician. Moacir moved from the favelas in Brazil to Buenos Aires in search of what everyone is looking for when they decide to ditch their home country: work and a better life. When he first arrived, he lived on the streets until he was admitted to a mental hospital and diagnosed with schizophrenia. He stayed there for ten years before moving into the tiny one-room apartment where he lives now.

Moacir is a talented singer and composer of carnaval music. He has a wide, Swiss cheese smile and a fondness for androgynous wigs. By virtue of the film’s director (who met Moacir while filming a previous documentary), Moacir gets to record some of the songs he’d composed and even makes a music video.

Check it out:

But to be honest, my favorite part was when the documentary ended. The lights came on and Moacir stood up from his seat in the audience and took to the stage with the tambourine player that appears in the video. To me, this was like watching Michael Phelps win a gold medal on TV and then step out of the screen into your living room still dripping wet. (I’m easily entertained, and so far it’s never been a bad thing.) This was 3-D in real life. He sang four songs and then we cheered for another. Moacir happily obliged.

-AK