André Agassi and Pete Sampras, two of the world's best tennis players of all times, will offer an exhibition event in Argentina, on Wednesday, April 27th, 2011, in the suburb of Tigre, province of Buenos Aires.

Sampras, who has never come to Argentina, and Agassi, who played in Buenos Aires for the Davis Cup in 1988, will play in a stadium that has been specially built for the occasion, with capacity for 8500 spectators, with an outdoor hardcourt surface.

This event, called "The Agassi Sampras Tour en Argentina" is part of the farewell tour both tennis players have already offered in six countries in Latin America.

The program will consist of two matches, starting at 7pm, when Agassi will play Jim Courrier, former number 1 player in 1992, followed by Sampras against the American player Mardy Fish.

Tickets are on sale through www.tuentrada.com

The tirteenth edition of the Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival (BAFICI) organized by the Ministry of Culture of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, will take place from April 6 to April 17, 2011, under the artistic direction of Sergio Wolf.

In this new edition 426 international films will be screened in the 22 venues of the City of Buenos Aires that are hosting the festival. Some of the titles that make up this year's program are:
"Nuremberg: Its Lesson for Today" (USA, 1948) by Stuart Schulberg, presented by the director's daughter, Sandra Schulberg;
"Football is God" (2010), Danish movie about Boca Juniors;
3D projections: "Cave of Forgotten Dreams", by Werner Herzog; "Pequeñas voces", by Jairo Eduardo Carrillo; and "Crisis letal" by Spanish Santiago Segura.
"Ponette" (1996), "Le Petit Criminal" (1990) and "Le marriage a trois" (2010), by Jacques Doillon.
"A letter to Elia", the latest documentary by Martin Scorsese, co-directed with Kent Jones, about the movie maker Elia Kazan, with the presence of Frances Kazan, his widower.
"El Bulli: Cooking in Progress", by German director Gereon Wetzel.
To mention just a few of the hundreds of outstanding films that will be presented during the Festival.

The opening of the Festival will be held again at the Teatro 25 de Mayo with the  world premiere of the Argentinian film "Vaquero", by Juan Minujin.  The closing of the Festival will be with the film "Nader and Nisim, a Separation" (2011), by Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, winner of the Golden Bear in the 2011 Berlin Festival.
In this edition, the Festival continues with the Baficito Section successfully inaugurated in 2009 with programming dedicated to kids, with the premiere in Argentina of some outstanding films, lke: The Great Bear, by Esben Toft Jacobsen (Denmakr, 2011), Allez raconte!, by Jean-Christophe Roger (France/Luxembourg/Belgium, 2010); among others.
The national cinema will be present at this edition with a total of 42 feature films and 48 shorts, two of which participate in the International Competition.
The Open Air Cinema section will offer free screenings at Pasaje Carlos Gardel and Plaza San Martín de Tours.
The Modern Classics section continues, where great films restored in new copies will projected, like the complete version in 35 mm of "El Gatopardo" by Visconti (Italy/France,1963); "En el balcón vacío"(México, 1931) by Jomi García Ascot premiered at the MOMA; "The Bowler and the Bunnet", directed by Sean Connery; the Bolivian super production "Wara Wara", silent movie from the 30s directed by José María Velasco Maidana; and the restored version of the classic by Fritz Lang, "Metropolis", that will be projected accompanied by live music by trío Marcelo Katz. All with free entrance.

Tickets may be purchased in advance via the website www.festivales.gob.ar, or in person from 10am to 8pm at Casa de la Cultura (Av. De Mayo 575 PB) and the Hoyts Abasto. Also, since 6 April, the remainder will be available online or in person at the box offices of all the sites affected by BAFICI.

Venues:

ALIANZA FRANCESA DE BUENOS AIRES: Av. Córdoba 946
ARTEPLEX BELGRANO: Av. Cabildo 2829
ATLAS SANTA FE: Av. Santa Fe 2015
COSMOS-UBA: Av. Corrientes 2046
HOYTS ABASTO DE BUENOS AIRES: Av. Corrientes 3247
MALBA CINE: Av. Figueroa Alcorta 3415
TGSM - SALA LEOPOLDO LUGONES: Av. Corrientes 1530 Piso 10º
TEATRO 25 DE MAYO: Av. Triunvirato 4436

Special Events:
PASAJE CARLOS GARDEL: Anchorena and Jean Jaurés (Open Air screenings)
PLAZA SAN MARTÍN DE TOURS: Schiaffino y Posadas (Open Air screenings)
FUNDACION PROA: Av. Pedro de Mendoza 1929

On Sunday, April 3, 2011 it will be the opening of the 245h Season of the Fair of Crafts and Popular Argentinian Traditions, better known as the Mataderos Fair, which will operate as usual on Sundays and Holidays 11 am to 8 pm in its winter schedule. The season is scheduled to last until Sunday, December 18, 2011.

At the Mataderos Fair visitors can enjoy more than 500 traditional craft stalls from around the country and about 40 stalls of local products and food characteristic of our country: locro, humita, empanadas, tamales, asado, "choripan", tortas fritas. As usual, gaucho skills as the Corrida de Sortijas, the traditional game of Pato (horse ball), traditional parades of floats, the Gauchos Parades, as well as recreational activities for the whole family as the Children's Film Club, and over 15 free workshops: Folk dance, Loom, Guitar, Charango, Sikus, Tango, wood carving, Quichua Language, Basketry, Ceramics, etc.

The opening will feature a special guest: Jorge Fandermole.

During the year many renowned artists will be presented in the main stage, as well as folk music and dance groups that always accompany the Fair, many of which travel specially from various provinces of our country to be at the Fair, a wonderful opportunity to showcase their music.

Throughout the year several special events are held, with a prominent priority for National holidays: May 25, July 9, October 12 (Reaffirmation of the rights of indigenous peoples), November 10 (Tradition Day), and in the month of June the celebration of the Mataderos Fair's birthday.

The famous statue "Doríforo", one of the most important pieces from the Naples National Archaeological Museum, will be displayed at the National Museum of Fine Arts of Buenos Aires, from April 1st to June 30th, 2011.
The sculpture, 2.12 meters high, which is featured in every Art History book, is considered the most complete copy in marble of the famous bronze statue made by Policletus in 440 B.C. It was found in 1797 in the gymnasium of Pompeii "Palestra Sanità".

The work represents the figure of a naked young man in a walking position. The right leg firmly planted on the ground, while the left, backward, touches the ground with his toes. The right arm falls across the body while his left arm is flexed and holds a spear, now lost. The head is slightly turned to the right. The harmony and balance of proportions, the alternation of tension and bending are characteristic of the work of Policletus, great artist of the bronze, from mid V to early IV century BC.
Some historians saw in this sculpture the image of Achilles, and others, that of Orestes or Theseus, the hero who defeated the Minotaur.
Recently, attention was drawn to the position of the fingers of his left hand, determining that it did not support a cylindrical shaft but a curved object like the handle of a shield, projecting the image of a young man with a large round shield in his left hand and a sword in his right. From this analysis it appears that these attributes correspond to Theseus, Athenian hero connected with the civil and military training of young Greeks. This interpretation is reinforced by the sites where they where copies of sculptures were found, including arenas and gyms reserved for Roman youth.
"Doríforo" is without doubts one of the most famous works of antiquity, and this Pompeian marble copy of the original bronze statue, despite being rebuilt with the original fragments, has the virtue of being complete. These features led the National Museum of Fine Arts to select this sculpture to represent Italy in Argentina, showing the relationship of a cultural identity based on common roots that secure the friendship between the two countries, and celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Italian unity.

Location: Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (MNBA). Av. Libertador 1473. Ground floor, Central Hall

Dates and times:

April 1st to June 30th, 2011. 

Tuesday to Friday from 12:30pm to 8:30pm

Saturdays and Sundays from 9:30am to 8:30pm

Mondays closed

Admission: free.