72 CultureShock! Bolivia
business of satisfying needs. Condoms in Bolivia are cheap
and readily available in any pharmacy. The best ones are the
cheapest, imported from the United States and sold in certain
pharmacies for Bs 0.50 (equivalent to US$ 0.07).
Bolivia’s liberal attitude toward sexual reality extends even
to dogs. Midway between Mirafl ores and lower La Paz, along
the eucalyptus covered Avenida del Libertador, a dog clinic
advertises the availability of female dogs to provide sexual
satisfaction for your canine macho.Artists
Street children and sexual workers are forced into their
underworlds by a harsh economic reality. Many Bolivian
artists may live on the fringe by choice.
Bolivia’s rich art scene is laden with poor artists. Since the
colonial period, painting has been the most likely medium
for an artist to gain international recognition. Corollary
professions such as commercial art are not as prevalent or
lucrative as they would be in more commercially powerful
countries, so Bolivian artists often live and die by their fi ne
arts. A handful of Bolivian painters have acquired worldwide
fame, and with it, a degree of fortune. However, the
market for high-class painting is limited. Bolivian painters
choosing to remain in their country of origin are bucking
the odds.
I have read whole books on Bolivian contemporary
painting, only to visit galleries the next day and discover
great artists who were not included in the books. Styles vary,
but much of Bolivian painting is a dynamic hybrid between
European art history and traditions, and native popular art.
Notwithstanding a profusion of fi ne art galleries in La Paz,
the best Bolivian gallery may actually be in the valley city
of Cochabamba. Housed in a mini-Versailles style mansion
built by Bolivia’s infamous tin magnate, Simón Patiño, this
Cochabamba art museum, referred to as Palacio Portales,
offers one of Bolivia’s great sensorial experiences. In other
salons of the same mansion one can enjoy concerts and
lectures. Meanwhile, Casa de la Cultura in Santa Cruz is also
prominent in the art scene. Potosí’s Casa Real de la Moneda