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Culture
The contributions of conquerors and immigrants have enriched the native traditions, producing a culture that completely integrates the most diverse customs.
Indigenous remains, fortresses of the Colonial period and traces of the "gaucho´s" life, combined with a rich urban architectural heritage and an important number of writers, artists and musicians.
Gaucho
The Uruguayan theatre is worldly recognized, and all year round there are plays, concerts, exhibitions and festivals. The Tango, the most typical music of the River Plate (Rio de la Plata) region, is a national cult, and can be heard or danced in different night-spots.
The country's typical festival is Carnival - the longest in the world - which combines authentic and original music and choreographic forms, like the "murgas" and the drum-beating "candombe".
Murga
Uruguay has given the world many writers, poets, thinkers, painters, sculptors and musicians who achieved world-wide fame.
Uruguay is a unique case in the art world: the quality of its creativity vastly exceeds the expectations of its demographic dimension. Among painters, Juan Manuel Blanes stands out for his canvases depicting great national historic events. His contemporaries include Jose Cuneo, Pedro Figari and Joaquín Torres García. Figari painted national themes: the dynamism of his figures lies in an internal rhythm and not in outward appearance, his art achieved a level of excellence attained by few painters. Joaquín Torres García served as a catalyst for many present-day artists, his paintings pose problems and propose solutions and today are still a source of inspiration.
Sculpture was influenced by many foreign artists who worked in Uruguay in the early years of the Republic. Juan Manuel Ferrari may be considered as the leading Uruguayan sculptor. José Belloni, the best-known, was a realistic, non-allegorical sculptor who brought to the public an appreciation of the day-to-day life of the nation, its history and its folklore. Juan Zorrilla de San Martín sought to transcend matter in the name of emotion or thought, almost always monumental, as though the stone was imbued with spirituality.
