China plans to build an antenna for deep space observation in Neuquén province in the southern Patagonia region, Argentina’s foreign ministry announced on Wednesday.

Argentina has a long history of space exploration- the country’s National Space Activities Commission (CONAE), was founded in 1960 by Teofilo Tabanera. It has been concentrated on Earth Observation satellites since the 1990′s until more recent international partnerships.

A quiet branch of government, usually far from the public eye, is making international headlines due to this and other international space partnerships. CONAE is already working with NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), but this partnership opens a new avenue for Argentine space exploration.

The agreement – between Argentina’s space agency and China’s Agency for the Control and Tracking of Satellites – also defines more general “parameters for establishing earth-based installations,” and creates a basis for future cooperation, the ministry said.

As reported in Clarin, Chinese scientists were in Argentina last month preforming preliminary studies in Neuquén, Río Negro, Mendoza, Catamarca, and La Rioja for the proposed antenna.

China is evolving rapidly as a world leader in space exploration. In 2011, it conducted 19 space launches, only 12 less than Russia that year and one more than the United States.

Chinese spacecraft have already orbited the moon, and the country has declared its intent to land an unmanned probe and possibly astronauts on the lunar surface.

In late June, China captured headlines across the world when three Chinese astronauts manually docked their Shenzhou-9 spacecraft with the orbiting Tiangong-1 module. In doing so, China became only the third nation besides the United States and Russia to accomplish this complex maneuver.

Argentina’s Foreign Ministry emphasised the antenna is “a project of tremendous importance,” which will permit Argentina “to develop interplanetary exploration activities, to study deep space and celestial bodies, to monitor and control satellites, and to acquire scientific data.”

In 2003 China became the third country to send a man into space with the Shenzhou-5 mission.

Argentina’s space programme is one of the most advanced in Latin America- Argentina being the first Latin American country to launch an indigenously built satellite.

In addition to the recent development with China, The ESA is now finishing construction of an antenna in Mendoza province, to support deep space exploration.

The 600-tonne dish, will complete the 360-degree deep space coverage needed to ensure full telecommunications during ESA missions and enhance the return of scientific data.

From dreamers and bibliophiles to grunge rockers and artists, Buenos Aires is a thriving city of culture that offers something for everyone. Of course, tango classes and Spanish lessons await the common tourist and expatriate, but we’ve scoured the city for some of the most interesting alternative workshops to try out while you’re in town. Note that though many are about working with your hands, all of these courses are conducted in Spanish, so a basic grasp of the language will help get the most out of them.

Mantra del Sur (courtesy of Mantra del Sur)

Mantras Del Sur

Walking into this bohemian, retail shop is like stepping into a multi-coloured world of love. The converted mechanics garage has a floor made from the refurbished pinewood of a boat pulled out of the Riachuelo, and crocheted clothes and home décor fill the racks and shelves. Inside, Lucia Alvaréz is not only using recycled and natural materials to make fashion eco-friendly, but she is also revolutionising a world that was formally reserved for the above-80 age group. “It’s an energy,” says Alvaréz , as she talked about her project to beautify the city by enveloping trees in crocheted blankets around Buenos Aires. The apparel designer offers technical workshops in appliqués, embroideries and patchwork for the inventive and fashionable, and will help with just about any project that involves a needle and thread.

Angel J. Carranza 1668/79, 3103-2348, mantrasdelsur.com.ar

Frequency and Duration: A weekly 2-hour class, Cost: $250 monthly + materials

Planetario de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires 'Galileo Galilei' (courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

Planetario de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires ¨Galileo Galilei¨

To infinity and beyond! Since the South Pole faces the galactic centre of the Milky Way, stargazers and philosophers can see billions of stars more clearly from the Southern hemisphere. In addition to the clearer skies, Argentina´s proximity to the southernmost point on earth also enables an astronomer to see a greater number of circumpolar constellations like the Southern Cross and Carina. In this course offered by the planetarium, Mariano Ribas discusses the new model of the solar system, the eight planets and their moons, the “Asteroid Belt” and the threat of asteroids, the “Kuiper Belt”, Pluto and the “dwarf planets,” theories and revelations about comets, space missions, space exploration, life chances on Mars, extra-solar planets, “Hot Jupiter,” and the chances of extra-terrestrial life. And that´s just the first five classes.

Avenida Sarmiento and Belisario Roldán 4772-9265 planetario.gov.ar/otras_cursos.html

Frequency and Duration: A weekly 2½-hour class, Cost: Free. Hands-on class observation with telescopes subject to favourable weather conditions.

Besos de Vidrio (Photo: Natalie Schachar)

Besos de Vidrio

For the not-too-clumsy hobby searcher, glass art beckons. Although the form is lesser known than its cousins, sculpture and ceramics, this branch of decorative arts has been around since Roman times and is now available to anyone in Buenos Aires who would like to continue on the neo-classical tradition. Surprisingly, glass can be moulded on an artist’s whim, and a weekly workshop details how to cut, polish, shape and colour any lustred surface. Tiffany lamps, mirrors, accessories— if it has vitreous properties you can probably make it here.

Guatemala 5794 4776-6942 www.besosdevidrio.com.ar

Frequency and Duration: A weekly 2-hour class, Cost: $200 monthly + materials

Olivos Custom Guitars (Photo: Diego Espinosa)

Olivos Custom Guitars

Forget Les Paul and Fender Stratocaster – here you can build our own guitar. Starting from a template that allows the form of a guitar to be replicated onto wood, and then using scaled diagrams, Lucas Rodriguez Fontán walks his students through the entire electric guitar and bass making process. From calibrating the neck to wiring circuits and inputting the bridge and tailpiece systems, Fontán assures that both beginners and techies can build and design their own instrument. Depending on how much time is invested, the instrument-maker estimates that it typically takes between six and eight months to finish a guitar and costs a little under US$1000 total for all the materials and the course.

Córdoba 2965 Olivos 1636, Buenos Aires; 5407-0011, olivoscustomguitars.com.ar

Frequency and Duration: A weekly 4-hour class, Cost: $450 monthly + materials

Jorge Luis Borges (courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

Understand and Enjoy Borges I and II

In the intricate world of Jorge Luis Borges, animals, memories, dreams and myths coalesce in surrealist circles to form some of the best fiction ever written. The Argentine essayist, short-story writer and poet mastered the narrative form, but also altered it forever by reassigning conventional notions of space and time and interweaving realistic mysteries and profundities into his fantastical works. Through the workshop, Alicia Ardila interprets the profuse symbolism found in the texts and essays, guides readers through Borge’s complex use of language, and assures that the universalist, philosophical ideas of the author become more accessible to all.

Centro Cultural Ricardo Rojas Corrientes 2038, 4954-5521/4954-5523,
rojas.uba.ar/cursos/adultos_mayores/contenidos_literatura.php#10

Frequency and Duration: A weekly 2-hour class Cost: $200 monthly

President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner will sign a space cooperation agreement today, implemented by the National Atomic Energy Commission (CONAE) in conjunction with NASA.

The agreement aims to promote the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes in areas of common interest, such as observation and monitoring of the Earth, space science and exploration systems.

During the ceremony, which is going to be held at 6.30pm today, the first data received from the Argentina satellite SAC-D Aquarius since its launch in June will be revealed.

The event will take place at the Casa Rosada, with foreign minister Héctor Timerman, ambassador to the United States, Vilma Martinez, head of CONAE, Conrado Varotto, and NASA administrator, Charles Bolden, among the guests in attendance.

Buenos Aires is a city of theatres. From the historic Teatro Colón with its European-style grandeur to the first independent theatre, Teatro del Pueblo which opened its doors in 1930, the city’s contours are shaped by spaces of imagination. These theatres and alternative spaces premier an extraordinary number of new works by Argentine playwrights.

Calle Corrientes, the Broadway of Buenos Aires, features an extroverted mix of high-budget shows. But there are also hundreds of stages tucked away in living rooms, in factories, and in patios of chorizo houses. You may have enjoyed dinner and a play at the boutique theatre, Camarín de las Musas, caught one of the ten productions that Teatro del Abasto produces at a time, or sipped coffee at the outdoor café of Teatro El Cubo. The following five alternative theatres located across the city stand out for the uniqueness of their spaces, where the theatre itself – and not just the drama on the stage – is an experience that sticks with you.

People queuing for a performance at La Carpinteria. (Photo courtesy of La Carpinteria)

1. La Carpintería, Abasto

Although one of the newest spaces to enter the Abasto alternative theatre scene, La Carpintería has not been shy to make its mark. The space was opened by three young actresses in 2010 and has already attracted an impressive lineup of shows. The theatre regularly fills, particularly on Friday nights when Lola Arias’s moving play, ‘Mi vida después’, takes the stage. With red brick walls, a younger crowd and an abundance of 2×1 discounts, the theatre is carving out a hip niche in the old-guard alternative scene. Make sure you leave time before or after the show to enjoy their café, and buy tickets early ‘cause they sell out!

For more information, click here.

Interior of Timbre 4. (Photo courtesy of Timbre 4)

2. Timbre 4, Boedo 

From it’s humble beginnings as a stage in a Boedo apartment, the theatre of award-winning playwright and director Claudio Tolcachir has grown into one of the most important stops on the alternative circuit. In 2001 Tolcachir began hosting original works and theatre classes in his apartment, premiering ‘La omisión de la familia Coleman’, a play that has since become renowned both at home and abroad. The name Timbre 4 (Bell 4) came from the buzzer the public was instructed to ring to enter the building.

After a few years the lack of space and the incessant complaints of a neighbour who believed they were engaging in prostitution led members of the company to take a tour of the block in search of a way to expand. Around the corner they came across an abandoned chair factory. In 2007 they began renovations and in 2010 the space was finally opened to the public. The high ceilings echo the building’s previous life, but the clean lines give the space an official air. On show nights the public floods the narrow corridor and then packs into the expansive yet intimate theatre. When it’s stormy outside, rain pounds the tin roof, drowning out some of the softer dialogue but adding to the feeling of closeness that theatre inspires among spectators.

For more information, click here.

The painted exterior of Casa Ofelia Teatro. (Photo courtesy of Casa Ofelia Teatro)

3. Casa Ofelia Teatro, Palermo

Named after Ofelia of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, this theatre-café is mini-oasis in Palermo Soho. The house had been abandoned for four years until the founders discovered it and completely renovated the space. Casa Ofelia Teatro, which opened in October of last year, is packed with mix-matched antique furniture, a downstairs patio, an upstairs balcony, and plenty of quiet rooms hidden away. The founders built the theatre towards the back of the house, where an overgrown garden once dominated. The walls are decorated with elegant art for sale that they rotate out every month, and an outside mural features the work of artist Georgina Ciotti.

For more information, click here.

Streetfront of Espacio Cultural Pata de Ganso. (Photo courtesy of Espacio Cultural Pata de Ganso)

4. Espacio Cultural Pata de Ganso, Abasto

For over two decades the Pata de Ganso company has been a mainstay for theatre and dance exchange. Choreographer María José Goldín founded the group in the early 1990s, and three years ago moved to this new space in the heart of the theatre district. The cozy entryway houses a kitchenette and a living area that functions as waiting room, café, and ticket office.  The quaint space boasts a professional black-box theatre in the back. Pata de Ganso’s schedule is busting at the seams with everything from a mix of plays and contemporary dance performances, to classes in acrobatics and clown. Don’t miss Rio, the new premier by well-known choreographer Susana Szperling’s, or Goldín’s next show, Onda Gravitacional.

Signage of Espacio Eclectico. (Photo courtesy of Espacio Eclectico)

For more information, click here.

5. Espacio Ecléctico, San Telmo

Espacio Ecéctico, which turns ten this year, was founded by an interdisciplinary group of artists before San Telmo became the hub of alternative artistic spaces it is today. The renovated colonial building houses a theater, as well as art expositions, dance and music. The wood floors and the bright colours give the place a comforting mix of the old and new. Check out ‘El libro de Almohada‘, the play by Pedro Sedlinksy. One of the most high profile annual events at the centre, ‘The Photography Book Fair‘, also starts this Friday, and in the spirit of artistic exchange that the centre promotes, be sure to stop by the photographic collections on your way to a play.

For more information, click here.

Situated in a traditional Argentine building built at the turn of last century, Oficina Proyectista is an unconventional conceptual art space, hidden in amongst the surrounding offices. It is a typical room with a wooden floor, four walls and a window overlooking the street below; nothing particularly out of the ordinary.

Oficina Pryectista is a conceptual art space in a typical Monserrat office (photo/Shooresh Fezoni)

A project born five years ago when two artists acquired an office in Monserrat, Oficina Proyectista is an example of adaptive reuse at its most humble and creative. Taking advantage of the opportunity to use the space, Sonia Neuberger and Pablo Caracuel decided it should become home to a different exhibition each month. What followed was, to date, 49 diverse methods of using the one room gallery. Whether the artists are invited or seek the project out themselves, they each approach the space with a fresh perspective and transform the room to make it appear bigger or smaller than its physical dimensions.

Using the gallery in very distinct manners the exhibitions have no common theme, the only thread to the installations is that each artist must re-imagine and re-work the office. “Each artist has to reinvent the space available,” says Sonia. “In this way the artist occupies the space, and gives it a new meaning.” It is small enough, she notes, that “a direct encounter is created between the artist and the space, and the encounter continues between the work and the audience.”

The gallery is certainly compact. Laughing, Sonia shows me around. “This is Sala A,” she says, pointing around the room. “Sala B is the library,” she adds, gesturing towards the narrow bookcase occupying the corner of the room. “Sometimes the artists use Sala C – the street,” she smiles, showing me to the window that opens out over the busy road outside. “And at times even the bathroom: Sala Cuatro.”

In this lighthearted manner, Oficina Proyectista is refreshingly tongue-in-cheek. As opposed to trying to match the competition of contemporary art galleries around the city, Oficina Proyectista does not take itself so seriously. Despite this attitude, however, the gallery has found a niche, albeit a small one. It is the space that is important, the central idea being that the artist can take four fairly bland walls, and can create within them whatever they wish, shaping their ideas to fit the space.

But at times the space is shaped to align with their ideas. This was the case for artist Marcolina Dipierro who created a canopy in her installation Papel Protagónico. The sail was hung from the ceiling, reaching between the door and the window, interrupting the geometrical lines of the room.

In contrast, Dina Roisman’s installation ‘Años Luz’ filled the space with darkness when Dina hung small coloured lights that appeared like stars. The atmosphere changed entirely: as the audience walked into the darkness they automatically transformed their pitch, whispering and hushing each other.

Mariela Scafati’s 'Que es banana' was November's performance project (photo/Shooresh Fezoni)

Among other previous artists that did not transform the space, but exhibited their own work was Carlos Rottgardt. Using paper to create small amusing illustrations on the topic of sterotypes, he invited the audience to peer through magnifying glasses at his books.

November’s show gave the space over to Mariela Scafati’s performance project, ‘Que es banana?’. This experimental piece involved a beautiful carved wooden box, its doors opening to become a theatre. Surrounded by people holding up big portraits of bananas Mariela staged a short and conceptual play: pulling out different backdrops that were each painted in a different colour her performance consisted of nothing else, repeating this motion silently to background music strummed from an electric guitar.

Although the concept behind some of the works may be at times inaccessible for the audience, Sonia insists that this is another of their motivations behind the space. “The exhibits can either be very concrete, or open to interpretation,” she says, wanting to be move away from dogmatic conditions regarding how the space is used. The modest proportions of the gallery allow no room for dead space, thus the only rule is that there are no floating or vague ideas, just conceptual, original and, above all, fun.