San Francisco Frontiers - Small Uruguayan town seeks place on international art map

It may not be the most obvious location for an international art festival, but Pueblo Garzon is a small town with big ambitions to join the world's cultural hotspots.

The sound installation was the creation of Lukas Kuhne, one of more than 20 artists from countries including Brazil, Singapore, South Korea and the United States who took part in the three-day CAMPO Artfest in late December.

The 8th edition of the event created by American photographer Heidi Lender drew around 6,000 visitors to a town with fewer than 200 residents.

Kuhne, a German based in Uruguay, describes Pueblo Garzon as "a utopian project" but "in the good sense."

"It seems like any other town, but it's not. Very beautiful and interesting things are happening. It has its aura," he said.

Located about 170 kilometers (105 miles) east of the capital Montevideo, Pueblo Garzon has been compared to Tuscany because of its landscape of vineyards and olive trees.

It began to attract attention 20 years ago when renowned Argentine chef Francis Mallmann opened a restaurant there.

"Francis is the absolute ambassador," said Lucia Soria, a fellow chef behind the Mesa Garzon project which hosts dinners around the town.

"But Heidi is the ambassador of art," she added without hesitation.

- 'Special energy' -

Lender arrived in Garzon by chance 14 years ago, fell in love with the town, bought a house and founded a non-profit organization to "give other artists the opportunity to create in this magical land," she said.

Today the project includes artist residencies, CAMPO Artfest and a planned art campus.

"It's hard to explain what Garzon has. You have to come and experience it," Lender said.

"There's an energy that doesn't exist anywhere else in the world. it's a mix of light, the people, authenticity, simplicity of life, tranquility, solitude and beauty," she told AFP.

As in most rural communities in Uruguay, the main town square is the main focus of activity.

There you will find the church, the town hall, a social club, an old warehouse converted into a designer shop, Mallmann's restaurant and a museum-cafe opened by two of his daughters.

Uruguayan artist Mauro Arbiza recently opened a gallery in front of the square, having sold his sculptures in the town for nearly a decade.

"I used to always go to Art Basel in Miami in December," he said, referring to the international fair with shows in Hong Kong, Paris and Miami Beach, as well as Switzerland.

"But I don't go anymore. I make more contacts here," he added.

With price tags ranging from $2,500 to $40,000, Arbiza hopes his works will appeal to wealthy visitors who spend the summer in the nearby resort of Punta del Este.

European and American tourists and collectors, as well Argentines and Brazilians, are among those browsing galleries, owners say.

The town's abandoned train station is reminder of the prosperity that a wheat mill helped to bring in a bygone era.

Pueblo Garzon was once home to 2,000 people, a far cry from the 178 inhabitants recorded in a 2023 census in the town, where gauchos on horseback are seen riding down the quiet streets.

Residents include John Pearse, tailor to rock stars including the Rolling Stones, and French artist Marie Ducate, who has her own museum.

"It's a unique place. It has a special energy," Arbiza said.

U.Campbell--SFF