1. Venezuela: Focus on Culture

2. Venezuelan Art The Venezuela Art is a fine blend of the pre-colonial and the colonial style in the field of painting, fine arts, literature, music and dance Some of the important figures in the field of Venezuela painting and sculpture were Enrique Antonio HernándezPrieto, and Antonio José Landaeta’s and Martín Tovar y Tovar The colonial era was characterized by religious painting and sculpture in Spanish style, of which notable examples include the sculpture St Peter the Apostle by Enrique Antonio HernándezPrieto, and Antonio José Landaeta’s painting The Immaculate Conception Kinetic art has emerged in the last few decades, and has been most successfully represented by the work of Carlos Cruz Díez and Jesús Soto.

3. Venezuelan Dance The Joropo: As the national dance of Venezuela it is performed throughout the country. Lively, merry and syncopated, it is Spanish in origin and Venezuelan in feeling. It is a dance for couples and has as many as thirty-six variants of the basic steps. The musical accompaniment is provided by the cuatro, maracas and counter pointed by a harp. Red Devils of Yare: The red dancing devils of Yare begin their traditional battle against the forces of righteousness on Corpus Christi day, and it is one of the most unique and colorful ceremonies of the Christian World. The outcome of the battle is also traditional, virtue will triumph but not until after a full day of strenuous opposition on the part of Satan’s henchmen.

4. Venezuelan Theatre and Film The Caracas Athenaeum (known in Spanish as the Ateneo de Caracas) is a cultural institution centred on the arts. It is currently located in the area of Los Caobos, Caracas, Venezuela. The institution was founded on August 8, 1931. The Caracas Athenaeum has always been led by women. The current president, María Teresa Castillo, has been in that position since 1958. Gustavo Ott- Playwright, screenwriter, novelist and director. Founder of the Teatro San Martín de Caracas (1993). Ott's plays have won numerous awards, including the Tirso de Molina International Playwriting Prize (1998, Spain) for "80 Dientes, 4 metros y 200 kilos“ Two of the woman in the Miss.Venezuela beauty pagent have gone on to become successful musical theatre actresses, Ruddy Rodriguez and MaríaConchitaAlonso.

5. Venezuelan Architecture San Cristobal is known for churches with beautiful architecture such as the colonial-style San Cristobal cathedral and the Gothic-style San Jose's church de San Cristóbal, the Cathedral is said to be the only example of a baroque construction that possesses asymmetrical features - one of the towers is wider than the other This particular feature was conceived in order to allow the water that tended to accumulate on the plaza to freely flow through the streets during the colonial period, when it was built.

6. Sources Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Venezuela Venezuela Art http://www.mapsofworld.com/venezuela/culture/art.html Arts and Culture http://www.venezuela.org.my/About%20Venezuela/artsnculture.html Folklore and Traditions www.embavenez-us.org/kids.venezuela/folklore.traditions.htm New york times www.nytimes.com/2007/06/12/world/americas/12venez.html Pictures www.carnegiehall.org/.../festival_blog.html http://img2.allposters.com/images/ISI/DM043Z.jpg http://img6.travelblog.org/Photos/17184/278697/t/2364955-Pre-Columbian-Art-1.jpg http://www.molaa.org/imags/mainImage/artist-listing.jpg http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1269/695674803_119152d77e.jpg?v=0 http://www.adventureassociates.com.au/media/latinamerica/venezuela/CaracasElBarrio.jpg