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= = =Entertainment of Bolivia = by Mikaela Hart 

Art
 Bolivia has a very unique style of art. The National Academy of Fine Arts in La Paz is a school that promotes music, painting, sculpture, and ceramics.(2) Bolivia is a very isolated country and the artists receive little attention outside the country. A popular form of art is mask and costume making for all of their many festivals. Melchor Perez de Holguin was a very popular Bolivian artist. He created religous paintings with strange twists. "In one paiting, a saint talks to an angel while in the background an alien-looking bird attacks a frog." (2)

   

 Sports, Hobbies, and Past Times
    Tinku is a popular sport played in Bolivia on festival days. It is a type of bare-fisted boxing which starts as dancing and eventually breaks out into a fight. "There is also a yearly swimming race across the narrowest part of the Lake Titicaca. The distance is not particularly long, but the water is extremely cold, making it a test of endurance for the competitors." (2) However, soccer is by far, the most popular sport, and the national sport of Bolivia. Basketball and volleyball are also popular sports. Although Bolivians love playing sports they do not win many competitions due to tough competitors such as Argentina and Brazil.(2)

Bolivians enjoy spending time with the family and friends eating, drinking and feasting. Many spend time at public parks playing sports, riding bikes, talking, and playing cards or dice. Women also enjoy spending time knitting and weaving. Children do not usually have money for toys and create their own. Marbles, tops, clapping games, chasing games, and stone throwing games are all popular activites played by Bolivian children. (2) 



Music, Film, and Theatre
  Bolivian music was and still is based off of European forms, even though they have gained independance from Europe. "The use of pre-Coumbian musical insturments remains an important part of Bolivian folklore" (4)"The most common musical instruments are:  A lot of their music goes along with dance including the national dance, the cueca,  Bolivian film often features the problems of the indigenous people of Bolivia. Two popular directors, Antonio Eguino and Jorge Sanjines, directed a few such movies titled, Blood of the Condor, Chuguiago, and La Nación Clandestina.(2) "Because of the way the cinema has championed the cause of the nation's poor and highlighted problems in the social system, military govenments have often cracked down on the move industry, and Snjines himself has spent several years in exile." (2)
 * sicu or zampoña: series of vertical flutes bound together.
 * quena [[image:http://photo.goliathus.com/bolivia/pictures/instrument-bolivian-charango.jpg width="318" height="155" align="right" caption="A charango"]]
 * tarka or tarqa
 * pinkillo
 * skin drums
 * bronze gongs
 * copper bells
 * charango: Has five pairs of strings and looks like a small guitar. Traditionally it was made from the shells of armadillos, but today it is mostly made of wood." (3)

Famous People of Bolivia
There are many famous people from Bolivia. Some of these include (9):
 * Jaime Escalante- one of the most famous educators in the United States. Born in La Paz, Bolivia and teaches mainly math, physics, and science courses.
 * Jaime Laredo- World famous violinist, violist, and condutor.
 * Marina Nunez del Prado- one of the most famous sculptors of Latin America
 * Jessica Anne Jordan Burton- A Bolivian Model and Miss Bolivia 2007
 * Alfonso Gumucio Dagron- writer, filmmaker, journalist, and photographer
 * Jorge Wilstermann- Boliva's first commercial pilot
 * Marco Etcheverry- one of Bolivia's most famous and world known soccer players. (10)