The monument to Tango

  • bandoneon1_tarbesentango2017

Already famous for its  "Caminito" (a mural painting, Petite rue St Pierre, which evokes in trompe l’oeil style the famous La Boca district), Tarbes has now another treasure in the park Paul Chastelain : The Monument to Tango.

After Buenos Aires, Tarbes is the second town in the world to have this monument.
It is the unique replica of a sculpture standing on a little square of the Puerto Madero district in Buenos Aires.

Created in 2007 by the sculptress Estella Trevino and engineer Alejandro Coria, it represents the spirit of Tango through the soul of a giant badoneon.
A highly symbolical monument, sealing friendship and partnership with Argentina.

This monument is a gift from the Argentine National Institute of Touristic Promotion . It was inaugurated on August 25th 2012 in the presence of Minister of Argentine Tourism  Enrique Meyer, the Mayor of Tarbes Gerard Trémège and Carlos Feeney, adviser to the cabinet of  the Ministry of Tourism: “It is a work of Art which marks the special friendship between Buenos Aires and Tarbes.

THE MONUMENT TO TANGO

It is an abstract (non figurative) work which represents the spirit of Tango. Its shape is inspired by the soul of bandoneon, whose bellows, the emblematic part without which sound would not exist, coils and rises to open onto the infinite sky… It unveils a seductive game, a mixture of shape, rhythm harmony, movement and counterpoint that belongs to its genes.
Built from two tons of stainless steel on a pedestal, plus two other tons of anchor iron beneath the surface, it is 5 metres high and has a volume of 9 cubic metres.
The idea came from a journalist and producer, Ruben Reale, a specialist of Tango, who launched an appeal in his radio programme “ Tango forever”.

THE CREATORS

Representatives from 17 institutions of the world of Music and Culture have answered the call and formed the non-profit civil association “Pro Monument to Tango Committee”, with the support of the following groups :

-  Culture and Social Communication Commission of the Legislature of the City of Buenos Aires, where their headquarters where located.
- Ministry of Culture of the City of Buenos Aires.
- Corporación Antiguo Puerto Madero (Old Puerto Madero Corporation).
- National Secretariat of Culture.

Different fund-raising concerts were organized to raise the money needed. They included the unpaid participation of more than 300 major singers, musicians, dancers,and technicians. Also, the committee received signi­cant donations from several companies and institutions.
A distinguished jury of 9 members reviewed the 71projects presented at the Urban Art Competition organized to choose who was going to design the monument, and chose sculptor Estela Trebino and engineer Alejandro Coria as the winner.