Photographer Nad Rivero was born in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1983. Rivero studied Visual Arts at The National University of the Arts in Buenos Aires and continues to live in Argentina where she is currently undertaking a Research and Curation Diploma in Documentary Photography at The University of Buenos Aires. Here she tells us about the best creative hangouts in her home city of Montevideo.

They say art wouldn’t exist if cities weren’t alive.
In other words THE CITY is the greatest human art piece.
The greatest albums of all time, the best photographs, all of the unforgettable books, all the movies ever filmed were born from and for the cities.
But what happens when inspiration comes from Nature?
Relaxing music, inspiring photography, simple and true stories are born from the eyes of the ones who escape the city. Well, it turns out that Montevideo is a city landscape and Nature’s magical scenery at the same time. Its people bring out the warmth of every corner and every cobble stone.
Montevideo’s lights and shadows invite art to rest in its womb and spread through its beaches to the world.
Montevideo is very much alive; it sings, it dances, and it whispers poetry and inspires whoever comes to walk its paths.

Sabrina Tachdjian (Fashion Designer)

Sabrina Tachdjian is a young and fiercely creative designer. She started thinking about having her own brand about four years ago while she was working for a denim brand as a designer. She comes from a family where fashion has always been a subject of love, having a father that owns a clothing store; she designed baby clothes with him. She felt that the biggest problem she came across as a designer in Uruguay was finding good fabrics to work with, so she started working with local leather instead; Uruguay being a world leader in livestock breeding, produces a variety of excellent quality leather. So it was ideal for manufacturing handbags, shoes and now jackets.

As it says on the web these true leather art pieces are unique and made with love. Each of the pieces is patiently crafted and their materials carefully selected. The tanneries used by the brand have strict environmental policies and all of them come from animals bred in free-range Uruguayan estancias, and are by-products of the meat industry.

Paullier Y Guaná (Restaurant & Bar)

Since 1909, Paullier Y Guaná was a general store or grocery. For almost half a century it worked as such; for two years in the mid-50s it was a political club lead by Uruguayan socialist journalist Zelmar Michelini. They kept it intact since. In 1954, its owner transformed it into a bar and warehouse, adding the marble counter, refrigerator oak and maintaining the beautiful original furniture store. Since that time it has had several owners, all Spaniards, who ran it as a classic bar and neighbourhood corner store.

Many personalities were parishioners of this old bar, including writers Mario Benedetti, Juan Carlos Onetti, musician Alfredo Zitarrosa, footballer Pepe Schiaffino, politician Luis Batlle, and many others. Interestingly, in its 100 years of existence, it never had a name, hence the use of the two streets where it’s located as a name. The new owners recovered the old facilities and transformed it into a restaurant and bar.

Guachass (Band)

Guachass is a rock’n'roll band from Montevideo with tentacles around the world. Guachass was born in 2004 during the underground punk-rocker scene in Montevideo, Uruguay. They’re Federico Molinari (drums), Mariana Gascue (guitar), Nicolas Taparauskas (bass) and Camila G. Jettar (voice). They have released two albums under the label Oui Oui Records (France – Argentina) and have toured Uruguay, Europe, Argentina and Brazil. As they say themselves on their Facebook page “Old school rock n roll, dancing melodies, guitars diluted in acid, a woman singing to the moon, the best drummer in the county and a ruling bass.”

KIOSCO (Gallery)

KIOSCO is an art space that brings together much of the cultural young creators in Montevideo. They focus on emerging artists and have a wide variety of work being exhibited, from photography to paintings and installations. They also give seminars and workshops to the community. The gallery is managed by Carolina Curbelo, Santiago Velazco and Fabio Rodríguez. They’re cultural managers, designers and artists.

More: Website | Behance | Facebook

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My Creative Scene is an insight into different creative & cultural happenings in cities where our members and readers live. Browse through more insider guides here or contact us to write about the arts scene where you are.