Businessman Jorge “Corcho” Rodríguez auctioned a series of his own paintings inspired by Uruguayan candombe and donated the proceeds to the Afro-Uruguayan cultural center El Power, founded by musician Fernando “Lobo” Núñez. The auction took place on Thursday, the 22nd, at the Yellow Rose estancia in La Barra de Maldonado, in Punta del Este, and was attended by Núñez himself and Rubén Rada, who offered a candombe concert during the evening. Rodríguez explained that the initiative arose from a conversation with Rada about his desire to collaborate with the Barrio Sur Cultural Center in Montevideo: “Ruben told me: talk to Lobo! Lobo is Fernando Núñez, the leading exponent of Uruguayan candombe,” he explained. According to the Argentine News Agency, Rodríguez has a connection to candombe since his childhood, when at the age of ten he visited Montevideo to play in a baby football tournament and had a transformative experience in the Sagayo neighborhood during the llamadas. During a recent visit to Montevideo, Rodríguez toured the El Power cultural center with Núñez, where the musician carries out social work with underprivileged children and people deprived of liberty, teaching them to make drums that are later donated to rural schools. To collaborate with that project, Rodríguez painted and auctioned eleven works titled: Candombe, Cuareim 1080, Blanquita, El Calenda, Candombe King, Cinco Reinas, El 10, Orientales, Patria Candombe, Barrio sur and Lobo 'ta?. The contribution will allow for the continuation of the social and cultural activities that Núñez carries out in the humble neighborhoods of the Uruguayan capital, promoting art, inclusion, and the transmission of the drum-making craft to new generations.
