Argentine bottom line: Bush visit preview?

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The UK's BBC News previews an interesting exhibition in Buenos Aires:

Perky ones, fat ones, hairy ones. Even tattooed ones. For every person, there is a bottom. And at the Recoleta Cultural Centre in Buenos Aires, they've all been on show, in all their glory. The proud purveyor of all these posteriors is Chilean visual artist Catalina Riutort. She says the exhibition is one of "common, everyday people, represented by barcodes, which correspond to their identity card". She adds that it also talks about hidden identity. "It's the people we never see. Because we're all used to seeing what the media show us. Standardised people, models, perfection, happiness. There's also a bit of irony about identity, because in this accumulation of people, you can't recognise anyone."

Not even Ms Riutort herself, who confessed that her fine behind is among the 600 bottoms on show (though she wouldn't say which one). Most of them are Chilean, though a couple of Argentine and American posteriors are also included. The "Carne de Identidad" (a play on the Spanish words for "identity card" - "carnet de identidad" and "flesh of identity" - "carne de identidad") exhibition has been drawing in the crowds in Buenos Aires. Its next stop is Chile and then, if the civil unrest there dies down, Bolivia.

Is it art? Alfredo Cernadas, an art critic for the Buenos Aires Herald, certainly seems to think so. He was quite taken by the bottoms, which he said were "beautifully photographed". So I asked him if he thought bottoms had more artistic potential, say, than other parts of the human body. "Not necessarily," he says. "It all depends on who photographs them, or draws them, because a foot may be just as interesting. Or a hand. Or eyes, well you name it. Or even ears."

"Each country has a special taste regarding its women," says Dr Jose Juri, Argentina's plastic surgeon to the stars. "For example, in the United States, the most important thing is good breasts. In our country, for Argentine people, we prefer a good buttock." Surrounded by awards and photographs of ageing Latin American chat-show hostesses and actresses, Mr Juri was only too happy to explain the mystique behind the behind. "The buttocks have some kind of special attraction for men. Not for every man. But for most men, and women know this perfectly well."
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3191892.stm