A crowd of local artists, writers and musicians gathered Dec. 7, 2005 in the big grey building on Wellington St., to celebrate the first anniversary of Mapalé Artes y Letras, Canada’s first bilingual Latin American arts-and-culture magazine.

Mapalé's anniversary party featured art and writing from the magazine.

At one table, a young British novelist, a Canadian photographer and a French artist sat together talking, switching effortlessly between English and Spanish. Though the magazine is published half in Spanish and half in English, it is not just Latin American or Canadian, it has an international appeal, says its publisher, Silvia Alfaro.

The magazine’s name, Mapalé, is the name of a frantic, passionate Latin dance style, which evokes the frenzied activities of the magazine itself.

“We want a balance, it’s about how Latin Americans are doing in Canada and elsewhere. The magazine has an international character and also a local.”

A community

The magazine started as Alfaro’s creation and has become a community. In the three issues published since its inception, Mapalé, has featured art and writing from Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, China, Canada, Venezuela, England, Cuba and Spain.

Alfaro is a former architect who moved to Canada from Colombia in 1996.

“I had been learning about how the (Latin American) community feels alone here,” she says. “We are very isolated. Myself, I didn’t know many Latin Americans here; I was in my own world here with Canadians.”

She says she wanted to do something to bring the artistic and cultural aspects of Latin America to the Spanish-speaking community in Canada.

“There is no artistic or intellectual community here for us,” she says. “Many artists and writers feel alone. They miss all this when they left their country. I thought I was alone, but I was wrong."

Proud of culture

“Most of the information we have here in Canada about Latin America is about the problems, war or bad things. We want people to find out what is happening with the artists. What is going on with culture, music, arts and cinema. We want our kids to be proud of the culture they come from.”

Though she had no background in magazine publishing, Alfaro quickly found contributors from across Canada to fill the pages of Mapalé with art, literature, history and poetry. She says the Latin American arts community was waiting to be connected.

“I didn’t know about so many groups, hundreds of groups across Canada who are trying to get together to do things, organize exhibitions and concerts. There are so many little groups, it’s not enough of a community. We are separated.

“We, with the magazine, are bringing together all these worlds: the services, the restaurants, all the people that are visible, but also the artists. We want to be melting with the Canadians. But in the end we want to be with our community.”

Though the magazine has only been in existence for a year, Alfaro says, it has drawn contributors from Vancouver to Halifax.

Publisher Silvia Alfaro with a favourite piece of art featured in the magazine.

“It’s amazing how many artists are here and don’t know about each other,” she says. “This magazine is getting people together in the large sense, and that’s beautiful. Writers and artists don’t have a way to promote their work, this gives them the tools to publish it at a very high standard.”

Finding shelf space

Now that Alfaro has enough material to fill the pages of Mapalé, she has been working to increase its readership. Finding stores that will agree to give shelf space to her half-Spanish magazine has been the most difficult part, she says.

“Chapters said no because it’s in Spanish … I cannot understand why Chapters can’t carry this magazine.”

Statistics Canada reports that more than half a million Canadians speak Spanish as their first language. So. Alfaro says, she was surprised when the Museum of Civilization’s bookstore also refused to sell the magazine.

“It was a big disappointment for me. Many people go there and there is nothing there in Spanish. For me, that’s discrimination. Why can Martha Stewart (Living), but a made-in-Canada, Latin American-Canadian magazine not be there?”

Eleonora Dufault owns Ottawa’s Mondo d’Arte gallery and is a contributor and subscriber to Mapalé. At the anniversary party, she presented art featured in Mapalé and from her gallery in both Spanish and English.

“It’s not easy to start any magazine in any language and be successful,” she says. “Imagine starting a magazine in Spanish in Canada.”

She had an article in the second issue of Mapalé that compared women portrayed in paintings by two Latin American artists — an example of the level of artistic analysis in the magazine.

Dufault says she hopes that the magazine will help, “awaken the interest of Canadians into the Latin American artistic world.”

She says that the magazine is interesting for anyone, not just Spanish-speakers or Canadians, and that she will continue to contribute her ideas as Mapalé expands.

Personal investment

So far, the publishers of Mapalé can only afford to print 1,000 copies per issue. Alfaro’s sister is editor. They put up their own capital to finance the magazine at first, and have begun to attract advertising revenue.

“We have brochures and posters, but this is a small business,” Alfaro says. “We are not a big corporation. We don’t have lots of money to promote. If we had more money, we could promote a lot. Without the budget, we have to go very slow and only print 1,000 copies for now.”

They have advertised in local newspapers, other magazines and on the radio, and Mapalé is available in 100 stores across Canada — all small newsstands and independently owned businesses.

“For example,” Alfaro says, “there are 10 stores in Toronto (that sell the magazine) but they only have three copies per store.”

Finding advertising dollars for the magazine is also difficult, she adds. “It’s difficult because I’m a woman. I don’t have the right connections here; this has had a big impact. I’m an immigrant and it doesn’t matter how much education I have, I’m an immigrant. I never have felt discriminated in my life, but with the magazine I have.”

Now that Mapalé has reached its first anniversary, Alfaro and her colleagues say they are looking forward.

“It’s something that can benefit a lot of people. Even people who are not Latin American,” she says. “It is a good tool to show people we are not that different, we have something to contribute to this society. I hope it shows people that.”

Hope for the future

Various works by artists featured in the magazine.

If the magazine’s anniversary party is any indication, it appears that support for it and for the Spanish-speaking arts community is strong. The large banquet room was packed and the cold buffet dinner disappeared quickly.

“The readers love it,” Alfaro says. “We are already receiving renewals for the next year. The few people who subscribe say they like it and want to keep it, they show it to people and they say, ‘Wow.’

“I haven’t heard anything bad; the reaction is good. People say: ‘Keep going, keep going!’ I say, ‘Yeah, we want to!’ ”

Related Link The magazine's website