American Design Duo Launches Arts and
Culture Magazine in Nicaragua
Managua - Nicaragua's culture, arts and
music scene is the focus of a new magazine
launched by two American designers living in
the country's capital, Managua.
Hecho, which means "done" or "made" in
Spanish, is the project of Christopher
Sataua, 27, from San Diego and Oliver Best,
31, from Oregon.
The bimonthly is about to publish its third
issue and, despite the weak global media
market, has managed to sign up more than 30
local advertisers. Best says that although
they expect to see a loss on the first three
issues and have so far funded the project
themselves, they're working hard to build
Hecho into a vehicle that local advertisers
want to be seen in.
Hecho is visually striking, due at least in
part to the design background of both
owners. The magazine isn't aimed at
travelers but, rather, locals and foreigners
living and working in the country who want
to know about what's going on in the
underground music, arts and culture scene.
It's a locally produced, bilingual effort
produced by a group of both native and
foreign writers and others living in
Nicaragua and focusing on a strand of
society that both local and international
media largely ignore, the owners say.
"I don't know of anybody writing anything
about what's happening culturally inside the
country," said Sataua.
Their tone is cool, collected and informed,
and their print run of 4,000 per issue
disappears pretty quickly.
"We went to do a photo shoot in the market,
and as we were going through the market, we
were throwing the magazine around, and
people were like ants, you know, coming to
it," Sataua said.
The online version of Hecho is "still in its
infancy," according to Best, who says he and
his partner want to build it out into a much
bigger presence. For now, you can download
the print version of the magazine from the
site, as well as read some of the articles
and peruse a blog. |
