Valen Iricibar 
While designer Karl Lagerfeld may have been the subject of this year’s Met Gala, award-winning actor Glenn Close also paid tribute to famous Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges by reciting his words as she presented her look.
“Time is a river which sweeps me along, but I am the river; time is a tiger which destroys me, but I am the tiger,” Close said in a video posted by Vogue Magazine across their social media.
“Time is a fire which consumes me, but I am the fire.”
The words are an excerpt from Borges’ essay “A New Refutation of Time,” written between 1944 and 1946 and later published in a 1952 compilation called Otras inquisiciones.
Close maintains firm eye contact with the camera from several angles until the very last second when she turns her head to the side. Her echoing voice is accompanied by the sounds of rushing water, ominous thunder, crackling flames, and whistling winds.
The different shots allow the audience to appreciate her sequinned gown with crystal hand embroidery by British designer Erdem Moralioglu — with a taffeta cape big enough to mirror Borges’ river of time.
This year marks the centenary of Borges’ first poetry book Fervor de Buenos Aires. He is currently a theme at an event that may not be the Met Gala but is a Herald favorite — the Buenos Aires International Book Fair, which is on until May 15.
Borges’ widow and custodian of his work, María Kodama, died in March and following the shock revelation that she left no will, there are open questions as to what will happen to his estate.
