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A Special International Report Prepared by
The Washington Times Advertising Department - Published on April 21, 1999
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Ecuador's rich cultural patrimony - From Indigenous music to internationally recognized artists
However, Ecuador has many other cultural choices. "There is a misconception that there is no culture in Ecuador. That all the country has are the Galapagos Islands and bananas," says Jorge Saade-Scaff, Cultural Attache at the Embassy and cultural representative of Ecuador to the Organization of American States. Internationally renowned painters, sculptors, composers, writers, musicians, and opera singers all provide a wide variety of entertainment. Museums filled with masterpieces abound in major cities. Leading the cultural pack is the Embassy of Ecuador in Washington, DC. Ambassador Ivonne A-Baki is not only the first woman to hold the post of Ecuadorian Ambassador in Washington, but she is also an internationally recognized painter. Her exotic paintings are a familiar sight in Boston, where she lived and was educated. Saade-Scaff has performed works by many of the great composers throughout the United States and the world. His CD, Recital, on which he plays classical pieces with Canadian pianist Adam Wegrzynekhas, has been well received. He will be performing at the Coolidge Auditorium at the Library of Congress on April 27th. Saade is honored to be playing one of the violins from the Library's private collection.
Some of Ecuador's best artists are better known outside their own country. One such artist is Geracho Arias, an engraver known for his metaphysical and deeply moving engravings of women, shamans, animals, masks, magic and other interpretations of nature and man. Though his works are more familiar to American and Japanese rather than Ecuadorian audiences, a small, but beautiful collection can be viewed at the cozy Posada del Maple in Quito. This family-run hotel may well be a museum. With lots of light and walls and ceilings painted in vivid yellows, blues and oranges, it is a perfect site to showcase Arias' series of engravings. Many years ago, Arias moved away from his village of 300 people to live on a tiny, island Native Indian community in the Amazon jungle. He spent part of his day fishing from his little boat. From the surrounding wood he would create sculptures. But rather than selling or having his work admired in a gallery, Arias' would periodically tie his sculptures to a canoe and throw them into the river. He explains, "I never had to say, 'Hey, look people. I am an artist.' My work was none other than an expression of my vital being.'" When Arias' island was inundated by floods and disappeared to become once again a part of the river, his first response was to dance for a week in the village party and to throw the last of his sculptures into the water. Then, he moved to Quito where he combined his life in a cosmopolitan city with his adventures in the jungle. "My life experiences in the jungle and on the river taught me that there was unity between humans, nature, fairies, spirits and plants."
Arias explains, "Nature and man are living characters. Nature shows itself as a gorgeous expression of tropical and abundant life. It is a perfect place for adventures, rituals, magic, and the truth about animal and man living together with nature. Even without colors, nature has values that shape a deep sensuality." Guayasamin - A nation mourns his passing Oswaldo Guayasamin dedicated his entire life to painting, sculpting, collecting and fighting the injustices of life. His death on March 10th, a day of national strikes by indigenous (whom he spent his life supporting) and other sectors of society, was a great loss to Ecuador. He was one of their national treasures. All of Guayasamin's paintings or sculptures evoke an immediate reaction. The strong colors, often disturbing images and forceful themes are meant to make the patron stop and take notice. Since early in his career, Guayasamin used art to fight against the cruelty of life, violence and injustice. "The Dead Children," which is a group of naked cadavers, was based on a brutal memory of when a childhood friend and others were gunned down by a random bullet. From then on, Guayasamin would continue to use his paintings and sculptures to combat "cruelties and injustices of a society that discriminates against the poor, the indigenous, the blacks and the weak," explains the Guayasamin Foundation. He never belonged to a political party, but rallied in support of Castro and against the "abuses and aggressions of powerful and imperialistic countries." Sadly, the Ecuadorian Embassy had just convinced him to do an exhibit in the United States, when he died in Baltimore from a heart attack.
Since 1996, Guayasamin had been working on a life long dream, the creation of the "The Chapel of Man," a 6,000 square foot mural that could rival the Sistine Chapel. It was meant to be a history of "Our America" from pre-Colombian life to the present. This masterpiece was declared by UNESCO to be a "cultural priority." Sadly, Guayasamin was not able to complete the dream. Pablo Nerudo described Guayasamin as "one of the last crusaders of imaginativeness. His heart is full of creatures, earthly pain, oppressed people, tortures and signs. (He puts) his all and everything into painting. Fashions pass through his head like flimsy clouds. He has no fear of them." As Guayasamin is now laid to rest, he will be remembered for all this and more - for his political beliefs, his creativity, his courage and his dedication. While Ecuador is being torn this way and that, it will unite for one thing - to mourn his passing.
The sounds emanating from the concert and baby grand pianos are rich and full. In his small home in Quito, Ecuador, Luis Verduga sits at his masterpieces and fills the rooms with sounds that normally come from pianos at concerts in Vienna, Paris and New York. Only three pianos have been built by Verduga, the only piano builder in all of Latin America. After hearing their sound, the listener can only hope that this master craftsman never gives up this skill, which he calls a "hobby." Verduga's pianos are made from eucalyptus and Alaskan spruce. The former is very fibrous, which allows for sound to resonate through the wood and in the end creates beautiful music. Almost all of the piano is built by hand, even down to the keys. The type of wood is hand chosen. Verduga created an experiment. He crafted a keyboard and then let it sit in the sun, rain and cold. Months later, the keyboard was still straight. Verduga knew his combination was a winner. When Verduga's pianos get loaded from his home, placed on a truck, driven hundreds of miles down pot-holed roads to and from Guayaquil, where they sit in humidity, and finally get played by some of Ecuador's finest musicians and return, they don't need to be tuned. Today, Japanese companies can manufacture up to 400 pianos a day. Verduga takes a year or more to craft one. "You can't industrialize instruments that rely on nature," he calmly states. All it takes is for the music from these masterpieces to wash over the listener to understand that a machine can not be better than man and that beautiful music is itself a gift from Mother Nature.
The City Museum is still a work in progress. It is a conceptual museum with rooms for different centuries, though the most recent one has yet to be opened to the public. The building that houses the museum is also part of history. From its windows, priests celebrated mass with the local population. Remnants of its life as a hospital have been preserved, including the sick room and the vivisection room, where one of Ecuador's most prolific colonial writers and intellects, Eugenio Espejo, introduced the country to scientific medicine. The museum honors everyday people. Although Ecuadorian society is highly stratified, people's everyday existence, how they cook, sleep, and live, unifies them at all levels, explains Patricia von Buchwald, Director of the museum. Each century has a particular focus, depending on what that century brought to civilization. The 16th century's emphasis is on religion and what the different orders did for society, such as the creation of musical schools. The 17th century leans towards a combination of mythicism and urbanization, showing the move from the country to the cities. The 18th century is dedicated to illustration and writing, and the importance that literature played in everyday life. The last complete room is the 19th century. It highlights the British influence on exploration and discovery. The city of Quito has hundreds of other museums, cathedrals, monuments, and buildings to visit. Many such as the Casa de la Cultura, which also has the indigenous ballet Jachigua, are places that provide a look into the culture of Ecuadorians. |
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Table of Contents (1) President Mahuad announces new economic plan |
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The haunting sounds of wooden, pan flutes draws business executives to the metro station on Connecticut Avenue. A group of five men have long, dark hair held back in a ponytail and a felt hat on their heads. These dark skinned, indigenous band members are from the Otovalo region of Ecuador, a two hour drive from the capital city of Quito. Whether it's a city in the United States, Europe, Asia, or Eastern Europe, the musicians are instantly recognizable as being a part of the heritage and history of Ecuador.
Geracho Arias - Nature and man unite
His most dramatic works are in two series, "The Mysteries of Organism," which is an homage to the human body and "The Mysteries of the Shaman," an homage to the wisdom of those who are known sometimes as medicine men but other times as quacks. In one engraving from the latter series, a shaman tries to heal a sick man. In front of the shaman are a series of masks to show that the shaman never reveals his true self. The sick man also has a mask being removed, which is what must happen in order for his true self to be healed.
The Guayasamin Foundation was created to showcase his most important works. It includes a collection of pre-Colombian sculptures (3,000 pieces), colonial art (800 pieces) and his contemporary pieces (250 works). In the contemporary gallery his most forceful works from 1964 to 1984 are exhibited. The Nazi invasions, the concentration camps, Hiroshima, Vietnam, the "CIA sponsored invasions of Panama and the Dominican Republic," and the tortures and genocide by the dictators of Latin America are all expressed through his eyes and on his canvases.
Luis Verduga - The only piano builder in Latin America
Museum of the City - Centuries of work in progress