TheExpatJournals.com

I attended the most wonderful Art Fair at CIDAP  last weekend. This was apparently the ‘masters’ show and considered the best of the year here. While much of what was sold was too ornate for my taste, it did not mean I could not admire the work. What was right up my alley and excited me in a way I haven’t felt excited by visual arts in years was this hand painted fabric by the Shipibo tribe in Peru.

This stuff is amazing! So is their pottery, but I’m not a big one for pottery. But this fabric! Not since I first discovered Kuba cloth (aka shoowa or kaisai velvet) from the Kuba tribe in the Congo have I flipped over a textile to this degree. Here’s a link to bit more info about Kuba cloth, (http://www.africanconservancy.org/member/kuba.html) however, what this description leaves out is the fact that when you turn over a piece of Kuba cloth, not a stitch of the intricate geometric design on the front shows up on the back. I discovered Kuba cloth while out one day shopping in NYC for place mats. I was on lower Broadway just about Canal Street back in the day when they still had stalls packed with goods street vendors stood on the sidewalk and hawked. I was quite surprised by the price this guy was asking (I bargained down to 4 for $90) but later ended up learning what a bargain basement price that was for the quality I bought. Later, I would see a single piece of far less quality for more than I paid for all four of those first pieces I bought.

Because this African vendor spoke virtually no English, I was only able to get the name of the textile which I was then able to look up and learn about online. Because these Indians from Peru spoke Spanish with an accent I could barely understand, it compelled me to learn more online about the Shipibo. With the African pieces, it began a passion for certain tribal arts and I learned a whole lot about politics in the process beginning with Patrice Lumumba, the only democratically elected leader the Congo has ever seen to this day and a man the CIA assassinated because he wasn’t willing to play ball the way the US wanted him to play ball. When I bought those first pieces of Kuba cloth, the country was still named Zaire and it’s despotic leader, Joseph Mobutu, was put into power and kept in power by the US. The man lived in wealth beyond the comprehension of most but had no available funds to dedicate towards derailing the genocide of his own people, just lip service when Rwanda armed Congolese Tutsis. This ‘tribal conflict’ would see at least 3.5 million dead in the ensuing years.

To say I never know where a piece of art might lead me in an understatement. Who knew ‘placemats’ would lead me to all of the above and then some. Well, in looking up examples online to link to for visuals here, I came across a mistake on this site here: http://www.ethnicarts.com/cards/textile_greeting_cards_1.htm . If you look at the 3rd greeting card, #CL6103, this is a Shipibo skirt from Peru design, not Suma Cloth from Indonesia. (This may change by the time you read this as I wrote the website.) Click for a better view of the Shipibo work I’m so excited by.

I will say that one thing that never ceases to amaze me is the similarity in primitive geometric designs. Tribes all over the world throughout time were incorporating similar geometrics into their crafts, their textiles, their paintings and without contact with each other. I’ve discussed this with people over the years and two theories have arisen, both of which hold credence for me.

First, perhaps the exposure came before the continents divided. Second, perhaps it indeed taps into the inner soul on a level where humanity is undivided. The way the Shipibo work is explained would certainly validate the former theory. It’s uncanny how the ancient Greeks, the ancient Anastazi of the southern US, the Kuba of the Congo, the Dogon tribe in Mali, the Incas, the Mayas, tribal art in Polynesia…all have a similar aesthetic in their geometric designs though there were no airlines to whisk them to exhibitions or visit, no internet to see what others were up to. So where does this similarity that spans time and continents come from?

So, this Shipibo fabric is as mesmerizing to me as when I first discovered Kuba cloth. Someone online described it as a primitive drawing of ‘computer circuitry’. It is apparently all based on a pychedelic jungle brew that creates visions they then paint. And that is a ridiculously simplistic version of what they call Ayahuasca which is closer to what we might term a religion.

Here’s a link to a good article with more info about that:
http://www.copypastearticles.com/article/7045/ayahuasca-and-the-visual-music-of-the-shipibo-tribe-of-the-amazon/

Before I even read what was at the root of this fabric, like with the Shoowa, I was instantly spellbound by the work. I was lucky to attend this fair with my landlord, a lady close to opening her own Casa de Cultura and one who not only knew all of the artists displaying their work, but could give me a nice background about the work. For example, with the Shipibo, she explained to me how two ladies would paint this one piece of fabric and how they would each begin on one side and meet in the middle. She explained to me how they would sometimes use strands of hair for painting the ceramics.

Between the time I bought the first piece and went back for more, I went online to learn about the work. One piece I read told of watching two Shipibos working on a piece of pottery about 5 feet tall. He said that these designs are so much a part of their life that they consider the design akin to music. So as each person worked on their respective side of the piece of pottery, they hummed the same song. When they met in the middle, they had painted the same thing even though they could not see what the other was painting. It was the music, they said. They were able to sing to each other the design they could then manifest in paint.

And this morning, looking up sites to show anyone reading this examples of what I’m talking about lead me to find that the famous Sticks hand painted furniture is not the only hand painted studio furniture maker in the US doing well…I had never heard of Dave Marsh nor his cousin, Ralph Garrett’s Shoestring Creations. And I feel drawn all over again to the concept of a furniture company that specializes in hand crafted, hand painted whimsical unique pieces, not copying these guys, but specializing in something more in tribal designs. That one is hanging on for years now and was originally inspired by my friend Sandra Eleta’s pool of Diablos y Congos painters. (http://www.diablosycongos.com). I tried some one-off’s with the painters there but without the results I was looking for. What I am finding in Ecuador that is different from Panama is more of a work ethic, more motivation and as a result, a level of craftsmanship that is more the norm here than it was there.

And on Halloween, my fellow tenant, a German professor at a University here, had a party. The people who attended were mostly German and Swiss and I really only chatted at length with one person, Gerhardt. He has come to Ecuador with his wife, also a professor at the same University, and is now finding he cannot find work for himself which could curtail the amount of time they spend in Ecuador because he can’t simply do nothing. Well, it turns out he is a furniture maker and described a level of quality that certainly made my ears perk up. Plus, at the CIDAP fair, there was a very interesting Co-op that makes handcrafted furniture that is quite interesting and affordable. It fell into the category of ‘almost’ to my taste, but the smooth, textured waves of the tabletop or cabinet sides I did find interesting. And I was very impressed with the smooth action of the dovetailed drawers on a hand carved chest of drawers.

I can’t seem to help but feel passion about certain art and especially tribal art. Why? I’ve already explained in an old journal:

“Nearly a decade ago, I took a trip from NYC up to the Adirondacks without getting on a major highway. The two-lane country route wound through some interesting and forgotten places. On the way, I stopped at an antiques shop in the middle of nowhere and found a brown ceramic bowl that just screamed, “Do you see what soul I have?” Now that may sound stupid to some, but for some reason, I could sense the use this bowl had been for decades. I could imagine all the wonderful things it had helped prepare to nourish folks especially on those cold, upstate NY winter nights and mornings. In short, this bowl seemed to have a past, a history and that, to me, gave it soul. I have African pieces either over or nearly a century old. They have soul. I love handmade and unique because someone poured themselves into that piece, be it a bowl, a piece of Kuba cloth, a painting…anything made by an individual as opposed to a factory or machine. Some years back, I thought of how wonderful it would be if everything in my home were handmade and I began to collect from that desire. Moving to Panama with two suitcases and a couple of crates of possessions it was absolutely impossible to part with sort of handed me a clean canvass in terms of what I want to be surrounded by. So I still don’t have a lot in my apartment, but anything I’ve brought or added has a maker and that means its maker gave a piece of him or herself to create it which I believe gives that piece a little bit of its maker’s soul, an energy if you will. Those pieces have a tangible feel / essence to me
and that is an intangible thing. (Don’t you love the irony of that?) I even have African pieces that scare some people, but that’s another story.

What I’m trying to say (and stumbling miserably) is that, if you think about it, that’s a definition of spirituality. And by now you all
know I’m not religious, but that I do distinguish religion from spirituality, so… For me, I think that the line in the Bible about
us being created in God’s likeness refers to our ability to create. We are capable of creation. I do not believe that is limited to the
stereotypical association with art (the word create), but certainly does include it. There’s procreation and recreation and both are
essential to our ability to survive as a species. And both have a primary ingredient of love: love for children, love for hobbies/passions. I believed that old cliche, “If you can imagine it, you can create it.” (ps..heard before Field of Dreams)

Think of it! All we have to do is being able to imagine it and if we can, the wherewithal to make it a reality exists inside us, be it a
painting, a child, a home, a community, or a means of helping our fellow man that may seem absolutely impossible! One thing I don’t
believe is that there is such a thing as a Divine tease in the sense that we are given beautiful dreams without the wherewithal to make
them happen. Now whether or not we have the determination, discipline and endurance is where that Biblical concept of ‘free will’ comes in.

And that, for me, is how we are like God. (Stepping off the handmade pulpit now…)”