Every year, for the past three centuries, in the remote town of San Ignacio de Moxos (located in the department of Beni in Bolivia) the Moxos’ indigenous council gather to organize the celebration of their famous Ichapekene Piesta Inasianuana. An event that dates back to 1689–the very year the town was founded but it roots can be traced back to a time before the arrival of Europeans to the American continent.
Last month I had the pleasure to visit Guanajuato in Mexico; I stayed in a peculiar small town called San Miguel de Allende, I was there thanks to a course I took in college. The place was beautiful and the locals were charming. The place itself, the people, the weather, and the food was all very nice. The rich history and beauty of the place was stimulating. The cobble stone streets, the colorful colonial houses, and the Baroque ornaments everywhere were signs of the rich past, of a once affluent colonial town. Many houses had balconies with vine flowers hanging, doors knobs of forge iron.The folk art and galleries throughout the town was the other aspect of San Miguel that got me. Craftsmanship and art was everywhere. One of our many stops in our visit was La Aurora, a place that housed several other galleries. In La Aurora all the galleries had quality work that just amazed me. We also visited la Escuela de Bellas Artes (The school of fine arts), a major school of art in Mexico, this institution has a school in San Miguel, which was in a big colonial building that resembled an old monastery. I was glad to hear my school had some sort of partnership with them, and that in the future the school will be working with them more closely.
Peter Verastegui 