“In the the last 16 years, what do you think has been the moment of greatest change for Cuba?” I asked Jesús, our seasoned, straight-shooting Cuban guide. “Now” was his instant response.
I felt it too. From a revitalized Havana Vieja to the mushrooming number of creative paladares (small, private home-based restaurants) signs of convulsive change were everywhere, more so than at any other time since my first visit to the island in 1996.
We’d like to thank all those who supported “The Art Of Giving” at Mattie Rhodes Art Gallery in December. What an amazing collection of art and wine! We’ve raised over $3,500 in funds that will go directly to a young emerging artist from Oaxaca Mexico to continue their education. The awards ceremony is just one of the many highlights on our 10th Anniversary Trip this spring.
It’s striking how inspiring ideas are often sparked while gathered around the table with good friends, great food, and plenty of wine — of course recalling any of these afterwards is another challenge!
Fortunately, the idea one of our Xplorers had for compiling recipes from a favorite B&B in Porto was remembered. The magical meals shared along our journey blossomed into this “Recipe Calendar”, highlighting a bit of the richness and cultural diversity of this fascinating sliver of the Iberian Peninsula.
Meet Lugo, the first recipient of the Culture Xplorers Foundation Art Scholarship fund.
While in Peru this past April, I visited a small school outside of Lima, it was situated atop some rocky and dusty land not far from the ocean. The school was lacking, there were bathrooms but no water, and a number of improvements that were needed, but I did notice the art murals….where did they come from?
The Culture Xplorers (CX) Foundation would like to acknowledge Estilo Latin Dance Studio in Philadelphia, PA for their generous contribution to the Cucuya School, a small school located in a very poor area in the rocky hills outside of Lima, Peru.
CX Foundation trip leader Daniel Salazar has been involved with this school for years and helps on many levels, including funding for lunch programs, garden boxes and highly valued creative programs for the children. When CX Foundation director Sherry Berger and Daniel met in Spring 2012, they joined forces. Sherry’s personal involvement as manager of Estilo Latin Dance Studio led to the connection of the two Latino communities.
GREAT ART, GREAT WINE, GREAT CAUSE!
Inspiration: The Love of Place. Regardless of culture we all draw inspiration from the places that surround us, and carry those places with us throughout our lives. The Art Of Giving features artwork and wine labels designed by artists from Kansas City and Oaxaca, Mexico centered on this theme. Proceeds benefit young Latino artists in Kansas City and Oaxaca, Mexico.
Friday, December 7, 2012Mattie Rhodes Art Gallery
915 W 17th St., Kansas City, MO 64108
(Exhibition runs through Jan 2013)
Special thanks to Jowler Creek Winery for providing our discounted wine and custom labels!
With making a positive impact through travel at the heart our philosophy, what better way to celebrate our 10th anniversary than with the first of a new series of philanthropic journeys. For our inaugural CX Inspire journey we’ll return to Oaxaca to endow a young artist scholarship in close collaboration with one of Oaxaca’s most influential artists. Amongst this trip’s exceptional highlights are:
Culture Xplorers is a “responsible†travel company started by an old Philly friend of mine, Jim Kane. The company offers small group tours that foster a genuine connection between travelers and local communities. I’ve always admired these tours that are sensitive to our world’s diverse living cultures and traditions. They offer the experience of an “exchange” rather than a “take from” the people. I’m also not the only one who’s a fan, National Geographic Traveler has named many of CX journeys as “Top Tours of a Lifetimeâ€. Countries highlighted include Argentina, Mexico, Guatemala, Northern Spain & Portugal…..and probably their most known – Peru.
I’ve been traveling in Peru as the new director of the Culture Xplorers Foundation, the non-profit organization born out of the company. Culture Xplorers Foundation was created in 2007 with the goal of fostering the sustainability of local culture in indigenous communities worldwide, and as a result, Culture Xplorers travelers can make a positive impact on the communities with which they come into contact. The Foundation’s most significant contribution has been towards the CTTC (Center of Traditional Textiles of Cusco). The Weaver’s Awards is an annual awards celebration honoring the indigenous textile artists of Peru. Now in their 8th year, these annual awards motivate hundreds of weavers from nine communities across the Sacred Valley to compete for pride and substantial cash prizes. Each year, 30 winners are honored with medals, certificates of achievement and share a prize pool which has reached over $3,000 annually. These awards act as a positive catalyst, augmenting the heroic, decades-long efforts of CTTC in rescuing this endangered 2,000-year-old tradition.
Still adjusting to the altitude of roughly 12,000 ft, I’m invited to join traditional weavers in the community of Pitumarca for a “dyeing” workshop in the highlands. I finish a second cup of Coca tea by 8am. I’m picked up by Wilson, my local guide who comes from the community of Chinchero. (SIDE NOTE: By the way, not such an indigenous name, right? Wilson tells me that many indigenous communities often name their children after famous Hollywood or Rock Stars. So there’s also a Rambo, and even a Madonna, living in the Andes).
Weavers Wool Dyeing Workshop from Culture Xplorers on Vimeo.
The dyeing workshop takes place approximately 4 times a year. It’s at this time the weavers gather together to dye their wools with natural colors. The workshop is so beneficial because many of the weavers live high in the altitude and wouldn’t have access to some of the materials needed. A full spectrum can be created using elements such as flowers, vines, volcanic ash and minerals. OOOOOh how I would have loved all these goodies in my fort as a little girl – all these recipes from the earth to make delicious COLOR! The elder weavers first spin the wool to get it somewhat organized. They then create a wool soup. Caldrons of boiling water are prepared, the recipe for color is added, and then the natural wool is stirred in. It’s pretty heavy, so sometimes it takes 2-3 weavers with large sticks to get it going. Once the dyes have permeated the wool, it is placed into large plastic bins to cool. The wool is brought to the river for a rinse, and then finally hung to dry. It will have to be spun 2 more times before it’s prepared for the loom.
Someone told me on this trip, “It becomes a workshop once everyone respects each other”. Everyone works together and there’s just a lovely energy in the air. Even the baby lying on the ground, swaddled comfortably in blankets is smiling. I don’t understand the native language of Quechua, but it’s not necessary. As both a woman and artist I feel the connection, and it’s easy to understand why we are all there. There’s an unspoken understanding that the qualities of respect, confidence and self-expression are invaluable within our communities.
Make a contribution towards the weavers communities in Peru through an online donation below. Check/money orders are also accepted: Please make checks payable to Culture Xplorers Foundation and send to 6001 Oak Street, Kansas City, MO 64113 or contact us here.
Tras-Os-Montes region in northeastern Portugal in the minds of many Portuguese has a reputation for being a remote part of the country, a region of many traditions and ancient beliefs, of pre-christian or syncretic festivals where participants dress in rustic, colorful costumes and wear frightening masks to ward off evil spirits in their villages. This was the region where I was drawn to this winter to witness of some of these rites. I found a region steeped in the strong pride of its traditions but with a welcoming warmth much like its hearty beef, pork, and chestnut dishes accompanied by deep red Douro wine which contrasted with its cold and often fog shrouded Terra Fria (cold uplands). Travel to and from Tras-Os-Montes region, due to its historic remoteness, requires time as the country’s network of highways is only now beginning to arrive to the main hub and largest city of the region, Bragança. This historic isolation has been both a blessing and a setback for the region. On one hand, the lack of opportunities for many families has caused a large outmigration from the region leaving many villages nearly empty. On the other hand, many of its traditions (intangible cultural resources) have survived the onslaught of globalization resulting in a unique cultural landscape that retains some special “gems†found nowhere else in Portugal if not the world. This post and some successive ones will cover some of these “gems†that I have had the opportunity and pleasure to witness.
In early winter many villages retain and still practice ancient pre-christian traditions of Os Caretos (mask wearers). Many villages have these mask wearing festivals that are still maintained by its artisan community. I travelled to some of these villages and had the opportunity to meet and interview some of these very talented artists. I would definitely like to thank Dr. Antonio Pinelo Tiza from Bragança, and author of Inverno Magico: Ritos e Mistérios Transmontanos among many other articles and books on the region, who provided me invaluable advice on numerous topics of the region.
In Bragança, I met with Amavel Antão who, inspired by the numerous mask making traditions in the region, has created stunning masks that represent the local folklore and legends. In the cold mountain town of Vila Boa de Ousilhão, I met Antonio José Fernandes do Vale (a.k.a. Tozé) who shared with me his techniques of mask making and the context of the carnival traditions in the village. In nearby Ousilhão, I met the youngest of all the artisans, Romeu Jorge Fernandes and was absolutely amazed at his skill and unique style that he has developed. Meeting him gave me a sense of hope that this tradition would not be lost. Some days later I had the opportunity to travel to Baçal to meet a very lively Senhora Maria Adelaide Pereira who showed me the colorful costumes and the thatch masks she had made for the revelers for the winter celebrations taking place a few days later. Finally I visited Salsas, south of Bragança where I met Senhor Manuel Antonio Cabral and his wife Senhora Ana da Conceição Afonso, both artisans who warmly invited me into their home and shared with me their craft. Senhor Cabral, a very skilled person and proud man of the earth, is now retired but still adds his unique style to the masks of the Salsas winter festivals. His style is unmistakenly unique as he captures frightening corpselike visages in his woodwork. Senhora Afonso has made her name as a highly skilled weaver and seamstress. She has woven the colorful costumes for many of the winter festivals over the years. She demonstrated for me the unique carder made by her husband to spin flax thread (flax which she herself had collected).
I was told by a young man in Bragança, “Em Tras-Os-Montes cada pessoa é um guia.†In Tras-Os-Montes everyone is a guide. I couldn’t agree more. Everywhere I went I found a proud people that were truly helpful, incredibly kind and very willing to share their traditions, their identity with others. The photos above are of the people and places mentioned in the post.
As someone who has returned to Lima time and again starting in 1994, it’s gratifying to see the city increasingly recognized for its many merits, many of which are hidden from first time visitors to this cacaphonous capital.
The truth is, I used to be amongst the hordes of visitors whose goal was to, if not avoid Lima altogether, then at least to minimize the time spent in this often grey, and always bustling metropolis.
Around 2006, I remember looking for interesting things to experience while in Lima and finding myself surprised at the options which have since multiplied. As the positive article in the Daily Telegraph (linked below) asserts, Lima’s charms can be enjoyed in its many world-class restaurants, its heralded museums and in the city’s architectural and archaeological treasures.
This piece in the Telegraph has joined dozens of other articles in recent years extolling Lima’s resurgence, including one by the now defunct Gourmet Magazine naming it as the culinary destination of the year in April 2009. This press serves as a potent reminder that Lima is a compelling destination in and of itself, worthy of appreciation and in-depth exploration.
And while most travelers to Peru, including this one, eagerly await their internal flight up to the highlands or to the Amazon, Lima serves as a mouth-watering first course in the exquisite tasting menu that is Peru. Here are several under-the-radar experience not to miss while in the “City of Kings”:
Farm Fresh Fun. Meet local farmers and sample the healthy fare at Lima’s organic market.
Ceviche Seminar. Delve into the fine art of ceviche — boarding a fisherman’s skiff, explore the city’s fresh fish market, enjoy chef-led ceviche demonstration
Behind the Scenes at the Larco. Enjoy a guided tour of the highly lauded Larco Museum, and savor a pre-dinner cocktail overlooking their shady garden
Fine Folk Art. Enter the home & private gallery of one of Peru’s pre-eminent folk art experts.Hear stories & share insights from her 40 years of collecting.
Of course, each of the above are experiences we gladly organize for Culture Xplorers travelers to Peru!
Here are some additional links to recent articles about Peru’s resurgent capital city:
http://www.cntraveler.com/
http://www.travelandleisure.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
http://travel.nytimes.com/
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
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