POPULAR ART : Christian faith and identity on show in popular art

Fredy Huasacca, Edwin Huasacca and Richard Chavez Quispe

An interesting show of Popular Art was exhibited on the second day of the I Congress of Sodalit Spirituality, composed of works of ceramic and one of the largest Ayacuchan retables ever made in Peru.

The works belong to a group of popular artists that make up part of some initiatives that have been in motion in the last few months with the Cultural, Theatrical, and Social Institute (ICTYS). Thanks to this work these artisans have renewed their Christian faith and identity with vivid enthusiasm.

The show was inaugurated by Javier Leturia, a member of Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, who pointed out that "each one of the works has a history, expresses a reality that goes beyond what is seen. They speak to us of faith, of traditions, of cultural roots, of joys and sorrows." In addition he emphasized that the artisans have been renewed in their faith and valued as artists "who have received a gift
from God that they want to communicate."

The Exhibition of Popular Art contains works by Magno, Edwin and Fredy Huasacca, Richard Chávez Quispe, Brigitte Mendivil Olarte, Jesús Landeo, all of whom are native to Ayacucho or Lima.

Huamanga, Unforgettable Land

One of the works which stands out because of its size and beauty is "Huamanga, Unforgettable Land," a two meter high by one meter wide retable located at the entrance of the second room conditioned specially for the Congress.

This work by Silvestre Ataucusi is, moreover, a true catechesis on the Easter Triduum. The five levels which compose the retable contain impressive figures of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ and hundreds of artisanal figures in different expressions that accompany the Passion of the Lord Jesus.

Leturia explained that this retable was crafted by Silvestre, his wife Nicolasa and their four children over ten months. "Silvestre told us that in those days he got to know his children much more than he had done over a much longer period of time; in the midst of the work he heard them tell stories about their daily lives, what happened to them every day, from very simple things to more important ones that caused him to react with a mix of joy, tenderness and sometimes amazement.