1. Bridge over the Rio Balsas
2. Rio Balsas
3. Our first sight of Agustin Oapan. A poor village.
On the 27th of February 2005, we went to San Agustin Oapan in Guerrero, the home town of the artisans working at Casa Romero. It was the first day of the village’s annual fiesta. Carlos, one of the most accomplished artisans accompanied us to show us the way. Lilia who helps with the Casa Romero shipments when we are away and is working for Canadian Friends of VAMOS! on special projects to encourage and facilitate VAMOS! children to attend public schools came along as well as a friend and archaeologist Birgit.
The photo shows the Rio Balsas river. It is the end of the dry season so the river is narrower than in the rainy season but it still has a swift current.
San Agustin Oapan is on the Rio Balsas. There are several similar villages on the river. All the inhabitants speak Nahuatl and most speak or are learning Spanish. We were introduced to an anthropologist in the village, who speaks Nahuatl and has been studying the artisans of these villages for over 30 years. The villagers have never been able to support themselves by farming alone as the land is very dry.
After the Spanish conquest of the Philippines, which was carried out from Mexico, Acapulco became the main port of trade with the Philippines. The villagers who lived on the trade route from Mexico City to Acapulco, in addition to subsistence farming, travelled and traded in salt and pottery. The painted pottery became well known and reflected their life in the villages and their relationship with nature. In the early 50’s villagers made contact with amate paper makers from Puebla and started to paint on amate which was easier to carry. Their paintings were sold directly to Mexicans and tourists and brought income back to their villages.
San Agustin Oapan is about 4 hours from Cuernavaca by public transport or on local roads. Using the Mexico City – Acapulco highway reduces the time to 2 hours. The bridge, shown at the top of the page, crosses the Rio Balsas and you can exit on the far side and then descend the dirt road to the river bed. If you look carefully on the left you can see the road winding down the mountain.
We walked to the centre of town where we saw they had made a basketball court. Basketball is very popular and the surrounding towns had been invited to participate in a tournament. Thanks to the support that our artisans have had they now have time to play in Cuernavaca and their team does quite well.
On the way we kept seeing Carlos painted on the roadside. We asked Carlos if he would pose beside his name. There was a recent gubernatorial election in Guerrero. Carlos was not the winning candidate.
We stopped at Samuel’s house to have a drink. Birgit asked for a bathroom. There aren’t any in the whole village. She was led to an area where the family keeps their pigs and Birgit was told that the pigs would clean up after her.
Next we were off to Federico’s home for our first meal. On the right, part of Federico’s family – his younger brother, a nephew, Federico, his now wife, they were married on Wednesday, March 2nd, his sister-in-law, his niece and his older brother. The house that you see and where we ate our first meal belongs to the family and was built in the last year and a half with the painters’ earnings. They all sign Federico. Serafin is the father and is a widower, he paints and sells in Cuernavaca, there are five sons and two daughters. The oldest son is married and has two children, Federico is next and just married, Rafael and Maximino work in Cuernavaca at Casa Romero, and the youngest and the two sisters stay at home. All live together as an extended family and contribute to the building of their home. It is one of the nicest in San Agutin Oapan and they are very proud of their accomplishments.
Federico asked us to take the picture of him and his soon to be wife in front of the family’s new home. We made an enlargement and left it at Casa Romero. They are expected to pass through Sunday, March 6th on their way to Monterrey where they hope to find new outlets for their work.
We next went to the home of one of the most famous of the amate painters. His name is Marcial Camilo Ayala. He and his brother’s works are in collections in North America and Europe. Their paintings are larger and are sold through an agent. We hope to see some of their work in Cuernavaca before we leave but as of Friday (March 4th) no one had returned to Cuernavaca. We were introduced to Marcial because Serafin and Samuel and Carlos wanted us to meet their teacher. Also it was at his home that we met the anthropologist.
We were offered drinks and were shown photographs of Marcial’s work. It is beautiful. We were accompanied by Carlos, Samuel and Serafin.
Serafin then led us to a friend’s house that makes wood sculpture out of tree branches. He knew Bill and Patty, who had visited him in San Agustin Oapan and helped him market his work.
We then moved on to Samuel’s where there was the same kind of family compound. The women work hard cooking, washing, taking care of the children and serving. The only women eating with the men were Lilia, Birgit and I. We had our third meal here.
We were invited for a 4th meal by Samuel’s in-laws who had killed a cow. We declined as we didn’t want to drive back in the dark and it was 6:00 pm and the rodeo was starting. We wanted to leave by 6:30 as the dirt road had some washed out places which were dangerous enough in the daylight.
We waited until 7:00. The music had started and some horsemen were warming up but the sun was setting and we had to leave. So Will drove us back to Cuernavaca. A truly amazing experience.
Will and Claudia Graham
February, 2005.
