Colour, Materials, Trends
PAINTING CHANGE IN SANTA CATARINA PALOPÓ
May 2019
The Guatemalan contribution to the London Design Biennale 2018 showcased ‘Pintando el Cambio’ (Painting Change) exhibiting an immersive installation of coloured wooden geometric shaped boxes suspended between hanging paper structures and a video explaining the project’s aim. The video explained that more than 75% of the residents of the small town of Santa Catarina Palopó, situated on Lake Atitlan, lived in poverty.
The lake is becoming more polluted every year, meaning that fishing trade and income to families relying on this has ceased. The collective wanted to improve the quality of life of inhabitants by attracting more tourists to the area, to bring in money and lead to improvements in sanitation through help from the government and local authorities. The idea to do this came by making the town beautiful, painting all the buildings in colourful patterns inspired by their Maya beliefs and traditional textiles. They gave away free posters showcasing a Maya design in red, purple and yellow which I am facing (framed on my wall) as I write this.
A few months later I was heading to Central America on a trip starting in Mexico and moving into Guatemala. I wanted to help towards Painting Change achieving its goal, so making it my mission to see this town, we visited it soon after arriving on the lake. We arrived by tuk-tuk on the bumpiest road, the tuk-tuk struggling on the steep hills as there were four of us plus our driver weighing it down. Driving into the town, you start to notice the colour along the edges of the road, on low walls and viewpoint stops. As you enter the town, the eco-friendly limestone paint starts to take over more buildings until you are surrounded by vivid colour in the small town centre.
Painting Change intends to transform the community through creativity and a pride of heritage. The geometric designs run through the town, as Palopó is creating it’s own style that preserves the Maya traditions and indigenous crafts, under direction from local Guatemalan artist Diego Olivero. Families choose from 7 base colours to paint their homes, and 7 geometric bands with added Maya symbols such as a quetzal (the national bird of Guatemala), butterfly or corn plant, so the town isn’t as much graffiti’d, and more co-ordinated. “The design starts from the idea that Santa Catarina is a large huipil (traditional woven tunic) that is drying on the mountain and that connects the lake with the sky of Atitlán.”
It was quiet when we visited, so we strolled along the streets admiring the patterns before they petered out into plain concrete and bricks. Women were weaving on backstrap looms in front of their stalls, where we bought textile pieces (for prices much cheaper than places we’d been) and the Maya symbols in each piece were explained to us.
With over 200 houses being painted so far, the community are positive. We had heard recommendations from other backpackers who had already visited, so it was good to know that word was spreading. Jobs are being created, Santa Catarina is becoming a tourist stop-off and there is a sense of belonging and pride in this beautiful little lakeside area.
Features: https://pintandoelcambio.com