Entering the Mountain City of Pasto
I’m in the mountain city of Pasto, Southern Colombia’s craft capitol. Despite being just North of the equator the altitude means the days are cool and the nights chilly.
Pasto has been an amazing place to start. Over the past two weeks I’ve met with and filmed around a dozen artisans working in the two unique crafts of Barniz de Pasto and Tamo de Pasto. Both crafts involve the decoration of wood carvings which can be anything from bowls to jaguars.
The process of making Barniz de Pasto starts with a journey to the Amazon basin to collect young leaves from the mopa-mopa tree. These are then boiled which releases a soft resin. This mopa-mopa resin must be kneaded and beaten to get out impurities. Now the artist chooses which dyes to add and kneads them into the resin. This gives many Barniz artists their distinctive rainbow collared fingers. After the dye has been added and the resin softened in boiling water it is stretched by pinching and biting the edges, then slowly stretching it into a thin sheet.
Once the artist has enough colors to work with he will carefully cut them and apply them to the wood. Many layers may be added to give a piece depth and this process can take anywhere from a few hours to days.
Tamo de Pasto is similar but uses wheat and barley straw. As with the barniz there is an art to preparing the tamo. Only perfect lengths of straw may be used. Their outer layer is sliced off and then a careful incision is made to split them open. Some are dyed and others left their natural color. Most decorating is done by gluing down long strips of tamo to form colorful swirls or geometric patterns but there is also a more demanding style in which the tamo is cut into small pieces and applied almost like a mosaic.
Pasto has been an amazing place to launch my search. There have been so many amazing artists who have invited me into their homes and workshops. Next I’m heading deeper into the mountains, to the Sibundoy valley, home to the Kamsá and the Inga. I hadn't heard of this place before coming to Colombia but the more I learn the more excited I get. The culture runs deep there and even the geography of the place, an expansive valley locked away behind a ring of mountains, calls to me.
