Driving through Ciudad
Vieja, the former capital of Guatemala, is hardly eventful. Besides a
glimpse of the brilliantly whitewashed cathedral with the Agua
volcano as a backdrop, the town is unremarkable and mostly full of
traffic. Even in the midst of a pandemic, without the regular flock
of chicken busses and only alternating plates allowed to circulate,
traffic is overwhelming and crossing the road is not for the feint of
heart.
The streets are narrow,
with one-story homes and businesses on both sides, leaving little
space for pedestrians. Whereas the architecture is mostly typical
colonial, the paint is too drab, the walls too covered with fading
ads, the air too polluted for the town to be considered beautiful.
How different it must have
been in its heyday! It wasn't called Ciudad Vieja (Old City) then,
and it wasn't the country's first capital either. That one was named
Guatemala, which means 'Forested Land' in Nahuatl, the language of
the Spanish's allies who came from what is now Mexico. This Maya
Kakchiquel settlement, Iximché, the second most important city in
the Guatemalan highlands, was declared capital in 1524. It didn't
last long. The Kaqchikel were initially allies but soon started to
rebel against the Spanish conquistadors. They deserted the city
which two yers later was burned down by the Spanish. They packed
their bags, saddled up and founded a new capital on the south-west
slope of the Agua volcano in 1527, July 25th, feast day of
Saint James for which the town was called Santiago de los Caballeros.
The big boss in town was
Pedro Alvarado, but he was off fighting the indigenous further up
north in what is now Mexico. It didn't go too well and while dying on
the battlefield, he bequeathed his wealth and right to rule to his
wife, the Spanish noblewoman Beatriz de la Cueva (not his first wife,
he was previously wedded to Beatriz's sister Francisca, until she
died). Beatriz received notice on August 28th and was
besides herself with grief. She immediately ordered the walls of the
beautiful palace, overlooking the town, to be painted black, both
inside and out. But she wasn't so out of it that she forgot about her
responsibilities. Actually, her brother Francisco had been put in
charge during her husband's absence and it was only logical that he
would continue with his duties. But no, Beatriz summoned him and the
rest of the city's upper crust and declared that she would take over
from that moment on. On September 9th, she signed the
paperwork that put her in power as “la sin ventura”, the
unfortunate one, because of her recent loss. Little did she know
there was much more to lose...
Because... there was a
plot against her.
The royal treasurer and
his supporters had been planning a coup for the early morning of
September 11th. But Beatriz, now the first female governor
in the New World, found out about it and sent her brother Lieutenant
Francisco, in charge of day-to-day matters, to arrest the men. They
hid in an abandoned house and avoided arrest.
Now, history might have
taken a turn right then and there if it weren't for a combination of
unfortunate natural disasters. There are conflicted theories of what
really happened, but most versions contain one or more of the
following phenomena: a strong earthquake; the wall of a volcanic lake
collapsing causing a flood; extensive rain; mudslides; lahar.
Beatriz heard the rumble,
grabbed her little daughter by the arm and ran for shelter in the
chapel. Unfortunately, the roof of the chapel collapsed and crushed
her to death. And that was the end of it, both for the first female
governor and for the second capital of Guatemala. (Some have used
this story to illustrate the fact that women should not enter
politics, but that is, of course, utter nonsense.)
The town was completely
destroyed. But two years later, we're in 1543 now, a new capital
arose in the nearby Panchoy valley, carrying the same name of
Santiago de los Caballeros, now known as Antigua (as in “Ancient
Guatemala” versus “Guatemala”, the current capital).
The town suffered major
earthquakes in 1565, 1575, 1577, 1585, 1717 and 1751. But the one in
1773, that destroyed major parts of town, was the last straw and lead
to the decision to move the capital once and for all to its current
location.
And to make a really long
story short, it has absolutely NOTHING to do with what this post is
about: a new mural, in Ciudad Vieja!
The Corona virus has
affected my mural plans quite a bit. I was just about to start
painting with a group of adolescents in Alotenango, after a week of
preparatory workshops, when the schools were closed and the state of
emergency announced on March 16. It is very unlikely we'll be able to
continue the project this year, so I was looking for other
opportunities.
About two years ago, one
of my neighbours in Antigua asked me if I could paint a mural at the
school she worked for in Ciudad Vieja. I promised I'd keep it in
mind, but nothing ever came of it.
While discussing the
future of the Alotenango project with the kids' teacher, he told me
that his wife is director of a small school and she very much would
like a mural. Turns out it was the same school in Ciudad Vieja, so it
felt like it was meant to be.
Of course normally we
would involve the kids in the project, but with the schools closed,
there was no way. Logistically there were some challenges (no public
transportation, alternating circulation of cars etc.) as well as our
safety to think about. But in the end it turned out to be a perfect
project under these circumstances.
The school is located in
one of those buzzling, narrow side streets of Ciudad Vieja, this part
of town well known for its woodworkers and coffin manufacturers. The
school was founded in 2009 by a group of teachers who wanted to offer
quality education to children from nearby rural communities whose
parents had come to Ciudad Vieja to look for work or because they had
lost their homes. These children come from difficult and very poor
backgrounds, quite often behind in their academic skills. The school
currently caters to 58 elementary students and 12 kids in
kindergarten.
Soon, the school will have
its own digital library. The teahers already made space for it, but
it just looked like a dump. And that's were MuralArte Guate came in.
I decided on a background of monochrome colours, in the same colour
scheme as the logo of the project that is called Monocramía. It now
looks a bit like Guatemalan typical fabric. On it are several dots or
holes with scenes representing various elements of life: outer space,
jungle, kids with books, the ocean and a scenic view of Ciudad Vieja
with its cathedral and volcano in the background. There's also a
laptop representing modern technology and a cable connecting all
these elements.
It was so nice to be
painting a mural again, together with my fabulous assistant Henry
Calel. Such a pity we couldn't involve kids in the process, but we
hope they'll enjoy their new library a lot.
This mural was made
possible thanks to a legacy of the Eben Haëzer
Church in Klazienaveen in Holland.