Pacific Tropical Rainforest: Source of livelihood and stage for celebrations

West of the highlands, and along the Pacific Coast, we come to the Pacific Tropical Rainforest. The high western range of the Andes geographically isolates this ecosystem from the rest of the country. Among the most biologically diverse places on the planet, it is a fragile environment threatened by the intense extraction and exploitation of its timber, minerals, and fish.

Rivers are at the center of everyday life and the crossroads for all economic, religious, and cultural activities. Rivers of life and death, rivers of communication, sacred rivers, festive rivers, rivers of fish and gold, rivers of identity. Water and the rainforest are the source of life and the site of interaction for the region’s indigenous, mestizo, and majority African-descent populations.

PARTICIPANTS

Ziomara Asprilla García, hair braider and stylist, Istmina
Ziomara Asprilla started hair braiding as a hobby. She developed her braiding skills by practicing on herself and others in her town. Now she participates in braiding contests at regional and national levels and has won contests for her elaborate designs.

Baudilio Guama Rentería, marimba instrument maker and musician, Buenaventura
Baudilio Guama is a well-known marimba de chonta builder. Baudilio builds this traditional instrument of the Pacific rainforest from local wood, including the palma de chonta which is a hard, dark, durable wood. He sells the instruments to music groups throughout the region. 

Rufa Herrera de Perea, cook, Medellín
Rufa Herrera is well known for her Pacific rainforest-style of cooking. She prepares dishes, such as arroz con coco, caldo de guafuco, and patacones. She moved to Medellín to work in hotels and restaurants where she has since learned other types of cooking.

Francisco Mena Palacios, filigree jewelry craftsman, Quibdó
Francisco has been a filigree goldsmith for over thirty years. He learned his craft from his father, starting off as a messenger and errand boy. He now has his own shop where he works with other local jewelers. He specializes in earrings, rings, necklaces, and customized designs.

Leonor Palacios Rentería, fiber and textile craftswoman, Quibdó
Leonor Palacios works with damagua, a light wood tree that produces a fiber used for making string. She makes hammocks, mats, ceremonial clothes, and other lightweight objects.

Casimiro Perlaza Mena, carpenter, wood carver, Quibdó
Casimiro Perlaza is a carpenter who works with a wide variety of wood found in the Pacific rainforest. He builds wooden pans for gold panning and rayos, the traditional washboards used by women for washing clothes in the river.

Migdonio Rivas Ríos, chirimía music instrument maker, Quibdó
Migdonio Rivas is one of few regional experts who makes percussion instruments for chirimía ensembles. He learned the trade from his father, and he works alongside his brother in their shop. He worries that his art will be lost because traditional materials are being replaced with synthetic ones.

Cantaoras de Alabaos del Pacífico, singing group

• Cruz Neyla Murillo Mosquera, singer, azotea gardener, Andagoya
• Leonor Murillo, singer, San Andrés
• Zully Murillo de Caicedo, singer, Cali
• Fulvia Ruíz Ibarguen, singer, artisanal miner, Andagoya

The Cantadoras de Alabaos del Pacífico sing in style typical of the Pacific rainforest region. They sing primarily for funeral rituals, and their songs are mainly performed by women. These rituals and songs reinforce a sense of solidarity, bring the community together, and keep the memory of the Pueblo Afro alive.

Chirimía La Contundencia, chirimía music group, Quibdó

• Leonidas Valencia Valencia, director, musician (saxhorn)
• Rick Lludson Montealegre Rodríguez, musician (snare drum)
• Tomás Domingo Moreno Córdoba, musician (clarinet)
• Abdo Abel Murillo Mosquera, musician (tambora)
• Leonidas Valencia Peña, musician (cymbals)

La Contundencia is an ensemble that plays chirimía, a traditional genre of the northern Pacific region played by small brass bands. This genre features European-derived tunes and can be heard during carnival or patron-saint festivities. La Contundencia was part of the wave of musicians that added piano, bass, guitar, conga, and bongo to create a more orchestral style. So while they perform chirimía in its natural, improvised manner, they also emphasize instrumental variety.  Today they are considered the most iconic band interpreting traditional Pacifico music.