Going WAY Back

I had mentioned in the one and only post I did in July that I had the privilege to travel to Colon, Panama this summer, the city where my Omi (abuelita/grandmother) was born and raised, before my great grandparents (one Venezuelan, one Cuban) decided they would move to Cuba. I feel as if my heritage is scattered all over the Caribbean and Central America. And it pretty much is. For simplicity's sake, let me break it down. Basically, I have Spanish ancestors who moved to the Caribbean themselves. And although a few generations married what you could call "the locals" (otherwise known as people with some sort of native decent), my family line remained Spanish white. This is known as a Castilian line, and it's still fawned over in the Caribbean today. Light skin, light eyes, and light hair are all the rage in the Caribbean when it comes to beauty. And what's funny is in terms of beauty, women who are well balanced between African and Hispanic/Native decent are also considered extremely beautiful, but for completely opposite reasons. BUT that is besides the point. So when people go "hey you're Cuban?! But you're really white!" I'm like uhhh yeah it's all about the family tree.

So, anywho. The point is I'm a white girl trying to pass off as Cuban. But I have all these great random members of my family who have native blood in them. It's hard to be from a Caribbean culture and NOT have native blood in you somewhere. (Really hoping I'm Incan in there somewhere, because they're my favorite and totally badass.)

ANCIENT PANAMA!!!

I was perusing through the Metropolitan Museum of Art's archives and online collection and found some ancient Caribbean art, also known as Pre-Columbian Art. I found one piece in particular from Panama that really stood out to me.

CHECK IT OUT!! The figures on these vessels are variations of mythical creatures. What stands out to me is that one of the only features that the artist chose to include on this mythical lizard is what the Met describes as "scaly or feathery details." I believe that these mythical figures are representational of what could be a composite clawed bird. Birds were significant to ancient people in not only their avian abilities that linked them between earthly and celestial realms, but in the preciousness of their feathers that allowed them flight. The ancient people (and by ancient people I mean Taino, Olmec, Mayan, all of them) believed that the world had three realms: celestial, earthly and the underworld. The only way for humans to pass between realms was by death. Therefore, they took observation to things in nature that surpassed them, such as trees and birds. These simple subjects are not only about what is beautiful, but what they considered to be more powerful than humans. And if it beats a human, it's gotta be worth painting on a vessel.

Much of modern day Caribbean art pays tribute to this way of thinking that other pieces of nature are more powerful and meaningful than human life. I have to say, I agree.