Though I’m getting antsy to arrive in Peñaherrera and start teaching, Quito has been keeping me busy and on my toes. Yesterday, Luis took our Spanish class on an expedition to el mercado de Santa Clara, an incredible indoor market whose vendors sold everything from exotic fruits to blocks of cane sugar, herbal medicines, and what we where told was some sort of shark meat. I didn’t have my camera with me, or else I would have been completely overwhelmed with trying to document the interesting sights and beautiful colors. As I mentioned last time, Ecuador is a country for fruit-lovers. A few of my favorites are the tomate del arbol, granadilla, uvilla (tomatillo), and guanábana.
In other news, this morning the group took a trip to La Capilla del Hombre (“The Chapel of Man”), an incredible museum dedicated to the thoughts and works of Oswaldo Guayasamín, a remarkable Quitano painter whose style is evocative of Picasso’s. Before Guayasamín died in 1999, he contributed to the design of the museum, which is a piece of art in itself. The building’s top floor is an enormous ring that is sandwiched between a domed skylight above and a red bowl and flame below that mirrors the skylight. It’s a beautiful piece of architecture that wonderfully integrates the duality of Guayasamín’s work.
The museum’s title comes from this duality: the human capacity for both cruelty and beauty. Guayasamín uses exaggerated images of hands and faces to express deep emotions, both of suffering and hope. Many of his paintings are responses to horrific genocides and wars:
Others highlight familial love and tenderness:
He also painted many scenes of the city of Quito as viewed from his house, which is attached to the museum. You can compare his depiction (“Quito de la nube negra”) with my photo:
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