Spirit of a New Day

Spirit of a New Day: Ensuring the Cultural Survival of the Huichol People
SchoolArts Magazine, April 2013

Bridging the chasm between the traditional and the contemporary world is often the calling of an artist. Huichol yarn painter, Cilau Caladez, son of the most renowned yarn painter in Mexico, finds himself in this position.

Born in the Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains, Cilau grew up steeped in the traditional art of his people. His parents, Mariano and Susana, created a non-profit organization, the Huichol Center for Cultural Survival, dedicated to assisting the Huichol (Wixaritari in their native tongue) with a variety of services, including training in the traditional arts of beaded jewelry and sculptures and yarn painting.

Deeply influenced by his heritage and environment, Cilau, at nine years of age, created his first yarn painting under the tutelage of his father. Under the guidance of a Marakame, Cilau learned the spiritual teachings of his people and carried them into his art.

The Huichol People
The Huichol have for centuries preserved their unique cultural traditions and pre-Hispanic religious beliefs, largely due to their remote location in the rugged mountains of Mexico where the landscape is marked by extremes. Deep canyons cut through high mesas of pine forest. The Huichol live in groups with their extended families in small isolated rancherías. It may take a walk of several hours, over rugged terrain, to reach the closest neighbor.

Huichol Traditions
The concept of balance is central to Huichol belief and the yearly ceremonial cycle is divided into seasonal observances. Ceremonies are performed and offerings are made to the gods to keep the world in harmony, entreating a successful harvest, hunting, fertility and health. Intrinsic to the ceremonies is the creation of objects encoded with symbols representing prayers to be offered to the gods.

These decorative offerings are the precursor to the modern Huichol colorful and highly detailed yarn paintings and beaded sculptures. In the early 1950s, Huichol artists began to adapt and refine their traditional techniques that subsequently evolved into the sophisticated and vibrant yarn paintings and beaded sculptures that are now renowned in the global art market. A typical yarn painting can take 40 hours to make.

Cilau Caladez
Cilau’s desire to learn English brought him to the United States for high school at the age of fourteen. He distinguished himself as a student, earning various scholastic awards, but upon graduation decided to return home and follow in the footsteps of his father. Since then he has taken the art of yarn painting to a new and transformative level.

Working in tandem, Cilau and his father Mariano have been invited to represent the Wixarika people and their native arts in the United Sates, Europe, and Canada. Along with his artistic accomplishments, Cilau’s command of English has created opportunities for him to travel, demonstrate, and teach about the Huichol in many places.

Cilau’s first international event was in Los Angeles followed by trips to Chicago, London, Madrid, and Vancouver, Canada. During the summer of 2009, he was the featured artist at the International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He has been an invited guest every year since.

Cilau uses his art as a way to create connections between his people and the natural world. When he is not traveling, Cilau accepts commissions, creates his visionary art, and works as an activist, deeply committed to the preservation of his culture and the planet. Rich in symbolism, vibrant in color, Cilau Caladez’s yarn paintings are works to treasure for their aesthetic beauty and cultural significance.

by Stevie Mack, president of CRIZMAC Art and Cultural Education Materials steviemack@crizmac.com

Web Links
http://thehuicholcenter.org/huichol-art/cilau-valadez-huichol-yarn-painter/
https://www.facebook.com/galeriatanana