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MASCARILLA Y DOS ACEQUIAS, ECUADOR - AG0STO- 7- 2006. Handicraft of “Asociación Artesanal GAEN” of Mascarilla. Mascarilla is one of the 38 communities of the Afro-Ecuadorian Valle del Chota, in the province of Carchi, in Ecuador. The Mascarilla community was established as such, after its population managed to survive the slave process. Its population has its origins in the slaves taken by force from West Africa and who were taken to populate the banks of the Chota River. Their exploiters, mainly Jesuits, forced them to grow sugar cane in inhuman conditions, gradually losing their language and traditions. The tireless struggle of the Afro women in the area allowed them to gradually recover small lands and their own organization and identity. The women of Mascarilla have been fundamental in the whole process of revaluation of their roots, of their past, with an important contribution to the richness of an identity under construction. These women lead a Cultural Revitalization initiative that, as they affirm, "aims to be a contribution in the construction of our black identity denied or unknown to many, but which is present." Through the art of ceramics and community tourism, they present their talents, skills, abilities and ancestral wisdoms. The proposal arose in 1996, when a group of dreamer and fighter women began to look for other forms of work and sustenance. By modeling the earth they express gestures, emotions, feelings, characters. Through the masks, they seek to strengthen their identity, customs and traditions. Photos taken between 2000 and 2006. (Photo: Patricio Realpe/ChakanaNews)
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2021 ChakanaNews
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MASCARILLA´S WOMEN, ART AND AFRO IDENTITY
MASCARILLA Y DOS ACEQUIAS, ECUADOR - AG0STO- 7- 2006. Handicraft of “Asociación Artesanal GAEN” of Mascarilla. Mascarilla is one of the 38 communities of the Afro-Ecuadorian Valle del Chota, in the province of Carchi, in Ecuador. The Mascarilla community was established as such, after its population managed to survive the slave process. Its population has its origins in the slaves taken by force from West Africa and who were taken to populate the banks of the Chota River. Their exploiters, mainly Jesuits, forced them to grow sugar cane in inhuman conditions, gradually losing their language and traditions. The tireless struggle of the Afro women in the area allowed them to gradually recover small lands and their own organization and identity. The women of Mascarilla have been fundamental in the whole process of revaluation of their roots, of their past, with an important contribution to the richness of an identity under construction. These women lead a Cultural Revitalization initiative that, as they affirm, "aims to be a contribution in the construction of our black identity denied or unknown to many, but which is present." Through the art of ceramics and community tourism, they present their talents, skills, abilities and ancestral wisdoms. The proposal arose in 1996, when a group of dreamer and fighter women began to look for other forms of work and sustenance. By modeling the earth they express gestures, emotions, feelings, characters. Through the masks, they seek to strengthen their identity, customs and traditions. Photos taken between 2000 and 2006. (Photo: Patricio Realpe/ChakanaNews)

CHAKANANEWS 2021