Navigation The Colombian Mopa-Mopa Barniz, a tradition that is preserved in the neighborhoods.

This content was published on January 5, 2022 - 13:01

Jorge Gil Ángel

Pasto (Colombia), Jan 5 (EFE) .- In the neighborhoods of the Colombian city of Pasto, art is breathed and, as its inhabitants repeat, in each family there is at least one artist, a context that leads to the conservation of millennials andTraditional knowledge associated with Mopa-Mopa varnish.

This artisanal technique of indigenous origin with which objects are decorated using the "mop-boot", an Amazon shrub of which only twice a year springs a sticky resin, was included in December 2020 in the list of intangible cultural heritage requiredURGENT MEASURES OF UNESCO SAVAGUARDA.

The colorful designs, which include figures of all kinds, are stamped on objects ranging from wooden chairs to refrigerators after a long process that starts with the collection of leaf sprouts in the neighboring department of Putumayo and ends with the cut of cuttingThe Mapa-Mopa sheet in the product to be decorated.

In families such as Obando, tradition has jumped from generation to generation, from teacher in teacher, and despite the fact that in many cases it seems that oblivion will take the wisdom associated with the varnish of Pasto, the recognition of UNESCO hasGiven an impulse to this tradition.

"This recognition is very deserved for our region, our culture, our country, for being a unique craft in the world," Maestro Germán Obando tells Efe, who considers that the most relatives of his will be involved in this trade thanks to theInclusion in the UNESCO list.

FAMILY HERITAGE

The Obando workshop is in the El Calvario neighborhood, a residential area located at the rise of a Loma de Pasto, capital of the department of Nariño, nestled between the mountains of the Andes mountain range.

There, Germán works with his father, José María Obando, who in 2012 received the teacher of teachers for the development of his artisanal activity that, according to the family, has a centenary tradition.

"I have delivered all my life to this legacy of my family, to a cultural legacy that has positioned our crafts, to our department. Every day I am making many contributions to the technique: investigating, making new designs, incorporating the technique to othersLevels in different materials in fashion, jewelry or in domestic products, "says Germán.

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The Obando are part of the "School Workshops" project, which is confinanced by the Ministry of Culture and with which it seeks to strengthen generational relief and bring young people closer to artisanal activity.

International representation

In the populous panoramic neighborhood, which, as the name implies, has a privileged view of the entire city, Mary Hermelinda Ortega and her husband Mario Narváez live, two artisans who are dedicated from children to the technique of grass varnish.

Like the Obando, the Narváez family has a school workshop in which Mary dictates classes to five women seeking to keep the legacy of their ancestors.

"It is an inheritance, it is the heritage that my father has instilled me (...) My family is dedicated to this for about 60 years. My father instilled it in me, I showed it to my wife and our two children"Narváez tells Efe.

The work of both has been recognized in Colombia and demonstrates the development of the technique, since both Mario and Mary make the cuts of the sheets in a very mechanical way and with the accuracy of a watchmaker.

So prominent is what the woman was chosen by the Ministry of Culture to represent the artisans of the Mopa-Mopa varnish in the Colombian pavilion of Dubai's Expo 2020, a trip that was scheduled for the first days of this monthBut that by the Pandemia of the COVID-19 it will be made, possibly, in February.

"It is a dream come true, transferring borders, our crafts since we are the only place in the world where the mop-boot is made," says Ortega, who has been dedicated to this trade almost three decades.

Thus, artisans seek to safeguard in the neighborhoods a centenary tradition that, in addition to their cultural relevance and to serve as a support, confirms that in Pasto forgot the heritage is not an option.EFE

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