by Hope MacLean
It is likely that this distinction between sacred originals and copies is an old one in Huichol culture. Lumholtz (1902, 2:169–171, 181–182), for example, found that the Huichol refused to give him the original statue of the fire god kept in a sacred cave near Santa Catarina, but would make him a copy of the god for his collection.
Fig. 13.1. Fabian González Rĺos, yarn painting, 2005. 4” x 4” (10 x 10 cm). When the shaman beats the drum, lightning comes out of the drum at night. This painting illustrates that visionary experience. Photo credit: Adrienne Herron.
The original yarn paintings, the oldest designs, are representations of a temple itself and the offerings inside it. The Temple of the Deer God (MacLean 2005b, v) represents an original painting. Chavelo describes this painting as a representation of the temple of the Huichol. The temple is the deer god itself; the candles, prayer arrows, corn, and plumes in front are offerings to the deer. He commented that this is an excellent painting because it is original, that is, it is an old style of painting, made in a traditional way as a circle. He implied that the concepts it depicts are also traditional.
Since he described the original paintings as conventional representations of a temple, I asked whether the Huichol also depicted peyote visions, that is, whether paintings could be used to show personal experience as well as a traditional design. He replied that if a person has a peyote vision, he or she can make a yarn painting as a reminder of what they saw. They can keep it for when they get old. As they go on in life, they can keep the painting and add others to it. However, they must keep it well guarded.
Eligio Carrillo confirmed a number of the points made by Chavelo about the relationship between sacred and commercial yarn paintings. He agreed that sacred yarn paintings are made as prayers or offerings; however, it is acceptable to make copies in order to support oneself.
ELIGIO: For this reason [as a religious offering], we use the nierika. For this reason, we make it. But we don’t make it to sell. Those which we [sell are] copies. [The originals] are the basis [the foundation], which, like those we make here, they are carried to that place [that is, taken on pilgrimages].
Eligio and Chavelo appear to contradict each other, since Chavelo maintains that sacred paintings should not leave a temple, while Eligio describes taking them on pilgrimages and leaving them as offerings. I believe that this is because they are describing different uses of yarn paintings. Chavelo is describing a painting as something equivalent to the god disk, which sits on the altar and represents the temple itself. To Chavelo, even the sacred paintings that are taken on pilgrimages are copies of the original god disk.
According to Eligio, the yarn paintings themselves represent powers, whether they are sacred offerings or commercial paintings. This is because the same powers and their origins are depicted in both kinds of paintings.
ELIGIO: But they are powers, how a person should make them. What is it that they contain. What is it that we search for. Which is the power. Which are the [cardinal] places of the gods. Everything. Everything. Well drawn out, we have here. But we draw it out of this [the nierika, or yarn painting], where we learn. Because it is the mirror. For this reason, we can explain, a person can explain it himself. That is what this contains.
HOPE: The yarn painting is like a mirror of the gods. And you bring it forth from that?
ELIGIO: Yes, exactly. It is representing it, now, that which it contains. What is it that he is seeing here, the shaman. Translating it with which part, with which colors, all that.
I went on to ask Eligio whether yarn paintings in themselves had a form of power. He said that they might, but that their power depended on the power of the person who made them.
HOPE: This is a question that many people have asked me, whether there is power in the painting itself. For example, if I buy a painting—I am a buyer and I buy a painting—does that painting have the power of a shaman also?
ELIGIO: Yes, because it carries all the power that there is. That’s how it is. For this reason, many times, many people don’t know what it contains. Well then, since I am explaining all the powers that you want to know about, you will know which are the powers. That which it contains, in my opinion, it has to carry some of the power of a shaman.
HOPE: Then if I touch that painting, I can feel the powers that it contains, which the shaman put in that painting.
ELIGIO: That is what I was saying, with faith. If you do it with faith, yes. Yes, you can do that. Everything can be done with faith. That’s how it is.
Eligio made a further distinction between original power—power that a person earns for himself or herself through shamanic training—and derived power, which can be gifted from a mara’akame or an artist to another person when the artist teaches another person his or her designs. While derived power may still have some force, it is not equal to original power. Only people who undertake their own training can acquire their own designs and the power that goes with them.
HOPE: And if a person is not a shaman and makes a yarn painting, does it have the same power?
ELIGIO: It’s less then. For example, if you [Hope] make one, it is less. It is less. Because it doesn’t have the original power . . . That is how things are in this world. It’s like, now, [my apprentice], I passed my power to him. Well, now he is doing the designs that I did, but it is secondhand power, it isn’t worth anything, or it is worth less. They are very pretty, but it is from the mind of another person. . . . For example, if you do this [that is, copy an artist’s design], “Well, I am going to make the same thing.” You make it up. It is made up from your mind. I can do the same, but it is not made up from what you did. That’s how it is. Those are the powers here. What has value is the one who is making it up, because he has it [his heart] open to make and unmake. That’s how it is.
HOPE: Then he has to follow the path of a shaman also in order to have different ones [that is, his own yarn-painting designs]?
ELIGIO: Yes, well, that one means . . . but that he might change, that he changes the way he works and everything. It is also very difficult, to change.
HOPE: Why does he need to change how he works?
ELIGIO: Because it is my style.
HOPE: Why [change]?
ELIGIO: So he can do his own style—the way he works, where he gets his designs. He must change his designs and the colors. Because not all us artists work the same. He has his work, he has his difference. That’s how the power is here.
A yarn painting can have the power to open the mind of a person who looks at it. “Opening the mind” means that a painting can give a person shamanic vision as well as more kupuri, or life energy. However, Eligio repeated several times that this could only happen if the person had faith and believed in the gods and their powers.
This information emerged in a conversation during which I posed a question asked of me by Charles D. Laughlin, who was studying Tibetan Buddhist practices. Tibetans believe mandalas have power in themselves and can affect a person who looks at them. Laughlin wanted to know whether the Huichol shared this belief. I repeated his question to Eligio. Unfortunately, my lack of knowledge about Tibetan mandalas meant I could not formulate very sophisticated questions. I also used the Spanish word “afectar” to translate the English verb “affect,” meaning simply “to influence.” Eligio understood “afectar” to mean “have a negative influence on.” Therefore, he pointed out several times that the influence of yarn paintings on the mind was positive, not negative. He typically uses the word “concentrar” to mean that a person has become more focused or aware and has developed shamanic abilities with the help of the gods.
HOPE: Someone asked me this. I don’t know whether you can answer. He wants to know whether, by seeing a yarn painting, it makes you . . . gives you [shamanic] vision. Do the colors affect the mind of the person who sees them and give him vision?
ELIGIO: Yes, of course. . . .
HOPE: How does that happen?
ELIGIO: As long as you have faith or belief in it.
One can learn, you can learn what you . . . If you feel that you want to know about the things of the gods, it can concentrate you [meaning “to focus or increase shamanic ability”]. And yes, you can see. These are things . . . they are images that are recorded [in the mind]. And to any person, they can be given as recordings.
HOPE: It is as though the yarn painting can open the mind?
ELIGIO: Yes, exactly. It can open the mind. Of anyone. As long as you have faith.
HOPE: Does it affect the body also?
ELIGIO: No, that part no. It does not affect it. [Note here that Eligio is interpreting the Spanish word “afectar” to mean “having a negative influence on,” such as damaging the body. I intended it to mean influencing the body generally.] . . . On the contrary, it will open the mind for you. It opens the mind more. Yes, these are things [powers] of the gods, then.
HOPE: It would be better if he were here to ask this. I don’t know exactly how . . . what kinds of questions this gentleman wants to know about. He studies the art of the Tibetan people. And there are . . . [people] like monks, who are celibate. And they make paintings of sand with colors, also, and then they meditate on the paintings. And they say that it gives them more power.
ELIGIO: More power.
HOPE: More vision, through their meditation on the colors. He knows more about it. This gentleman is interested in the effect on the mind, of these things.
ELIGIO: Yes, as you say it, it is probably the same thing, that thing too. It opens the mind. On the contrary, it doesn’t harm it. Rather, it opens it. More knowledge or understanding [of the things of the gods].
HOPE: And do different colors have different effects? On the mind?
ELIGIO: No, at the very moment, they come together. Then they go to work. That is to say, the colors [do]. Then they work together. That is the power that they have.
HOPE: Do they have an effect on the life energy or personal soul power?
ELIGIO: [again interpreting “have an effect” as negative] No, not on that. On the contrary, one receives more life energy.
HOPE: It gives you more life energy?
ELIGIO: Yes, more.
My interviews indicate that some yarn paintings have more shamanic power than others. The sacred paintings, made and kept in temples, have important sacred meaning and power. The copies made for commercial use have less power and fewer restrictions on their use.
The interview with Eligio indicates that an artist can transfer his own power into a physical painting, but only if the artist has power himself. Designs that are taught to or copied by others will not have the same force as original designs.
It is interesting to compare the Huichol view with that of the Navajo. According to Parezo (1991, 63–98), Navajo sand painters believed that power resides in an exact duplication of the image of a holy person. Changing the image removes most of the danger. In contrast, Huichol artists believe that sacred power lies more in the process of making the painting.
14
shamanic art, global market
When I began visiting Lupe in the late 1980s, the market for Huichol art was still quite limited. When I flew into Puerto Vallarta, I found one newly opened fine-art gallery specializing in Huichol art. A folk-art gallery had a few good pieces of Huichol weaving, embroidery, and beaded jaguar heads. Some tourist souvenir stands sold tired and dusty-looking items such as painted or beaded snakes and deerskin quivers with Huichol bows and arrows. In Tepic, the few stores that specialized in Huichol art had stacks of yarn paintings piled in the corners and a variety of Huichol souvenir items on their counters, such as god’s eyes, little brown dolls in Huichol costumes, pillows with embroidered Huichol designs, and backstrap-woven bags with “Nayarit” written on them. The owners spoke little or no English. The shops looked as though few tourists ventured into them. They sold mainly to intrepid connoisseurs who ventured into Tepic in search of genuine Huichol art and to local Mexicans looking for souvenirs of Nayarit.
Since my first trips, I have witnessed an explosive growth in the market and in the diversity of Huichol products for sale. In this section, I will look at changes in the market over the last twenty years and at how recent trends may play out in the future. I explore the market for yarn paintings, the buyers, and the market structure. I asked the artists how they modify their paintings for the market and how they respond to interest in their sacred worldview.
The largest market for Huichol art is still in Puerto Vallarta, the tourist center closest to the Huichol Sierra. Puerto Vallarta itself has grown enormously over the last twenty years, changing from a quiet fishing village with a few hotels and bungalows into a major city full of hotels, time-share developments, and shopping malls. By 1993, there were at least nine galleries, all selling significant amounts of Huichol art. By 2005, there were at least twenty galleries selling relatively high-end art, such as good-quality yarn paintings, and dozens more galleries carrying mass-produced Huichol beadwork.
There are also stores specializing in Huichol art in Tepic and in Guadalajara, particularly at the Basilica of Zapopan, which has added a Huichol museum to its shop. Huichol art is now distributed to more distant tourist centers, such as Cancún, Taxco, and San Miguel de Allende. In Mexico City, Huichol work must compete with folk arts and crafts from all over Mexico; museums and stores such as FONART sell some yarn paintings, but it is not a specialty.
Transportation routes influence where the Huichol sell their work. Artists from Nayarit and San Andrés find it convenient to sell their work in Puerto Vallarta. There is a slow bus that winds through the mountains from San Andrés to Ruĺz on the coast. There used to be regularly scheduled air flights from San Andrés to Tepic, but the plane, an ancient DC-3, crashed in the mountains. Air charters in smaller planes are still available, and artists who use them can leave their communities in the Sierra and arrive in Puerto Vallarta in a matter of hours. Some artists even operate as middlemen on these trips, buying work from other artists in the Sierra and reselling it to dealers. Artists from Santa Catarina and San Sebastián have to make a much longer trip to go to Tepic or Puerto Vallarta. They tend to travel down the east side of the Sierra and sell their work in Guadalajara and Mexico City.
Some artists manage to sell directly to the public, including non-Spanish-speaking tourists. In Mexico City, a market called the Ciudadela fosters sales of native crafts by providing living quarters for indigenous artists. A group of Huichols, mostly from Santa Catarina, operates out of this market and also sells at the upscale Bazar Sábado in San Ángel, a Mexico City neighborhood. One artist from the Ciudadela became a major reseller of yarn paintings that he purchased in Guadalajara and Tepic.
Elsewhere, Huichol artists try to sell directly to the public if they can. The Nayarit government now allows Huichol artists to sell in the main plaza of Tepic. It tries to control the process by rotating the booths among different families and community groups so that no one group can monopolize the opportunity. This gives the Huichol a chance to make some direct sales, but their customers are limited. Comparatively few foreign tourists venture into Tepic, which is a rather dingy market and industrial town. Most shoppers are local Mexicans looking for inexpensive trinkets and beadwork jewelry, which forces prices down. Few yarn painters sell in this location.
It can be difficult for artists to sell directly to tourists. For a short time in the mid-1990s, indigenous people could sell crafts directly to tourists on the street in Puerto Vallarta. This caused problems for the galleries, since the Huichol were selling at the wholesale price, the same price they charged the galleries. Tourists were beginning to complain about the galleries’ markups. I was told that the police discouraged direct sales by scooping the Huichol artists up from the sidewalk, driving them out of town, and leaving them there.
By 2005, two Huichol families had opened galleries in Puerto Vallarta: the Bautista family and the Castro family. Both families were experienced business-people. They have been selling in the Puerto Vallarta market for more
than fifteen years, but used to sell to middlemen. Their galleries are interesting, since they represent a new effort by Huichol to compete directly with other upscale art galleries rather than to sell at a stall in a street market.
I visited both galleries in 2005. The Castro family’s gallery had a better location, on Basilio Badillo, a street with more traffic and high-end galleries. It appeared cleaner and more polished and was therefore probably more attractive to tourists. When I visited, the store was staffed by a mestizo man who said he was paid on commission. Fluent in English, he was an aggressive salesman, which may be an asset in selling art in a tourist location. In contrast, most Huichol tend to be quite low-key in selling, often saying little and not pressuring customers. Few can speak enough English to communicate well with buyers. Nevertheless, when I returned two years later, the gallery was no longer there.
The Bautistas’ gallery—called Gallery Niuweme—is operated by Iginio Bautista Bautista, a young Huichol bead artist from San Andrés who has travelled in the United States. This gallery featured work by Iginio’s more famous relative, Francisco Bautista. In 2005, the gallery’s location was somewhat out of the main tourist district; the walls were dark and water-stained; and I noticed that the gallery was catering to a Huichol clientele, selling supplies such as sandals, cera de Campeche, and hanks of beads. By 2007, the gallery had moved to a more central location; it was now painted white and appeared more prosperous.
The dealers in Huichol art have diverse backgrounds and motivations. They include the following:
» Private dealers who purchase for resale in other countries. These buyers tend to be foreign expatriates, such as Americans or Europeans who live in Mexico or travel there frequently. They purchase art in Mexico and take it back to their own countries to sell. They combine a love of Mexican art and culture with high esteem for the Huichol, and often are motivated by personal as well as financial reasons. Few rely exclusively on the sale of Huichol art in order to make a living. These buyers often have longstanding relationships with Huichol families, friends, and artists. They have considerable knowledge and artistic taste. They know who the best artists are and seek them out, making trips into the interior if the artists do not come to them. Private dealers try to buy the highest-quality Huichol art before it reaches the galleries in Mexico, and they usually succeed.