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It is always a sure sign
that a local fiesta is in progress whenever you see that there is a
churchyard or stretch of roadway bedecked with lines of bright tissue
paper cut-outs. Papel picado-- bright Mexican paper flags--are a popular
art form with roots in the country's ancient cultures.
Skilled Mexican craftsmen for ages have used awls, chisels and special
cutting blades to create intricate designs in rectangles of tissue
paper. The design, often laid out over a delicate window pane
background, may include figures such as flowers, foliage, birds, angels,
crosses, skeletons and historic figures, as well as words or phrases
associated with specific holidays. Borders may be straight, scalloped,
zig-zagged or fringed. Each design is a unique and complex work of art
requiring a keen ability to envision the use of negative space.
The use of paper as decoration during religious festivities can be
traced back to pre-Hispanic Mexico. The Aztecs used the bark of mulberry
and wild fig trees to make a rough paper called amatl . This was
employed in numerous rituals to make flags and banners to decorate
temples, streets, homes and fields. Paper banners splashed with liquid
rubber were common adornments for rituals associated with the rain gods.
According to the Aztec civil calendar, the solar year began during the
dry season--probably at the Spring equinox--with the month called
Atlcahualo, meaning "want of water." Observances aimed at garnering the
favor of Chalchiuhtlicue and Tlaloc, the chief rain gods, included
displaying rows of rubber-spotted Banners draped over wooden poles
outside the temple. Strips of paper--representing the seasonal
appearance of new foliage--were hung in the courtyards of individual
homes.
The end of the harvest feast Xocol Huetzi was celebrated with a contest
in which youngsters scrambled up a tall pole to retrieve the insignia of
the fire god Xiutecuhtli and an effigy modeled from amaranth seed. Huge
amatl banners waved from the top of the pole. The birth of war god
Huitzilopochtli, a major figure in the Aztec pantheon, was commemorated
in conjunction with the winter solstice, a celebration called
Panquetzaliztli -- "the raising of the banners." Participants carrying
marigolds and amatl banners performed ritual dances in front of the
Templo Mayor. Multiple paper flags were put up to festoon fruit trees
and people's homes. After the Spanish Conquest, tissue paper was
introduced and became the material of choice for holiday decorations.
Although traditionally
papel picado come in single-colored tissue paper flags, we have
incredible new multi-colored papel picado done by skilled artisan
Eduardo Lugo. Delicate and vibrant, these elegant works of art are a
beautiful way in which a pre-Hispanic tradition is given a contemporary
flair. Each of these wonderfully collectable papel picado is signed by
the Zapotec Oaxacan artist, Eduardo Lugo. |
