a few Tigua artists have turned their backs on the country, forsaking the rural hardships for the advantages of urban life with its abundance of tourists and art dealers. Tigua artists who severed their roots and still paint bucolic scenes of village life are frowned upon by those artists still living with their families in rural areas. They feel theirs is the true Tigua art, an art that expresses their ties to the land. They prefer to sell their art, not through galleries or dealers, but directly.
Tigua painters have earned the respect of Ecuadorian art dealers who once viewed them as mere artisans and their work handicrafts. Since the mid 1990s, Tigua art has been exhibited at the Organization of American States in Washington DC, the University of California Hearst Museum, the Museum of Man in San Diego, California, UNESCO headquarters in Paris and the Presidential Palace in Quito.
Tigua Art: Where to Go
Though quality varies widely, you’ll find Tigua paintings in tourist stores throughout Quito, at the weekend fair in Parque Elejido, the Mariscal Market opposite the Colon Hotel, at the market in Otavalo (Wednesday and Saturday), Saquisili(Thursday), and Pujili (Sunday) as well as by the entrance to Quilatoa Crater (about 30 minutes by car from the town of Zumbahua) and in small communities in Tigua along the Latacunga-Quevedo road.
Written by Jean G. Colvin – www.sharefund2010.org
Jean Colvin is the author of the book Tigua Art: A reflection of indigenous culture in Ecuador (in Spanish and English). She was formerly director of the University of California Research Expeditions Program (UREP) and now directs a math education for indigenous schools in Cotopaxi and other provinces of Ecuador.