La Paz: Andean Cosmovision and el Banco Mundial

Wednesday we got to sleep in a little before heading to the studio of Mamani Mamani!  We walked to his studio which meant we got to see more of La Paz and it truly is a city.  I love Cochabamba, don't get me wrong, but it was a very welcome to change to spend time in a bustling city full of tourists and Bolivians on their way to work, going about their daily lives!  Our hotel looked out onto a busy street, which is definitely a change from my tiny street here in Cochabamba!  Anyway, the walk was beautiful and I got to wear my skirt, tights and a hat since it was sort of chilly and I just felt like I could be in any city in the world -- But really I was in La Paz:  The highest capital city in the world! :)

A different day, but we stopped at this awesome overlook of La Paz.
La Paz is situated perfectly in a valley (much like Cochabamba)
but at a much higher altitude & LOTS more people so it goes on forever!

Walking to visit Mamani Mamani's studio

We arrived at Mamani Mamani's studio and had a chance to look around before he introduced himself and his paintings are so full of color and life!  He is of Aymara origin and thus all of his paintings are very rooted in the Andean cosmovision from the subjects, to the symbolism, to the combination of colors!  Many of his paintings contain representations of the Chucana (Andean Cross) which is a symbol of the of many aspects included in their cosmovision such as the sun, the moon, the condor, the puma, knowledge, work.. etc. etc.  There are also tons of paintings of Pacha Mama (the mother of time and space) in different contexts, and even in 'plain' scenes, symbolism is everywhere.  The moon represents women and the sun represents men so many times you can tell the gender of the subject by which of those is present.  Afterwards I bought some postcards and talked to him a little and he's probably one of the nicest people ever!  He is very famous, but had no problem signing all of our postcards (so some of you might get one!) and prints, which included self portraits!  What famous artists do you know that do that?

Ceiling Mural by Mamani Mamani that was partly in process!

The colors are so bright and wonderful!
Also that black square with edges is an Andean Cross
Also, on the far right side, that small arch is
la Puerta del Sol from Tiwanaku!

Me, Mamani Mamani & my self portrait!

After that amazing morning so full of color and fresh air we had some free time before heading to the World Bank so we tried a Mexican restaurant that another group had eaten at the night before and it was awesome!  I finally got some guacamole and an enchilada which I have been craving for weeks!  Then I bought some more alpaca socks to keep warm on La Isla del Sol and then it was off to the World Bank! 

 To enter el Banco Mundial we had to give them our passports, received visitor badges and had to be escorted to their office; it was all very official.  We had the discussion in the board room and I bet I sat in the same seat as a very important economist or World Bank worker - just saying!  The first woman that spoke to us was a PR representative for the bank and essentially gave us an overall history of the bank, the main projects they support, more history and finally spent about 15 minutes talking about the programs that they have helped to implement in Bolivia.  I didn't know much about the World Bank other than that it seemed to cause a lot of problems in Bolivia in the past.  So at the very least it was super informative! We learned all about the history and rational for forming the different sub-groups of the world bank and we also talked about the new president of the world bank Jim Yong Kim. He is the first non-economist to serve as president! He's a physician and an anthropologist! So maybe one day I can be the world bank president! (if I go to med school) After the PR presentation, we had the opportunity to talk with a World Bank economist and the econ students went crazy, asking lots of questions about the economy of Bolivia and implementing different programs.. etc. etc. We also talked about poverty levels and it turns out that 45% of Bolivia's population is considered to be in 'poverty' and 21% is in 'extreme poverty.' Which is just incredible, but makes sense as Bolivia has struggled to diversify it's resources and industrialize production. (Not saying that's the solution, but that's the opinion of the World Bank.)


I learned so much in that short talk and now find myself comparing the World Bank's ideas and projects to the Andean cosmovision that we have been talking about. "Vivir Bien" is the basis of Andean cosmovision. Essentially it is a way to look at the world that involves the abilities to see, feel, perceive, project and express all that is part of the world. It's a very beautiful way to see the world, everything has a spirit, the life cycle is circular, and nature are all important components to living well. Pacha Mama is the 'god' of sorts of this belief system which is why she is so often present in Mamani Mamani's work (and also in the other murals we saw!) Meanwhile, the World Bank is trying to implement projects that often go against the ideas of Vivir Bien and when we asked about how they implement projects in rural villages, they essentially said that they hired outside scholars to help the people understand why this is a better way for them to live. And many of the projects that are implemented, fall into disrepair just a few years later. It's fascinating, but so complex I know I'm only grasping the very basics of what the World Bank is trying to do. One thing to note is that currently, Bolivia is on a 4-year program to move from the IDA to IBRD status. Which is a big step forward for them and is very exciting, especially after all the trouble Bolivia has had in the past with debts from the IMF and ideas of Neo-Liberalism, Jeffrey Sachs and dictators! I feel like I have so many ideas about the World Bank and the poverty lines, dispersion of wealth and everything now that I can go write my paper that's due tomorrow, so I'm going to go do that!!

Feeling serious and important at the World Bank!

To contrasting perspectives that make you think,

Carly