A Whole New World: La Paz: A History Lesson and a Drumline

I'm going to warn you now... a lot happened in La Paz! I'm going to do my best to keep it to just a few posts, but no promises! :)

We left Cochabamba at 8:00am which meant we had to be at the airport at 6:30am! The plane ride to La Paz is only about 35 minutes, so it wasn't a bad ride, but I was so exhausted it felt much longer! When we got to La Paz we had a few hours to rest, eat lunch and explore and my roommate Caro and I decided to nap for the majority of that time - which I think was a great decision! Our first meeting in La Paz was with an artist named Mauricio Bayro at el Museo de la Revolución (Revolution Museum). It's a very well fortified building, that sits above la Plaza Villarroel. And while we were waiting outside a large group of cocaleros (Coca growers) were gathering - all in their traditional polleras (skirts, hats and outfits) -- to organize a strike of some sort! They were organizing right in the Plaza, and no one cared! How's that for free speech!

Anyway, when we entered el museo I don't know what I was expecting, but we were greeted by a huge, 4-wall mural extending all the way to the ceiling and photos of famous people and events in Bolivia's history from strikes, the water war, the gas war, the inauguration of a presidents.. there was a lot to take in and it was incredible! It almost felt like stepping into a time capsule! Before Mauricio spoke we had an art history expert named Mercedes tell us about the mural and the history of the museum. It turns out there are actually two murals! One by Miguel Alandia Pantoja that depicts the past of Bolivia with images of the Chaco Wars, the death of Tupak Katari, symbols from Colonial times, the people, and lots of symbolic images such as the condor for the hope and power and of Bolivia, white skies for the hope that the future will be better... etc. etc. The other mural occupied the other two walls and was painted by Walter Solon Romen which depicts the future of the revolution that the Bolivians were fighting. His section includes the frustrations of the Indigenous population, the Puerta del Sol from Tiwanaku, and images from every part of Bolivia: mountains, valleys, lakes, peaks, jungle. Mercedes went into extreme detail and it was incredible! And I thought we were finished and then she took us downstairs! Downstairs there is a faux mausoleum that pays homage the lives of Juan José Torres, Gualberto Villarroel and Germán Busch. All these men served as presidents of Bolivia and are an important for Bolivia's history. Torres created the People's Assembly which allowed miners, farmers, students and teachers to be more present in the government, Villarroel helped to reform the workers unions and Busch was a hero of the Chaco War. The visit was a great history lesson and really helped to solidify the timeline of Bolivia in my mind! We have learned so much about Bolivia that it seems all the events happened at once, but here, everything makes sense! Today, the museum is a monument to the workers unions of Bolivia, but during the dictatorships of the 1970s and 80s it was actually a torture center, which ruined the basement and many of the original works in the monument. And when you see the pictures you can probably imagine why it would make a good torture chamber...

Finally Mauricio Bayro spoke and showed us a slide show of the different artists working in Bolivia right now, which was quite interesting! Although I wish we had seen his studio. He was very kind, but I didn't interact with him much as I was still a little tired and with the rapid change in altitude still unsure of where my head was on my body!

El Museo de la Revolución

The Cocaleros gathering in front of el museo

The Murals!
Right: Romen
Left & Center: Pantoja

Torres, Villarroel and Busch

The next day we traveled to the indigenous university of El Alto to hear a talk on Decolonization by Dr. Rafael Buatista who is a philosopher and one of the experts on decolonization. It was essentially a philosophy class, very interesting but very dense.. and because it was in Spanish I don't feel like I fully understood everything he said, but I'm sure I learned something! And we got to see the university and interact with a few Bolivia students, so not all was lost! And as we were leaving there was a large gathering of students who seemed to be protesting something, I'm not sure what exactly! But we saw so many great examples of free speech those first two days it just made me so happy! Because we hear all the time about how the Bolivian people have fought in the past for change, and to see these small little gatherings that could very well turn into larger movements is fascinating!

After lunch we went to Teatro Trono which was definitely one of my favorite events during the trip! We walked down a random street in El Alto and came upon a large colorful building, with windows of all different shapes and sizes, random signs and banners hanging off it with a group of people gathered outside. We waited a few minutes and soon a group of kids came out, playing the drums, all wearing black with a few personal touches and the street just came alive! They were all so talented, and got the whole crowd moving, dancing and clapping! I thought that would be it, but boy was I wrong! The children led us inside to a theatre where we watched them perform breakdances, short plays, and other tricks! Every child had a small starring role and to memorize lines and dances takes so much practice, it was awesome to see all the kids play a role! And after that, we went back outside for the finale which consisted of more drumming and dancing and fire breathing!

It turns out all the children are homeless, or very close to being homeless and Teatro Trono functions as a sort of safehouse for them, to learn to express themselves but also to encourage them to continue to study so they can hopefully make better lives for themselves. Anytime they perform the streets fill with people and they have a bus they take all around Bolivia to put on plays that they have written! It was so inspiring to see so many children acting and participating in the arts with such confidence! I wish I knew how to play the drums, breathe fire, breakdance, juggle and write plays before I was 16! I can't even do that now! It must instill so much confidence in these children and the leaders of the teatro! I think pictures work better here, so enjoy!