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Nightmares and Blighted Dreams in Little Boxes: Retablos of Nicario Jimenez Quispe
The other day in a post about art about the Shining Path years, I included an unidentified photograph of a Peruvian retablo created by, it turns out, master artisan Nicario Jiménez Quispe. Jiménez was born in Ayacucho, the historic center of indigenous struggle in Peru and the locus of Shining Path conflict, and now lives in the decidedly peaceful town of Naples, Florida. His work is notable for its application of the traditional Andean retablo form — essentially, a portable prayer box with handmade figurines depicting a narrative — to contemporary socio-political themes in Peruvian, U.S. and Mexican societies. Among the stories that Jimenez illustrates are the April 1997 rescue of hostages from the Japanese embassy…
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The Milk of Sorrow Joins Growing List of Works about Peru’s Shining Path Years
A scene from the Spanish-Peruvian movie “The Milk Of Sorrow” by director Claudia Llosa in this photo released by the Berlinale film festival. (Berlinale via Associated Press) Congratulations to Peruvian-born director Claudia Llosa, whose drama The Milk of Sorrow (La Teta Asustada) captured the Golden Bear for best film at the Berlin film festival last week. I am eager to see the film, which to my knowledge is not presently showing in Lima. If you’re curious about it, here’s a recent review from Variety: With her sophomore effort “The Milk of Sorrow,” Peruvian director Claudia Llosa (“Madeinusa”) bolsters her reputation as one of the most interesting femme helmers working in the Americas…