Diario las Américas., 1958-06-06
Know thy
Neigh.borI
BY ANTONIO RUIZ

COSTA RIGA - The Indians
who lived before the discovery OF
America in what today is Costa
Rica, we're excellent craftsmen in
gold and jade ornaments, pottery
and stone sculpture. Magyar char
acteriStics have been found in the
exquisite pottery and carved jade
fooled by the tribe of the "Cho-
rotegas", who excelled all others
in this kind of work. The "Boru-
cas-, who inhabited the southwest
ern part of Costa RIGA, produced a
brown textile woven in such a ia
shion that the design appeared on
ly on the right side of the material.
The art is being revived among
descendants of this tribe.
Distinctive among all the Ameri-
can countries has been the art of
the Costa RicaE peasants. nitric
ate geometric designs painted with
vivid colors decorate their uni
que ox-carts, and add great charm
and color to the countryside.
These patterns which have been
handed down from generation to
generation, form a brilliant kalei-
doscope as the wheel rotate, and
cannot be seen anywhere else in
the world.
costa Rica's Spanish origin is
very apparent in her private dwell
lings. Although modern designs
are %infiltrating many of the new.
er residential areas, the tiled roof
and the grilled window in most
of the houses show the influence
of the Old World While Colonial
Spanish and Renaissance styles
of architecture are manifested in
the majority of the churches and
public buildings the newer edi.
fees in the capital, San Jose, are
modern in design. The Municipal
Palace, completed in 1887, exem-
plifies the new trend toward ultra
modern architecture.
Painting and sculpture had not
been too prominent among the
arts in Costa RIGA until recent
years. A great impetus was given
these forms of artistic expression
by the international recognition
bestowed upon the painter Fran.
cisco Amighetti, end the sculptors
Juan Manuel Sanchez, Juan Rafael
Calderon and Francisco Zuniga. A
great contribution to the arts was
made also by Max Jimenez, writer,
sculptor and painter, whose feeling
for line, exaggeration of form and
modelling are distinctive features
OF his art.
Gradually the two sources of
artistic inspiration, the Indian and
the Spanish, r being fused. The
line OF the drawings of Juan Ma.
nuel Sanchez for book illustra.
tons, and his sculptures reveal a
synthesis of the two influences,
Ranging from the delicate to the
massive, his expression is indivi.
dual strongly influenced by his
enthusiasm for the pre-Columbian.
archaic Greek and Gothic carving.
1t is in the Costa Rican music
and dances, however that the
trends in the fine arts find full
expire ssion. Enough remnants of
the Indian music have been pre.
served to verify that the a~borigines
possessed a variety of instruments.
The most unusual is the "ocarina"
with six holes, an instrument that
was used by the "Huetars" who
succeeded in producing eighteen
successive tones On it. The "quiion-
CO." a cylindricai drum made of
wood and ANNA, skins punctuated
their musical themes Civil and re.
ligious festivals were accompanied
by the "chirimia." a kind of oboe
borrowed from the Europeans.
G%unacaste Province best pre-.
serves the traditional folklore mu.
sic and dances OF Costa RIGA. Here
the Spanish origin is most clearly
defined. The guitar and the marin.
ba supply the music for the folk
dancers in the performance of the
"Punto Guanacasteco," dance
which expresses the spirit of Costa
Rican life.
Spanish Version Page