alto bio bio

There is an important project taking place in the mountains a few hours north of Temuco in a region called Alto Bio-Bio. In the tiny, remote villages there are many indigenous women weavers and knitters who belong to the Pehuenche communities. About a year ago, one of my coworkers received funding to begin a project in Alto Bio-Bio to organize and train the artisans in these communities so that they could begin to improve their craft and earn more income from their work. Since the region is hard to get to (about 5 hours of travel in bus and van from Temuco), and because my coworker spends Tuesday through Thursday of every week there, I knew little about the project. Luckily I was able to accompany her (and three trainers from the Chol Chol Foundation) and photograph two recent workshops. The project is funded by a foreign company that is building a dam in the region, and they provide food and lodging for my co-worker and others who visit who are associated with the project. Since the building of dams is a controversial issue in southern Chile, the company is very stringent about who is allowed to visit. When we arrived to the gated compound where we would be staying two nights, the guard asked for full names, identification, and the reason for why we each were there. We then settled in for the night in the maze-like and eerie building where we each had our own room with doors that opened to a cold, silent hallway. I think we were the only ones staying there. In the mornings, we ate in a dining hall where suddenly there were other people (employees of the company, I assume) drinking coffee and watching the morning news.The first day was a design workshop for about 20 artisans, some experienced, others who were just learning the first steps of knitting. The women arrived by rural bus from the various far away villages to this small town which appears to be so new that it is still in the process of being built. My coworker told me about how when she first started recruiting artisans for the project, she had to go door to door and ask if there was someone in the household who was a weaver and would be interested in receiving training. The workshop was held in a large restaurant which closed for the day to allow for this event and provide a hearty lunch for the artisans.Day one's assignment was to brainstorm ideas about creating products to sell to customers (not just how to knit/weave something they would like for themselves or their family). Each group was given a stack of magazines and was told to look for images representing the life of a hypothetical client. They cut out photos and made collages of their invented person, then presented them to the larger group. Everyone envisioned a "gringo" client, someone from the United States, who would want to buy their textiles. The collages were comprised of photos of luxury: huge houses, new cars, home decor, and people with blonde hair and light skin.The second day was a more casual workshop (no formal assignments) held at one of the artisan's homes for a smaller group of about 10 artisans. I enjoyed being in the cozy, rural home with the many chickens, kittens, and dogs wandering around. During the chilly morning, the women started out knitting and spinning yarn inside in the house heated by a wood stove. By afternoon, the sun had warmed everything so several of the artisans took looms outside and worked on their projects in natural light. At lunch time we ate sopaipillas, boiled potatoes, salad, and fried hot dogs. The conversation focused on a recent murder in the community of which a Mapuche man was accused. The man was the brother-in-law of one of the artisans and she told us about how he was wrongfully accused and how it couldn't possibly have been him. She began to cry because of the uncertainty that justice will be served and because, she said, and others at the table agreed, the Mapuche are always the ones who are blamed for crimes.The two days I spent in Alto Bio Bio left me with many images, not just photographic but perceptual. I was able to spend a concerted amount of time with the artisans, and to see how fundamental the craft of weaving and knitting is to each individual. This group of Pehuenche artisans is also distinct from the women who live in the Temuco area and sell to the Chol Chol Foundation. For example, the symbols used in the design of their textiles are different. For the Pehuenche, who live in the mountains, pine trees and monkey puzzle trees are important, and this motif is seen repeatedly in the products they make. I couldn't resist buying a pair of wool socks with pine tree designs knitted by one of the women. She explained to me the different materials she had used to dye the yarn for the different colors in the design: tea leaves, clay mud, eucalyptus, and maqui leaves. When I wear these socks back in the states, I will definitely remember the face and humble demeanor of the woman who made them.