Shining Path guerillas, Fidel and St. George in art

The 1980s saw a resurgence of Communist violence which was reflected in indigenous art. Looking back, it is almost a last gasp before communism and the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. In Afghanistan small war rugs were hand woven (and then sold in the U.S.) depicting Russian helicopters and tanks instead of the traditional geometric designs. The Russian army left Afghanistan, of course, but the rugs are still available on ebay and etsy today.

Peruvian village terror through local eyes

Meanwhile in the Peruvian highlands, the Communist guerilla group, Shining Path, visited its brutality on peasants, trade union organizers, competing Marxist groups, elected officials and the general public. And the Tucson Museum of Art has two remarkable paintings by surviving Sarhua villagers who experienced that terror, sometimes caught between the army and the guerillas. (Note: Since this was posted Abimael Guzmán, the professor/terrorist who founded Shining Path died in Sept. 2021.)

An inferno as Sarhua villagers are burned, beaten and shot. The flowers around the border are typical of the artwork done before the Shining Path invaded the highlands. Both these paintings were done for export sales. Before and after the Shining Path terror, these villagers painted depictions of local rural life and customs.

Fighting back, even against helicopters, the villagers and farmers inflict harm and death as they defend themselves in the Andes.

Fidel and St. George on wearable art

In its permanent collection TMA also has three Peruvian pechera, a kind of hand made vest worn over shirts during the celebration of Corpus Christi. (These days the word “pechera” is used by Mexican gangs to mean bulletproof vest.) Again, violence–or at least the potential for violence–is reflected in the men depicted in these vests.

On the first one is Peruvian hero in a war against Chile, Alfonso Ugarte. The second pechera includes images of Fidel Castro and Juan Velasco Alvarez, a Peruvian military dictator from 1968 to 1975. Then there is the third pechera which TMA identifies as “a fantastical scene that is difficult to identify” Ah, the caution of a museum curator! I’m braver. To me it depicts St. George killing the dragon.

Non-violent Arizona artworks

If all this violence is too much for you, TMA is also exhibiting the works of 4 Southern Arizona artists including paintings by Willie Bonner. Bonner comments on current events with his abstract paintings, like these two below.

July 2021 was the rainiest month on record in Tucson. 8 inches of rain fell and Southern Arizona is now very green.