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| Creating a Sawdust Carpet, Holy Friday, Barrio Sutiava, Leon Nicaragua |
We have been conditioned to think of art as something permanent, something of intrinsic value to be preserved. Yet, there are other way to think about and use art. Sometimes it is the process and intention behind the creation of a piece of art that are most important, not the outcome itself. Such works of art are made to be fleeting moments of beauty dedicated to a higher cause. The beautiful sand mandalas painstakingly created by Tibetan monks are one example. These intricate designs are ceremonially destroyed when they are finished and the sand deposited in a stream or river to bless the world around it.
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| Monk working on Mandala, Aspen Colorado |
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| Ceremonial Destruction of Mandala by Monks in Aspen Colorado |
Another of these perishable art-forms are the sawdust carpets created throughout Latin America during the season of Lent leading up to Easter day. (Also see post of March 25, 2016 on the carpets of Antigua, Guatemala). They typically are made the same day or evening before one of the many Lenten and Easter processions in these countries to create a sanctified surface for the feet of the holy procession.
These carpets are labor of love and religious dedication; the work is painstaking and difficult. The carpets below were constructed on a mercilessly hot Good Friday in Sutiava, a barrio or section of Leon Nicaragua. As someone explained, the work itself is a kind of meditation, done prayerfully as a personal sacrifice and gift to the glory of the procession that is to follow. It is a way to personally participate in the holiness of the event.
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| Group creating a Sawdust Carpet, Holy Friday, Barrio Sutiava, Leon Nicaragua |
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| Creating a Sawdust Carpet, Holy Friday, Barrio Sutiava, Leon Nicaragua |
Early in the day the the base of the carpets, blank rectangles of dirt are laid out, ready for the carpet designs that, In Sutiava, will be made free-hand, based on some image or idea.
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| Bases for Sawdust Carpets, Holy Friday, Barrio Sutiava, Leon Nicaragua |
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| Beginning a Sawdust Carpet, Holy Friday, Barrio Sutiava, Leon Nicaragua |
The designs are made with colored sawdust that is placed on top of the dirt base.
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| Creating a Sawdust Carpet, Holy Friday, Barrio Sutiava, Leon Nicaragua |
The process is painstaking and difficult
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| Creating a Sawdust Carpet, Holy Friday, Barrio Sutiava, Leon Nicaragua |
and, typically, groups of people collaborate on a carpet.
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| Creating a Sawdust Carpet, Holy Friday, Barrio Sutiava, Leon Nicaragua |
Occasionally, in the Sutiava carpets, a pre-made stencil will be used for detail, as in the edge of the carpet below.
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| Carpet Stencil, Holy Friday, Barrio Sutiava, Leon Nicaragua |
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| Sawdust Carpet detail, Holy Friday, Barrio Sutiava, Leon Nicaragua |
By contrast in Antigua Guatemala use of stencils is more wide-spread and the stencils are more elaborate, being sold commercially. Because of the stencil use the carpets have a much more geometrical look, resembllng Oriental carpets.( "Anatomy of a Sawdust Carpet" 3/25/15).
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| Making Stencils for Sawdust Carpets, Antigua Guatemala |
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| Stencils for making Sawdust Carpets, Antigua Guatemala |
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| Sawdust Carpet, Antigua Guatemala |
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| Sawdust Carpet, Antigua Nicaragua |
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| Sawdust Carpet, Antigua Guatemala |
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| Sawdust Carpet, Good Friday, Barrio Sutiava, Leon Nicaragua |
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| Sawdust Carpet on Good Friday, Barrio Sutiava, Leon Nicaragua |
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| Sawdust Carpet on Good Friday, Barrio Sutiava, Leon Nicaragua |
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| Sawdust Carpet on Good Friday, Barrio Sutiava Leon Nicaragua |
As with the Tibetan mandalas, the glorious designs of the carpets are demolished as soon as the religious procession for which they were created begins. There is no sense of regret at their destruction, because they have lived their brief lives and served their purpose.
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| Processional carpet after its destruction, Holy Saturday, St. John Seelos Church, New Orleans, Louisiana |
