Bolivian culture

Traditional clothing during a festival in Bolivia.

The Bolivian culture is the product of a great diversity of expressions, as a result of the variety of geographic settings that its current territory comprises, as well as the ethnic diversity that characterizes it. It is very diverse in languages, covering the Andes, the Gran Chaco, the inter-Andean valleys, the plains and the Amazon.

In Bolivia there are around forty ethnic groups, which in many cases preserve their traditions, cultures and languages. Bolivian culture has been defined by its interesting geographical layout, the predominant indigenous population and the miscegenation of its ancestral traditions with the European cultural elements that were imported during the period of Spanish colonialism. The amalgamation of all these elements has resulted in a rich and varied culture.

Traditional clothing

The clothing varies according to the geographical area of the country. In the Altiplano area it is common to see multicolored dresses made mainly of llama, alpaca, vicuña and sheep wool, which have been dyed using natural dyes known as aniline. These clothes quickly capture the attention of visitors who, not being oblivious to their showiness, end up acquiring complete costumes. The clothing generally includes fabrics with geometric patterns, occasionally zoomorphic and anthropomorphic, and bars known as aguayos (or in Quechua llicllas). The presence of these elements is common in the communities of the aimaras, quechuas, urus, chipayas, tupi guaraníes, with variations in tones or colors in each community.

In the cities, the indigenous descendants that migrated acquired characteristic clothing that originated in colonial times, and that over time has given rise to the word "cholo" and "chola" in the West. Women are the best representatives of this heritage, being able to clearly differentiate the costumes of women from San Luis Potosí, Orureñas, La Paz, Cochabambinas, Chuquisaqueñas and Tupiceñas. Even in La Paz, Afro-Bolivian communities have maintained their own traditions, music, and clothing.

In the eastern areas that comprise the departments of Santa Cruz, Beni and Pando, with a hot climate, there is a great variety of dresses, among which is the "tipoy", a one-piece, long, sleeved dress short with edges topped with lace or colored bows. The types are made with soft yarns and colored with cheerful nuances and flowery designs. In general, the women do not wear hats and prefer flower arrangements in their hair, sometimes braided in one piece and sometimes in two. The men wear wide-brimmed hats made of wicker called "sombreros de saó".

In the department of Tarija, with a temperate and cold climate in the highland region and warm and hot in the valleys region, clothing does not usually have any difference between the two regions, the woman wears a hat medium long brim with doubled circumference in light gray or cane yellow, simple blouse and skirts, mantilla, sandals or sandals; while the man wears a long-brimmed hat, shirt, scarf, poncho, pants, flip flops or boots. In the Bolivian Chaco, with a hot climate, women usually wear a one-piece dress with a flared skirt and shoes with heels or espadrilles; The men wear a leather hat with a folded part of the brim, a shirt, a bowtie-type scarf, baggy pants, a harem pants, and accordion boots.

Music

In the interpretation, pre-Hispanic instruments are still used, such as the variants of the sikus or the Some of the typical genres of the regions are: in the eastern-Amazonian zone the taquirari, the chovena, the julajula, the pinquillo, the erke and others, in the Andean zone they are the tinku and the kaluyo.

Although the musical traditions of the Andes have evolved from a series of pre-Inca, Inca, Spanish, Amazonian, and even African influences, each region of Bolivia has developed distinctive musical traditions, as well as dances and instruments.

The sound of Andean music, from the cold altiplano, is appropriately persistent and mournful, while from the valleys and tropics it is warmer and more joyful, with its complement of traditional musical instruments, it offers more vibrant tones and full of colorful. Although the original Andean music was exclusively instrumental, trends toward popularization have inspired the addition of appropriately tragic, bittersweet, or morose lyrics.

In the far eastern lowlands of northern Bolivia, the Jesuit influence on Chiquitano, Mojos and Guarani musical talent has left a unique legacy that is still evident today and remains particularly strong in the musical traditions of neighboring Paraguay. The Jesuits stimulated education and the dissemination of the culture of the time among the peoples of the region who created handicraft musical instruments (the famous violins and harps that are currently made in the Chaco), and learned and performed Italian baroque music. including opera. They offered concerts even in the most remote places, with dance and theater performances.

Folklore

They have stood out especially Alfredo Dominguez Romero, Chullpa Ñan, The Eastern Trio, Enriqueta Ulloa, Esther Marisol, Gladys Moreno, Andean Group, Wara Cultural Group, Guisela Santa Cruz, Huascar Aparicio, Humberto Leyton, Juan Enrique Jurado, The Wanderers, The Canaries of the Chaco, The Jairas, The Kjarkas, The Masis, The Quipus, The Tuta Puris, Maritza Donaire, black palm, Soruco Nile, North Potosi, Rumillajta, Andean sap, Willy Alfaro Carballo, Yalo Cuellar, Yanapakuna, Zulma Yugar, kalamarka

Rock

Bolivian rock was born in the 70s, as a consequence of the music that the young rebels received as an influence from other young people from neighboring countries and also from North American rock, rock is a music that different countries have in common Elvis Presley. This data can be contrasted by reviewing the discography of the Wara group, which also involved the introduction of Andean musical instruments, creating a new form of sound called psychedelic, despite the fact that the group remains current, its conformation has changed in recent years..

Picture of the Jade rock group.

From the seventies Bolivian rock began to be cultivated in the country:

• Ztate of Mind
• Overcross
• Aeroplan
• Alcohólika
• Arkanos
• Shortcut
• Climax
• Denial
• Deszaire
• Galvorn
• Jherux
• The Street of the Bruges
• Lou Kass
• Loving Darks
• Mezz
• Octavia
• Walking the Dog
• Sacrilegio
• Track
• Unit
• Wara

Cumbia

Due to the influence of neighboring countries, over the years cumbia has been gaining ground and becoming popular. Among the best known groups are:

• The Brothers,
• Miguel Orias,
• Connection,
• PK-2,
• Opus 4.40,
• Carlos & La Jem Band,
• Rocka Solid,
• Veneno (group characterized by merging Latin rhythms such as merengue, reggaeton and bachata with Bolivian tropical music),
• The Bamba
• The Gota
• America Brass
• Sigmas
• Diego Soria
• Pure Blood
• Beto Durán
• Derroche
• Consentidas (cholitas that merged cumbia villera with the rhythm of the charango).
• Climate, Cochabamba
• Iberia, de Oruro
• Bamba Latina, de Oruro
• Maroyu, Cochabamba
• Yoga Group of Tarija
• The Badulakes of Tarija
• Los Korys, de La Paz
• Link of Sacaba
• Eclipse de Sucre
• Magnus of Sucre
• Ivory, Cliza
• Elipsis, Cochabamba
• The Ronisch (believers of southern cumbia) of Cochabamba.

Rap and hip-hop

This musical genre and culture began to gain strength in the 1990s (although its beginnings date back to the 1980s).

Nineties rap in Bolivia was mostly influenced by the American style, with violence and gang rivalries at dances.

In 1992 (according to ATB and TSB Network television videos) the first Bolivian rap group appeared, called RapAZ, which was also the first Bolivian rap group to record an album).

The first rap groups were

• Rapaz,
• Cholo,
• The Way
• Alfonseca Marraqueta Blindada,
• DJ Fantasma,
• Urban essence,
• LP La Paz (since 1998, first album in 2003, with covers of known groups),
• Saint Piter and
• Chu-pt Bong.

Hip hop developed in Bolivia, becoming present in the media, with social messages although still with violent lyrics:

• Ukamau and what!
• Insana Race
• Diztinto (collective created by Alfonseka),
• Lyric Family (of Santa Cruz),
• La Gran Llajta (de Cochabamba), From Cochabamba La Gran Llajta brings us his third album "Fermento de Maíz", with 17 tracks, with the collaborations of: Negro Escandaloso, Tatto, Yayo, Wayna Rap, Taz, Big D and Neru Jade, produced in Llajta Records in 2006.
• RockaUrbana, Cochabamba, This group is from Cochabamba - Bolivia, it is made up of the three Alcon brothers: El Dyve (Dyvenko), El Logyko (Aaron) and Liso Elioso (Israel), are composers who began with the Rap on the Mediterranean in 2004, making recording in MB Music studies with the collaboration of Mauricio Balboa. One of the musical successes is "Decidete", "Your Look", "She told me so", among others. rap-undergound-boliviano!
• McMente, Cochabamba. Jaime Cáceres Quiroga best known po Mc Mente has its first contacts with the microphone in 2006 where it was prepared to take out an EP called Pause and return, on travel issues the project was not finished, then 2007 next to the Great Family VII released the album called "A Beginning". After his departure from the group in 2008 he released his first album produced by his person called The Three EPThat same year together with K.E. they decide to make a recording studio today known as CREMEN STUDIES 3.45
• Pacha Lingo

Evangelical rap groups appeared as

• The Yeso,
• Askenaz,
• Question of Faith.

Later they appeared

• Graffiteros,
• Bboys, and
• MCs (Bolivia).

Instruments

Charango national instrument of Bolivia

Although the martial sound of poorly played small bands of brass instruments seems to be an integral part of most South American fiestas, Andean musical traditions employ a variety of instruments dating back to pre-colonial times. Only the popular charango, similar to the ukulele (based on the vihuela and the bandurria, of Spanish origin, ancient forms of the guitar and mandolin) has European roots. By the early 17th century, Andean natives had already mixed and adapted Spanish designs into one that best reproduced their pentatonic scale, an instrument with ten llama gut strings (arranged in five pairs) and a soundboard made from the shell of a quirquincho. (or armadillo). Modern charangos are hardly different from those other old models, although the material currently used to make the soundboards is wood, due both to the scarcity and fragility of the quirquinchos, and to efforts to improve the quality of the sound.. Another string instrument is the chapaco violin, which originated in Tarija and is a variation of the European violin. It is the favorite instrument at Holy Week and especially at Easter.

Quena, Andean music instrument.

Before the arrival of the charango, the melody was exclusively performed by woodwind and woodwind instruments. The most recognized of them all are the quena and the zampoña (combined flute), which appear in most traditional musical performances. Quenas are simple reed flutes that are played by blowing through a hole at one end. More complex panpipes are played by forcing air through the open ends of reeds tied together in order of size, often in rows. Both quenas and panpipes appear in a wide variety of sizes and tonal ranges. Although the quena was originally intended for solo performances of musical pieces known as yaravíes, the two flutes are now played as part of a musical ensemble. The bajón, a huge combined flute, with separate mouthpieces on each reed, accompanies the festivities of the mojo communities in the lowlands of Beni. While playing, you have to support yourself on the ground, or be carried by two people.

Other notable wind instruments include the tarka and sikuri, important instruments in the tarqueadas and sicureadas of the rural highlands, as well as the pinkillo, a carnival flute that produces various high-pitched tones.

Wind instruments made of wood and typical of the valleys of Tarija and Tupiza are

• the anata ("Tupiza")
• the rod (instrument made of hollow reed, approximately three meters long, in an extemos carries a cone made of leather as a "Tarija" horn).
• the Camacheña (a type of flute that is played from the feast of San Roque (at the beginning of September) until the end of the year "Tarija").
• the herd (instrument made of cow horn, is played exclusively in Carnival of Tupiza and "Tarija").

Percussion also features in most festivals and other folk music performances, as the background tonality for the typically harmonious music of woodwind melodies. In the higher areas, specifically in Potosí, the most popular drum is the wankara.

In the high and low valleys of Tarija, valleys in southern Bolivia such as Tupiza, valleys and sub-Andean ravines of southern Chuquisaca such as Sud Cinti and south of Nor Cinti), the caja is present, a percussion instrument similar to a drum of grave tone, although the interpretation of the same one is similar in said regions.

Dances

The historical importance of the city of Oruro and its great cultural and religious influence make the Oruro carnival a natural setting that reflects the interculturality of the different areas of Bolivia.

The Andean-altiplanic zone of Bolivia at whose foot are the valleys called yungas, where the dance of the blacks, the saya and the caporales come from. However, the latter also has influences from European dances.

The dense population of this area - where the departments of Potosí, Oruro and part of La Paz are located - is rich in folklore and many of these dances participate in the Oruro Carnival. Among these dances are the tinku, the flamerada, the kullawada, the morenada, the diablada, the antawara, the calcheños, the potolos, the waka tokoris, the kallawaya and the kantus.

The area of the valleys is diverse in dances. In Chuquisaca the pujllay stands out; in Tupiza the tonada in Cochabamba the cueca cochabambina, the huayño and the little dances; in Tarija the cueca chapaca, the tonada and the wheel; In the Bolivian Chaco, which includes the departments of Chuquisaca, Tarija and Santa Cruz, the chacarera stands out, a dance of Argentine origin.

The plains and the Chaco, where the chunchos and the tobas (twas) come from, war dances that involve other ethnic groups in their interior.

All these dances mentioned share with dances of Oruro origin, such as the diablada (or dance of the devils), the morenada, the antahuaras, the awatiris, the sicuris, the wititis, the intillajta, the sampoñaris and the tarqueadas.

Festivals

Bolivia has an important festive calendar, in which several local and regional festivals stand out, such as the Oruro Carnival, the Andean anata, the pujllay (Tarabuco-Chuquisaca) and the tinku of northern Potosí, among others.

Painting

Rock Art

Rupestre Paint in Incamachay where white anthropomorphic anthropomorphs are appreciated

The Bolivian Rock Art Research Society, founded in 1987, is in charge of registering sites with rock paintings and engravings throughout the country. In Bolivia, more than a thousand sites have already been registered in all departments, the largest number in the highlands and valleys, a reduced number in the lowlands Sometimes they are near traditional traffic routes (roads, rivers), but there are also engravings or paintings in very hidden places that are difficult to access.

Researchers of Bolivian rock art have defined a preliminary chronology, distinguishing manifestations from the following periods:

• Horizon Paleoindio: This period is supposed to include some hunting scenes in cave paintings from the department of Potosí.

• Pre-Incaic Cultures: There are many different styles of engravings and paintings in many regions of the country that are sometimes similar to fabric or ceramic designs. They represent pets of domestic hunting or such as flame, men and, above all, geometric or abstract figures.

• Inca period: It is several places in Copacabana (Lago Titicaca) and the vicinity of that population, with the chairs carved in rock, and a place in the department of Santa Cruz, the sculpted hill of Samaipata with its extensive reliefs. These engravings show close relations with the manifestations of Incaic art in Peru and are found in historical places of the Incaic occupation in Bolivia.

• Cologne: There is a lot of cave drawings that were dated for their colonial motives, for example Christian crossings (there are also crosses in pre-Columbian art), representations of horsemen, figures with clothing or European utensils. Republic. Even in our days the natives of various regions of our country have produced rupest paintings or engravings in places that for them are of special importance, sometimes on rocks where there was ancient art.

To refer to rock art in Bolivia, terms such as Peña Colorada, Piedra Marcada or Pintatani (in a mixture of the Aymara language with Spanish) are used. On the other hand, there are names that express the fear of the residents of these places, because they believe that they are inhabited by the devil or evil spirits: Supay Huasi (in Quechua, 'house of the devil').

The main archaeological parks in the country are:

• Calacala: Located in the province Near Oruro 21 km southeast of the city of Oruro. There you can see flame paintings and their shepherds in the red, orange, white and black colors, apart from some engravings. A large white flame, the favorite animal for sacrifices, dominates one of the panels.

• Samaipata: Located in the Florida province of Santa Cruz. The fence sculpted in this town, called El Fuerte, has been declared a World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. It presents artificial depressions, channels, trapezoid niches and other engravings such as zoomomorphic sculptures. This place has a long history of settlements. The findings have allowed us to recognize the following chronological picture: Pre-Inka phase, Inka I, Inka II (the two incaic periods were interrupted by an invasion of the Chiriguanos) and Cologne. The Incas were supposed to erect an important religious and administrative centre there. Apart from the sculpted rock there are terraces and remains of buildings.

• Copacabana: Located in the department of La Paz. In front of the cemetery, in the Intinkala and Orkojawira sites, there are two areas surrounded by sculpted rocks, also called rupetra architecture, such as the so-called Inca Throne. You can observe in one of the main rocks a snake engraved with a channel of liquid drain that flows to the ground which seems to indicate that on the site were made offerings. The name Intinkala means Stone of the Sun. According to the Aymara tradition in this place "the Sun sat down", therefore the researcher Portugal Zamora assumes that the site was consecrated for some important ceremonies dedicated to the worship of the sun. In the exhibition of the archaeological museum of Kusijata, in the surroundings of Copacabana, you will find other explanations about the rock art of the Lake Titicaca region.

• Incamachay: Located in the Serrania de Chataquila, department of Chuquisaca. The vast majority of its motifs have been painted in white or red or in both colors. They present stylized anthropomorphs, geometric shapes and some zoomophos. A dome or tacit on the floor of the alero seems to indicate that there were offerings placed in ceremonies. This alero was declared a national monument by its imposing paintings and some engravings, but its paintings have been affected by YVA vandalism.

Mannerism

The Virgin of the Cerro, anonymous painting of 1720, Museo Casa Nacional de Moneda Potosí

Angel Letiel Deipainting by Melchor Pérez de Holguín, Church of Calamarca.

Mannerism is one of the most important artistic trends in Latin America. The painting of the Viceroyalty received the direct influence of Zuccari and Vasari, and the architecture, that of Sebastián Serlio. As far as painting is concerned, the influence of the Jesuit Bernardo Bitti who lived in Charcas, worked in the Jesuit missions on Lake Titicaca, especially in Juli, and is considered the most important painter in South America in the 16th century and at the beginning of the of the XVII. His works show idealized characters, carefully structured, whose attitudes and customs remind us of Michelangelo, the faces, particularly those of the Virgin Mary, are as sweet as Raphael's, their coloring is contrasting and it is not strange to find green shadows on cloth. ocher. Bitti notably influences popular art due to the relationship he had with the indigenous people in Cusco and Potosí. The most important schools of indigenous art, those of Cuzco and Collao, showed a certain reluctance towards realism and chiaroscuro, which can be explained in part by the influence of Bitti, as well as by the Inca and Tiahuanacota traditions, in which the art was stylized and lacked realism.

One of Bitti's closest followers is Gregorio Gamarra who stood out for works such as The Epiphany (Museo de La Paz) Later, Jerónimo Diego de Ocaña with the Virgin of Guadalupe from the Franciscan Monastery of La Paz, dated from 1609. It is also at this time that the principles of the different artistic schools were established and that the indigenous artists learned their art from the Europeans. Bitti's influence on Diego Cusihuamán is evident. In addition, indigenous artists such as Pedro de Loayza and Tito Yupanqui emerged.

Baroque

Baroque appears in the Audiencia de Charcas between 1630 and 1640. This change is motivated by the entry of works by Zurbarán. At this time, Potosí was the largest city in the Americas. Its population reached 160,000 inhabitants, being Spanish in a large proportion. The religious orders entrusted the reproduction of series of engravings to local artists. Although it is clear that the Spanish influence is fundamental in Potosí, the same is not the case in Collao, where flamenco compositions were the main source of inspiration. We see it in the work of Leonardo Flores, the most important painter of this region.

School of Potosi

The last Mannerist in Potosí is Nicolás Chávez de Villafuerte. Two Spanish painters belonging to the new tendencies are his contemporaries: Francisco López de Castro and Francisco de Herrera y Velarde. The teachers of this generation gave rise to the School of Potosí, very different from the other schools of the Viceroyalty of Peru. El Collao and Cuzco have a planar aesthetic and prefer idealized characters from mannerism. Under the tutelage of one of these masters, the most important Baroque painter of the Viceroyalty was trained, Melchor Pérez de Holguín, who signed his first work in Potosí in 1687. Holguín's work can be followed step by step until 1732, the year in which he signed his last frame. Upon his death, he left numerous disciples and imitators and a century later he will be remembered under the nickname of the Golden Brush. Holguín's works are characterized by the flattening of characters and his universe. Later, disciples from Holguín appeared, such as Gaspar Miguel de Berrío, Luis Niño, Nicolás Ecoz and Joaquín Carabal. The anonymous who copy the characters of Holguín are numerous.

Collao School

At the end of the 17th century, indigenous and mestizo artists were becoming more numerous. It is then that painting, except in Potosí, where Holguín prints the mark of a different art: he begins to assume his own identity and move away from European models. Cuzco and Collao are the centers of this new trend. The most appreciated paintings are those that lack perspective, with varied and anecdotal scenes and characters of conventional beauty. Gold, used profusely in the early years, but then disappeared with mannerism, returns to the scene and the paintings covered with it are highly valued. The 18th century is marked by a growing interest in Inca history.

The first painters of the Collao are Leonardo Flores and the Master of Calamarca. The first works around 1684 in the towns located on the shores of Lake Titicaca, as with Flemish engravings. Flores worked for the Bishop of La Paz, Queipo del Llano. After Flores, Collao's painting became bombastic and addressed to the masses. The Assumption of the Virgin, hell and sin are recurring themes. The most famous paintings on this subject are in the church of Carabuco, signed by Juan López de Los Ríos. In Carabuco is where the first angels dressed in the style of the 17th century appear. These angels would later be the favorite subject of highland cultists.

In Bolivia there are several series of angels, the most famous being the one found in the church of Calamarca. The most outstanding paintings of angels of the Bolivian Baroque are the works known as <<Ángeles y Arcángeles de Calamarca>>. The collection is made up of 36 paintings that we can group into three series: the harquebusiers, those who are dressed as Romans, and the seraphim, dressed as women.

Republican Art

The 19th century was strongly influenced by neoclassicism with works of art that appeared grandiloquent and soberly colored. The most prominent artists were Manuel Oquendo and Manuel Gumiel de Sucre.

Independence and the advent of the republic incorporate academicism. The votive portrait is relegated to the family and popular tradition, being replaced by official portraits composed in the manner of the French school. Among the official portraits, Bolivarian iconography is the most abundant and characteristic. In Chuquisaca there is a magnificent portrait of Bolívar by the hand of the Peruvian mulatto José Gil de Castro. From the circle of Castro is the portrait of Andrés de Santa Cruz, dated 1828.

In the line of painters of portraits of politicians, Melchor María Mercado and Antonio Villavicencio de Chuquisaca stand out. The intermediate modality between portrait painting and religious painting is represented by two painters Juan de la Cruz Tapia and Saturnino Porcel. In the last third of the century, the city of La Paz produced an interesting group of painters more inclined to romantic tendencies than those from Potosi or Chuquisaqueños. Among them, Zenón Iturralde stands out, whose landscapes of the Yungas (1867) and other sites near La Paz, place him within a genre that in Bolivia had few practitioners. Other notable ones are Mariano Florentino Olivares. Other important artists are: Manuel Ugalde, José García Mesa and Joaquín Castañón.

20th century

The Yatiri (1918), painting by Arturo Borda.

Muralism.

The 20th century has meant, within art, awareness and the gradual search for national identity. During the first half, important painters worked who marked steps on that route. Arturo Borda (1883-1953), made numerous portraits with a sense of magical and symbolic realism, and allegorical works. Cecilio Guzmán de Rojas (1898-1950) developed and promoted indigenismo. Other artists also worked within this trend, such as Genaro Ibáñez, Jorge de la Reza, and Juan Rimsa, who brought expressionism to the country's art. Later, Raúl Prada (1900-1991), Mario Unzue (1905-1984) and Armando Jordán (1900-1983) arrived in Santa Cruz de la Sierra.

As a consequence of the Chaco War, movements to change the reality of the country were generated that led to the National Revolution of 1952. Revolutionary artists such as Miguel Alandia Pantoja (1914-75), Walter Solón Romero (1925), Alfredo La Placa (1929) appear with indigenous people and workers as background themes.

Contemporary

Roberto Mamani Mamani, contemporary painter of Aymara origin.

At the end of the 20th century, themes such as the Indian and the worker were replaced by the urban man and art with a strong content of social criticism. Roberto Valcárcel opened a new path in this sense, with works such as "Los Torturados", "Muchachos Equivocos", Che Guevara or Franz Tamayo made with tea bags, making use of the drawing. Gastón Ugalde works with dry clay, the Indians turned urban planners and the unknown heroes, so unknown and anonymous with the dressed paper dolls and the headless bulls of Efraín Ortuño. The hyperrealist production of Tito Kuramoto in Santa Cruz de la Sierra and the apparently naïve painting of Carmen Villazón are also very valuable.

Within protest painting, the work of Edgar Arandia, Javier Fernández, Gil Imaná and Lorgio Vaca is important. Carlos Fernández, for his part expressive and essentially colorful, has synthesized in his painting the urban landscape and the faces of Bolivian citizens.

In 1981 the first Bolivian Biennial was held, organized by the Pucara Group and later painters such as Sol Mateo, Roberto Mamani Mamani, Luis Zilveti, Fernando Rodríguez Casas, César Jordán, Patricia Mariaca, Ángeles Fabbri, Silvia Dáttoli, Juan Carlos Apaza, Ejti Stih, Carmen Torres, Alejandra Alarcón, Fernando Ugalde, Juan Pablo Cortez among others.

Sculpture

Tiwanaku

Bolivian sculpture dates back to the Tiwanaku period with anthropomorphic stelae such as the Bennett Monolith that reaches a height of 7.3 meters high. The statues are rigid, quadrangular cut. The best-known figures are in an upright position, standing, with their hands on their chests. The head is square and has raised bands while the ears and nose are represented in the shape of a T. and the eyes are rectangular, with large tears.

In the Kalasasaya complex there are other sculptures such as the Puerta del Sol and the Ponce Monolith. In the upper part of the Puerta del Sol, there is a complex frieze in the center of which appears the figure of a richly dressed character, in a frontal position, who holds in each of his hands a staff with figures of birds (eagles or condors) that it is believed to represent the god Wiracocha.

Colonial

the Puerta de la Basílica de la Virgen de Copacabana carved by Francisco Tito Yupanqui.

Few images from the 16th century are preserved in Bolivia. From 1570, and from Seville, is the magnificent Virgin of Candelaria in the Cathedral of La Paz.

The best-known sculptor is Tito Yupanqui, author of the Virgin of Copacabana. Yupanqui was born in Copacabana in the 16th century. Living in Potosí, he studied the work of sculptor Diego Ortiz and later began carving wooden Virgins such as the Virgen de la Candelaria. Returning to Copacabana, Yupanqui perfected his carving portraying the Virgin of Copacabana with used material (maguey) and a technique that linked the indigenous tradition with the Spanish sculpture of the time. After Yupanqui, followers such as Sebastián Acostopa and contemporaries such as Andrés and Gómez Hernández Galván, author of the altarpieces of La Merced de Sucre and Ancoraime, stand out. His style, both in architecture and in sculpture, shows the Renaissance in its fullness and the mannerism introduced by Bernardo Bitti.

With the arrival of realism in Seville came works such as that of Juan Martínez Montañés, who is the author of the Little Immaculate Conception of a rod found in the Oruro Cathedral, and Gaspar de la Cueva whose works are referenced by the historian Arzanz y Orzua y Vela, highlighting the effigy Crucified Christ of Burgos that Cueva made for the church of San Agustín de Potosí. Somewhat more distant from Montañes, it is Luis de Peralta who signs a crucified Christ that is today in the Asilo de Ancianos de Potosí.

The Cuzco influence penetrates Upper Peru with the works of the Cuzco native Julián, who around 1650 sends a Virgin of Candelaria that today is seen in the Parish of San Martín de Potosí. The trends of Seville and Cuzco are seen in the work of the Indian sculptor Diego Quispe Curo, who in 1657 signed a Christ tied to the Column that is currently in the church of La Recoleta in Sucre.

Republican

Until the creation of the School of Fine Arts in La Paz, professional sculpture was not made. During the first half of the 20th century, Epifanio Urrias Rodríguez, Alejandro Guardia, Fausto Aóiz, Emiliano Luján, Hugo Almaráz, Víctor Zapana, the ceramicist Manuel Iturri and mainly Marina Núñez del Prado stand out. who is considered one of the greatest sculptors in Latin America and that she came to be admired by personalities such as Pablo Picasso and Gabriela Mistral. The work of Núñez del Prado is distinguished by the use of stylized curves (worked in onyx, black granite, alabaster, etc.), which symbolize the woman (the female silhouette, the image of the woman, the indigenous woman, etc.), a theme that occupies a central place in his art.

Later, after the sixties, new talents such as Ted Carrasco, Carlos Rodríguez, Marcelo Callaú and David Paz appeared, and more recently León Saavedra-Geuer, Francine Secretan and Gastón Ugalde. All these artists, with the exception of Rodríguez and Saavedra-Geuer, make art inspired by the Bolivian world and Andean myths such as condors, the mystery of life and death in eternal succession, the exuberant and luxurious world of the tropics, achieving High quality works that perhaps define Bolivian art better than painting itself.

Architecture

Right wall of the Kalasasaya Temple, Tiwanakota architecture, Tiwanaku.

Church of San Lorenzo, architecture of baroque mestizo, Potosí.

Basilica of San Francisco, architecture of the Baroque period, La Paz.

Monoblock of the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, eclectic architecture, La Paz.

Tiwanaku and Inca

The Tiwanaku archaeological complex is made up of large rectangular building units with open spaces, probably streets, and water channels. The architecture is made of large blocks of carved stone and with excellent assembly and ashlars locked with copper staples on their interior faces. Stones were brought to the site from great distances, some from quarries near the lake. That journey varies from between 10 and 300 km. and there are blocks that weigh more than 100 tons.

Within Inca architecture, the ceremonial constructions near Copacabana stand out, such as the Pilkokaina or palace of the Inca and the Chincana, on Isla del Sol; and the acllahuasi on the Island of the Moon. On the other hand, the Inca military constructions such as Incallajta and Incarracay, in Cochabamba; Incahuasi, Oroncota and San Lucas, in Chuquisaca; and Samaipata in Santa Cruz.

Colonial

In this period, religious buildings (churches, convents), civil buildings (councils, palaces, houses) and industrial buildings (mills, mints) arose. Many buildings were made of stone and are preserved to this day. The temples built in the 16th and 17th centuries were generally in a Renaissance style.

In the 18th century, the Baroque style was introduced, characterized by the abundance of spiral or snail-shaped ornaments, the use of curved lines and the inclusion of mythological elements (mermaids, Atlanteans) in the decoration. This style was the origin of the mestizo baroque, in which baroque principles were combined with native elements. The Church of San Lorenzo de Potosí combines caryatids turned into indigenous people, mermaids playing charango for example. Other works of the mestizo baroque are the Church of Santo Domingo and the Basilica of San Francisco in La Paz; and the churches of the Jesuit Missions.

Republican

At the beginning of the 19th century, neoclassicism prevailed with characteristics of the Italian Baroque of the 17th century. Alternating curves and countercurves, mixtilinear pediments and Rococo-style decorations are the main architectural elements. The most important works of the period are: the Cathedral of Potosí (by Manuel Sanahuja), the House of Mariscal Andrés de Santa Cruz (today Colegio San Calixto de La Paz), and the Franciscan Third Order in La Paz.

After the founding of the Republic, Felipe Bertrés and José Núñez del Prado introduced French academicism. Thus, the Municipal Theater of La Paz (1834-1845) and the Government Palace (1845-1850), works by Núñez del Prado, were built. The palace is built with the three classical orders, around a courtyard with an interior doorway and a triumphal staircase. For his part, Bartrés built the Cathedral of Santa Cruz de la Sierra (1830 - 1840) based on brick with roofs and interior wooden vaults. The Cathedral of La Paz started by Sanahuja, was continued by Bertrés, Núñez del Prado, Presbítero Ernesto Vespignani, Eulalio Morales and Antonio Camponovo. During the period, commemorative architecture was also carried out, such as the Zepita Triumph Arch and the La Paz Triumph Arch, as well as the commemorative column in the Potosí plaza. In Sucre the Rotonda Chapel was built.

In the last two decades of the 19th century, eclecticism prevailed. Sucre and La Paz developed intense architectural activity. In 1880 the neo-Gothic was introduced with the Church of San Calixto de La Paz (1880-1882) built by Father Eulalio Morales, and Recoleta (1884-1894). In Sucre the new Government Palace was built, today the Departmental Prefecture (1892-1904); the Gran Mariscal Sucre Theater, built with plans for a French project for the Paris Opera, and also the buildings of the Banco Nacional de Bolivia and Banco Argandoña, by Eduardo Doynel. The most significant example of eclecticism is the Palacio de la Glorieta (1900), by Antonio Camponovo, who brought together 14 styles in the building, including the classical European styles, Gothic in the chapel and Arabic in the portico in the manner of the Alhambra, Renaissance, Byzantine and Romanesque. Also the Alameda, a complex of parks and gardens with obelisks, triumphal arches and artificial lagoons. In the same period, the Casa Dorada was built in Tarija, with a rich interior decoration of murals, tapestries, canvases, etc. In Cochabamba, the Portales Palace (1925) commissioned by Simón Patiño, designed by the French architect Eugene Bliault, stands out.

Contemporary

Cholet, with colors and features of the altiplanic culture

In the 20th century, and within eclecticism, the work of Arturo Posnasky stands out, who built his private residence in Neo-Tiahuanaco style (1909), today the headquarters of the National Museum of Archaeology. Residences such as the Lebanese Club, the Machicado House, and the offices of the Bolivian Railway with windows and balconies made of wrought iron were also built.

In metal architecture, the National Customs building (1915-1920) was built by Miguel Nogué. Important engineering works are the Suspension Bridges, which hang from steel cables, supported by two pairs of neo-Gothic style towers, the Sucre Bridge over the Pilcomayo River, between Sucre and Potosí, built by the engineer Julio Pinkas, and the Arce Bridge., between Sucre and Cochabamba, both designed and calculated by Luis Soux.

Within official academism, the Legislative Palace (1900-1905) was built in La Paz, attributed to Camponovo; the Palace of Justice (1919) by Adán Sánchez. In Oruro, during the heyday of Simón Patiño, the Palais Concert (1930) was built with French-style architecture.

The most important architect in the 20th century was Emilio Villanueva (1886-1970), who within the academic framework built important buildings in La Paz such as the General Hospital (1925), the La Paz City Hall (1925) and the Central Bank of Bolivia (1926). Within rationalism, and in pursuit of a national architecture, he made the complex of the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (1941-1948), applying modules and spatial concepts inspired by the Tiwanaku culture.

In the second half of the 20th century, neocolonial architecture became fashionable with buildings such as the Railway Station in La Paz and the Supreme Court of Justice in Sucre, by Julio Mariaca Pando (1895-1970), and the buildings of La Razón and the National Social Security Fund, by Mario del Carpio. Other works are: Fourth Centenary in Potosí, by Martín Noel; the Prefecture of Potosí and the Bank of the State of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, by Alberto Iturralde Levy; the Monument to the National Revolution (1960) by Hugo Almaraz (1910-1980); the La Papelera 1967 building, by Luis Perrín and the headquarters of Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos by Luis Iturralde Levy; these last two influenced by functionalist rationalism inspired by the third generation of skyscrapers in the United States.

In the eighties, postmodern architecture appeared in works such as Casa Morales (1985), by Roberto Valcárcel (1951) and the Casa Crespo by Carlos Villagomez.

At the beginning of the XXI century, a new Andean architecture was born, with the name of “cholet”, a mixture Between chalet and cholo (which is the derogatory way of calling people with indigenous features), the precursor is the engineer Freddy Mamani. It is a very particular architecture, it was born in the city of La Paz, it is characterized by having plastic facades with a variety of colors, exotic designs, and Andean shapes, likewise the buildings usually have different uses on each of the floors, the ground floor It is intended for commercial premises, the first and second floors are for meeting rooms, and the owners' residences are located on the last levels. Mamani generated new buildings, which until then were not in the city; the same ones that managed to reflect the identity and essence of the culture of the altiplano.