Amaicha de Valle

JAN 24TH

We have been in Amaicha de Valle for a few days now. Reaching this town of 5000 in the middle of an arid valley 2000 metres above sea level you follow the mountain Road through what is known as ‘El Infernillo’, inhabited by liitle more than goats.

            Amaicha is the oldest indigenous community in Argentina, having been granted the, land through a government charter in 1953. It is a short distance from the ruins of the sacred city of Quilmes, which resisted occupation by the Spanish conquisadors for 150 years before the remaining inhabitants were shipped to Buenes Aires. Now days, the feeling is that this defeat is being reversed. In fact, Amaicha has the feeling of a victory being celebrated. The bright patchwork ypala flag of the Pan-American indigenous movement flies proudly from commercial establishments and private house all over town.

            The town’s proximity to Quilmes has allowed tourism to flourish, adding an extra income to the traditional ways of making a living, but unlike similar places that attract tourism, there is no encroachment by large hotels and other big money. The ubiquitous blandness of corporate cultural sanitation has been kept at bay and the energy of community enterprise and individual creativity has been allowed to grow unchecked. It is illegal to buy or sell the land, a situation, which has prevented the dubious benefits of large outside investment. The town is not mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide, but word of mouth brings plenty of visitors.

            The place has a strong feeling of soul. The combination of a nearby sacred site and a large whiff of freedom and self determination has made the town a minor mecca for bohemians, artists, romantics and a young Argentine hippy set. A large museum of indigenous art dedicated to the earth-mother goddess Pachamama is being built at entrance to town, an ambitious project of the sculptor Hector Cruz, which may catapult the town into being a major artistic centre. A sizable part is already open to the public. It is a maze of terraces built with traditional stonework embellished by Cruz’s own work. It is impressive on the outside like an indigenous Gugenheim, if -at least for the time being- a little lacking in exhibits on the inside even more so than its counterpart in Bilbao.