Zoom in

Although the succession of the landscape and the unexpected appearance of beautiful wood furniture make the traveler anxious, and tempt him to make stops and take photos and ask questions, the guide and driver urged him to continue travelling. The ride to Arismendi is inevitably tiring. Used to transport Cuban people, the driver draws attention to certain elements and with pragmatic precision answers every question that arises. He uses words and phrases of the island and even jokes in a mischievous way that is familiar to us. From Barinas, the state capital, one spends seven hours travelling, hence he gets reluctant when making stops he considers unnecessary and just makes the obligatory stop in San Carlos, after having left behind Portuguesa and Cojedes.
Arismendi municipality is the largest land area in the state of Barinas, with little more than twenty-three thousand inhabitants. Its unforgettable cheeses, and annoying jokes about their remoteness and rurality, were known facts before visiting it. Its festivities take place on September 4th in honor of Santa Rosalia, the patron saint of farmers.
Arismendi craft works is threaded with their fishing activity. Upon reaching Arismendi, everything is cozy, immediate, intimate, and accurate. Even poverty is like that in certain areas along the route.
In Ezequiel Zamora we found Amarilis, a ten year old girl who lives with her elderly grandmother; her father, suffering from disease; and a little sister. In the narrow and rustic house it contrasted the presence of their delicate textiles. Solicitous, she accumulates in just seconds caps of various sizes, blouses, shawls, handbags, wallets, belts, headbands, cases for cellular ... Her little sister serving, as model, poses wearing some of her creations. She knows she must weave to earn the bread; she feels she must weave to feel at peace with herself and with her family. The fabric is life beyond sustenance.
But Amarilis has just turned ten years old. It doesn’t not matter how tied she is to her duties, she is a girl at last. The humility with which she shows a product of a higher value that she assumes is impregnated in our minds. What would the bread that comes to her home be if the fair value of work of a natural artist will return to her hands?