Urubichá is a village in the Bolivian Orient home to the indigenous Guarayo people. It is a place of many crafts, including weaving, painting and music.
Urubichá artists can be recognised by their unique style, which differentiates itself by its colourful fable-like representations of the rainforest and village life. They sculpt and paint from imagination, using special designs that have been influenced by the Guarayo cosmovision.
Their paintings record the history and beliefs of their people, helping to preserve their endangered culture.
Parallax exhibition
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Waldo Urazayegua
Waldo is a talented painter from Urubichá, in the Bolivian Amazon. He belongs to the ArteCampo association of indigenous artisans. He paints with acrylic mostly on wood and canvas.
In 1996, as a teenager, Waldo joined a local painting workshop, aimed at training youth and women with special artistic skills. He was taught an original technique and style of painting, which was developed by local artists in collaboration with the ArteCampo institution.
Waldo’s paintings depict animals and humans in a fable-like jungle setting. Local villagers appear alongside exotic animals and mythical creatures in a harmonious relationship.
Painted in vivid colours, they are celebrations of the richness of life.
Currently, Waldo divides his time between his native Urubichá and Santa Cruz, where he works at a workshop run by ArteCampo.
Tiburcio Mborobainchi
Tiburcio is an indigenous ceramic artist based in the city of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, who was born in Urubichá.
Nature is the main source of inspiration for his art. Most of his pieces portray very colourful birds and plants native to his area. He spends a lot of time observing animals and nature, which he then recreates through his art from memory and his imagination. He also sometimes depicts scenes of everyday of the Guarayo people in an effort to preserve their tradition.
He creates sculptures, vases and decorations, as well as high relief murals.
He calls himself above all a modern artist as he uses modern techniques of slip casting, press moulding and engobe painting, which he has learned from famous ceramic artists, including Lorgio Vaca, a renowned Bolivian muralist and painter. Tiburcio as well as the Argentinian and American artists Jorge Fernandez Chiti and Ramon Perez Landivar.
His work has been exhibited internationally in various museums in Washington DC and Santiago, Chile. His pieces are currently on display in the ArteCampo museum in Santa Cruz.
"My work in artistic ceramics has been the result of a great effort, a lot of thought and imagination, and above all, a great deal of practice and experimentation."
Nazario Urazayegua
Nazario is an artist from his native town of Urubichá, in the Bolivian Amazon. He belongs to the ArteCampo association of indigenous artisans, and specialises in painting on wood.
His most unique pieces are wooden triptychs, or “ventanas” (windows) as they are commonly known in Bolivia. The triptychs are in the shape of a window, which opens to reveal a development in the story inspired by local myth and legend.
Nazario’s triptychs are a fusion of the early European tradition, which provided their form, and the indigenous Guarayo culture, which inspired the colourful style and folk themes. The style is modern, even though it is deeply rooted in the traditional beliefs.
Nazario paints entirely from imagination and has developed a series of illustrations to different folk stories, in which animals play a central role.
Nazario’s works have been exhibited in the ArteCampo museum in Santa Cruz.
