The anthropology of art studies art in relation to the cultural context in which Aruban’s claim to inherit is inspired in these art works. This offers a vision of the ideas that guard and mobilize the aesthetic creation, and analyzes the multiple universes where it is expressed and works.
The encounter of indigenous societies with the conquerors amazed by the reality of a New World, had a convergence in a cultural confrontation where aesthetic and symbolic factors were part of it, flowing to our time through history and archeology, to recover objects of knowledge and as components of new processes of artistic creation and a sense of belonging to an unique and separate group of people that has survived ages of suppression while using this same principals to claim and obtain a special status whit in the Dutch kingdom
Aruba conserves an indigenous patrimonial legacy with strong aesthetic values.
Etnia Nativa rediscovers studies and admires the expressive power of this legacy, incorporating artistic archaeological objects of our cultural heritage.
Patrish: representing the crested bobwhite who`s song remind us to the song for the dead.
Fertility Deity ‘Warawashi que’
‘Warawashi que’ was the name to which the women of the Aruban’s fishermen were known.
This was a Deity of Fertility for our Caquetio natives which its original is displayed in the AMA Archaeological Museum Aruba.
In this abstract figure: if we notice you can observe the figure of a fish in vertical position and the vagina of the woman represented the mouth of a fish made out of clay. The pregnant woman figure represents what fertility will bring, life and renewal.
The same happens with the bat. Figures that represents totems. Enigmatic animals, who symbolizes happiness and wisdom received from spirits of the underworld, Cave dwellers whit the ability to pass through special portals in order to bring back spiritual massages for the shamans of what to expect.
Frog fertility totem: The frog as spirit animal or totem reminds us of the transient nature of our lives. As symbol of transition and transformation, this spirit animal supports us in times of change. Strongly associated with the water element, it connects us with the world of emotions and feminine energies.
The Dori is Aruba`s only frog species and an ancestral fertility totem. The association with the rainy season explains it all. Happy Dori`s sing all night in celebration of the coming harvest and abundance.
The rattlesnake; care taker of the Cunuco or plantation, that travel after sundown and picks on rodents which can damage to harvest. Nowadays we can hardly find this endangered animal since urbanization has taken over the cunuco`s and their habitat. Aruba`s rattles snakes are a separate and unique to our island a specie that really deserves our protection.
Etnia Nativa presents an anthropological approach to what we can call ancient Aruban natural relations using art in order to understand the indigenous aesthetic creation of island native expressions. It values the way in which the indigenous universe and its aesthetic production have been recorded throughout history, generating new artistic products. It discusses indigenous aesthetic conceptions, their connection to the natural environment, and how they influenced the processes of cultural interaction with Europeans. Finally, it focuses on ceramics as a key resource for the indigenous aesthetic expression, as a way of anthropological recovery of the precolonial creative production in connection with contemporary art inspired on native Aruban motives.
Native Americans of Aruba, from Caquetian original stock where the local potters well in to the era of Dutch colonial occupation.
They were the expert Ceramists and Potters. Their mastering of this art as a cult was cosmological inspired, expressed throughout their techniques. This heritage was transmitted from generation to generation till the beginning of the 20th century.
Those who participate in our cultural and interactive tour learn the management of anthropological, historical and aesthetic categories, obtain knowledge of anthropology, art history and archeology of both Aruba and the Caribbean and of America as a whole, obtain information concerning resent research of the region, and a generalize comparative vision of indigenous cultures, iconography and aesthetic elements of island societies.
Critical evaluation of cultural heritage management, cultural heritage and the information associated with art and cultural concepts based on artistic creation around the theme.
To get to know more about Aruba and its origins, its animals and culture, we highly recommend you to book your visit to our renowned cultural center, where encounter sessions have been entertaining curious participants for decades. Mail us at etnianativa03@gmail.com to confirm your participation. Our facilities and activities take place close to high rise hotels.
