Extractes from Quepasa.cl

Hiking and searching for locations or ideas for new projects, Jeffrey Katzenberg visited the Alto atacama Hotel in San Pedro de Atacama. Katzenberg is one of the DreamWorks founders, the studio behind blockbuster movies like Shrek, Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda.

Steven Spielberg and David Geffen’s partner reserved rooms in the Alto Atacama, where he stayed with two other heavyweights of American film industry: Andrew Cripps, president of Paramount Pictures International, and Ian George, senior vice president of that company.

Katzenberg, who is vacationing in Latin America, arrived in his private plane to Calama and stayed a couple of days in San Pedro. After his stay in Alto Atacama, he will be travelling with his friends from Paramount to other countries in Southamerica.

Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen formed DreamWorks in 1994, making it one of the most successful independent film production companies, with Oscar-winning like American Beauty and Gladiator. In 2005, Paramount Pictures bought Dreamworks for U.S. $ 1,600 million.

This February, San Pedro has a special show of Chilean handicraft, one awarded in 2009 by the UNESCO “Seal of Excellence” and “First Crafts and Design Competition CREA”.
ARTEMINGA and NGO TSA opens tomorrow Thursday February 11 the exhibition “Multiple Parallel ” in Caracoles 183, which I consider one of the most interesting shops in the area, the perfect place to go if you look for special pieces that combine  design with materials and traditions.
On my vacations I had the privilege of meeting  Silvana Martinez, manager of this initiative, a young law student who carries the art in her veins, which was motivated by her atacaman ancestors, and has developed a career as a goldsmith reusing old atacaman  tissues, combined with work in copper, which works in creating jewelry crudely carrying the history of its previous owners, in this case the Zutar family, (her paternal grandmother).

Everything on their collars emulates the desert, the red and earth colors of the tissues, the metal she uses, which together with the reuse of materials earned merits enough to be one of the winners of CREA.
The installation “Multiple Parallel” evokes in its structure the way our long country is transversally divided by parallels, imaginary lines that create divisions within our territory, where locations are also different and unique cultural expressions, which are part of a larger agenda: our idiosyncrasy

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The pieces presented in this exhibition are Loza Rings by Carolina Contreras Collao who presented framed fragments of pottery belonging to the ancient northern Chile saltpeter, wooden rings by Marcel Pinilla Cancino, native objects made with wood from old fallen buildings of Valparaíso, Loom Necklace by Nicolas Hernandez Meza and Juan Pinochet Acosta a pectoral ornament with saddlery and goldsmith techniques with ancient materials used in handicrafts; Manto Intervenido by Irene Vacaro Cuevas made from felt and multiple techniques; Kallwe Necklace by Valeria Martinez Nahuel a creation of silver, sheep and alpaca wool hand-dyed with natural products; Jewels of native wood and silver by Pauline Aranguiz Montesi inspired in Mapuche traditional ornamentation.

I stand  at my window, enjoying a sunny day under a sky painted deep blue, the wind making  the fox tails dance and shine under the rays of the intense desert sun showing its graceful and flexible thin elongated structure.
Katarpe Valley looks especially beautiful this afternoon, I like to think that once in Santiago I`ll remember this picture and know that happiness in life is often made of moments like these, full, where the perfect harmony of nature connects us with a spiritual state of peace and gratitude.
Slowly I put my favorite band on my computer, I lie on my terrace bed overlooking the San Pedro River, some riders pass through the valley guarded by two great arms of the Cordillera de la Sal, which is awesome, with its characteristic red color, right in front of me, making me feel small compared to such greatness and majesty. The boulder clay of the desert contrasts with the green of the course of the river and everything seen from this architecture that integrates the landscape turns out to be fascinating, especially for me as an architect.
How fortunate I feel this afternoon, to be enjoying this holiday as well, in my country, three hours from my home in the capital, surrounded by such beauty and warmth. People who works here make this day special, passing on their knowledge either from the flavors of their homeland on their plates and drinks to the data of the nobles local materials used in the construction of sustainable landscaping of the hotel.
A fascinating experience, a perfect vacation in one of the most beloved places of Chile, San Pedro de Atacama, this oasis in the dryest desert of the world, full of natural wonders and relics of past cultures and here, in this Desert Lodge, I can enjoy to the fullest.

The town of Toconao, an oasis just 40 kms south of San Pedro is one of the main tourist attractions of Atacama. This village of 800 inhabitants is built entirely in stone liparita, a material that keeps the inside temperature warm regardless the climate change outside.

Bright and white in the center of town and in front of the plaza, is the church and bell tower of San Lucas, from the eighteenth century which was rebuilt after earthquakes and fires. Today it is a National Monument and is under the care of nuns.

The toconares are related in three main activities, volcanic stone carving, doing beautiful sculptures and miniatures; the cultivation of fruit and spices, which grow very well in the area thanks to the purity of its water; and exploitation of minerals from the Salar.

They have a special sensitivity for the environment thanks to the inherited culture of the ancient inhabitants, and not only that they’ve traspassed. With a strong sense of independence that they still mantain, they have passed the ancient teachings from parents to children, doing big efforts to have a good education, adapting to new technologies but without surrendering their traditions. This great example of the community ranks as the rural town with more professionals per capita in Chile.

The ancestral Lickanantai community of Tokonao, as they call themselves, is supported by the Chilean Indigenous Law, the UN and Human Rights.

Picture: (cc) Pablo Neco