In a world in motion, it’s best to look at the side of a bus. In fact, that’s what photographer Carlos Pineda did for several years, while riding the reliable Colombian chiva through the hills of his native Caldas department.
Far from the steppes of Tibet, the coffee groves of the Central Cordillera are indelibly linked to the Himalaya, even though there are no Buddhist monks in saffron robes swirling prayer wheels near Salamina. But there are mandalas. The sacred circles of Eastern philosophy, guiding passengers with their aguadeños, stalks of plantain, and a journey to the local market a la colombiana.
The art of chiva bus decorating is not unique to central Colombia, as these colorful motorized mules meander their way across our landscape, a vital connection for campesinos to reach mercados brimming with the fruits and vegetables of a hard week’s work in the fields. But only a handful of artisans have mastered these elaborate designs, plying a centuries-old craft with the help of a pencil, measuring stick and wooden stencil.
And a simple circle in the hands of a skilled artisan can evolve – and revolve – into complex geometry and creation of interconnectedness. In Eastern cultures, mandalas are created painstakingly pieced together with multi-colored sand – within one square meter – that represent the universe and ephemeral nature of our existence.
In Colombia’s coffee region, the chiva circles can’t be washed away with the rain that falls upon plantations and finca alike; and not unlike the Buddhist monks half a world away, the circles from the coffee axis are the product of countless hours of concentration.
Even though for the passenger the lines drawn and lineal designs may just be adornment, for the artisans, they are a source of great pride and a dedication to keeping these vehicles on the road. The very survival of the chiva as a means of local transport is essential to keeping the memory of the countryside alive.
Carlos Pineda is a photographer known for developing stories around people and places. From black and white images captured along the riverfront in Montreal to a wedding ceremony in Sucre, Bolivia, Pineda has earned a global reputation as an documentarian of the human condition. A small hardcover titled “Mandalas del Camino” is Pineda’s latest editorial venture and released for the holiday season. Illustrated with color pictures and white pages for coloring-in more than one hundred mandala designs, for Pineda the project was an exercise in “traveling” – but not necessarily “arriving somewhere.”
In the foreward of “Mandalas del Camino” Pineda writes: “When I think about the sensations that I have experienced in this land, the first one that comes to mind, the most intense, is the perception of the spaces and volumes harmoniously saturated by color.”
Pineda’s book is all about color, even though most of the pages are black and white designs, inviting the reader to “begin an inner journey.”
So next time you ride a chiva, feel a soft breeze through its caged windows as a tropical landscape waltzes by, remember the mandalas on the side and back of the bus, for the coffee groves will transport you to a faraway place – one of monks, sacred circles and the monasteries of Tibet.
