RETABLO. PICAFLORCITO

Picaflorcito Year: 2006 Dimensions: Open: 29 x 67.5 x 13 cm / 29 x 34 x 13 cm The Picaflorcito retablo has inscribed on both doors the lyrics of an anonymous song that Edilberto Jiménez collected in Chungui, which gives the retablo its name and serves as its inspiration. Edilberto's passion for music and the profound impact this song had on him led him to make a visual transposition of this song from the Llacta maqta genre. Through the song, the inhabitants of Chungui beg the little hummingbird (picaflorcito) to lend them its wings so they can fly as ambassadors from Chungui to Lima and tell the President, the press, etc., what has been happening. The ultimate intention is to find the longed-for and deserved justice. They lament living in a remote village that has been ignored by the authorities. The retablo shows two worlds—Chungui and Lima—that should be in dialogue during times of chaos and desperation, but remain separated by a mountain range, unable to see each other. On the right side we find inhabitants of Chungui playing their instruments and dancing. A Peruvian flag planted in the ground waves in the breeze, with a tree and the houses of the village in the background. A woman is singing the song to the hummingbirds, which soar through the sky shared by both worlds represented in the retablo. On the left side, Lima is depicted. The hill of San Cristóbal marks the separation between the two scenes. Gathered around a table we see the President as representative of the government, a member of the Armed Forces, a congressman, a journalist, a religious figure, and a member of the Judiciary. Beneath the table, a pile of gold ingots symbolizes the wealth found in these circles of power. They are surrounded by typical buildings from downtown Lima, on top of which Peruvian, German, and American flags are placed. In the sky, justice flies carrying a scale. Picaflorcito (Llagta maqta, Chungui. Collected by: Edilberto Jiménez) Little hummingbird, little hummingbird, lend me your little wing, little hummingbird. If you lend me your little wing, I can enter the town of Lima, my little hummingbird. I can enter the palace, my little hummingbird. Entering the town of Lima, entering the government palace, I can speak with the president, my little hummingbird. I can speak with Doctor Alan García, my little hummingbird. There, right there, I would tell him about the life we are living. There, right there, I would tell him so we can achieve justice, my little hummingbird. FUGA I live in a distant village, I live in the village of Chungui. Surely because we are so far away, not even the journalists come, not even the congressmen come. They say, the river of Qanchi also weeps at not meeting the river of Chungui, and so my village weeps when no one remembers it.