Saint Sebastian. – Every time the cucumber Jose Guillermo Cruz Gonzalez He takes the cord to build a new hammock and his thoughts take him back to his childhood watching with admiration and enthusiasm his maternal grandfather from whom he inherited the passion for this craft.
Cruz González represents the fourth generation of artisans in his family, originally from the Robles neighborhood of San Sebastián. He is currently 57 years old but as far as I remember he started making hammocks when he was about 11 years old.
“When I work with the hammocks, my main concern is my grandfather, who made every effort to teach me, and when I work on them, I always think of them. And for me, in addition to the fact that it’s such a long-standing tradition, well, in my mind, it keeps them to me, I see them, and that’s special to me,” the artisan shared this morning with his assigned place in 43rd edition of the National Hammock Festivalwhich began this Sunday with heat and heavy rain, but despite this the movement of the crowd approaching the municipal stadium Juan José “Titi” Beníquez was constant.
“When you were little, they forced you to work because they saw this industry differently than we see it and since my grandfather, Mr. José González, Mr. Ché, raised me, he has always taught me that tradition is that must do.” be prosecuted; “I got a little lost for a while, but then I got back to working with the family,” explained the hammock craftsman, who not only markets his pieces at festivals of this type, but also has a Facebook page called @HamacasJoséCruz which this enables him to reach out to Puerto Ricans in the diaspora. Prices for the hammocks he designs start at $65 and can go as high as $130 depending on the design.
This passion started when I saw my grandfather and grandmother and mother who were all craftsmen and did their best day by day to get the job done and one of them was learning and that was what really inspired the passion. “
-José Guillermo Cruz González, hammock craftsman
The National Hammock Festival, dedicated to Víctor “Monty” Montañez, this year brought together 190 artisans, 10 of whom were dedicated to making hammocks. Irene Cardona Morales belongs to the group of manufacturers of this type of braided swing, regularly used to rest. Cardona Morales is also from Pepino and started making hammocks at the age of eight. She continued the legacy of her maternal great-grandmother.
“It’s in our blood because to be able to handle this craft you have to like it because it’s not easy to make, but if you give it a lot of attention you can do it,” said Cardona Morales. The hammocks he makes — ranging in price from $80 to $400 — are characterized by the fact that “they’re made here, in my country, it’s our culture, our roots, and they come from our ancestors.”
The organizers highlighted the quality of the pieces exhibited by artisans representing new and old generations. (Alexander Granadillo)The woman emphasized that interest in this type of craft has increased in recent years. “They want a workshop to learn how to hammock and we can do that with great pleasure because it’s good that people are learning the value of our culture and moving forward and not being left behind,” said Cardona Morales.
This traditional festival is organized by the Casa Pepiniana de la Cultura, whose president Luis Joel Pérez Rodríguez stressed that this edition has brought together a multitude of artisans of the new and old generation, resulting in a great variety of exhibitors. However, there was no shortage of classic rag dolls, carvings of saints, leather belts and hats, typical sweets and figures of the Three Kings made of various materials and much more.
Arecibo-born artist Vicky Ortiz Santiago took part in the festival for the second time and immediately drew attention to the organization. “You have an A+,” he said. “The audience that comes here also has great respect for crafts and art; It’s always a successful festival for us as artists and artisans,” he added.
The works of this young woman offer a different, cheerful and up-to-date representation of popular art as displayed on her exhibition table. “I love capturing what Puerto Rican prints are, I love painting what the banana tree, the pámpana, the Jíbaro house are; I love painting on coffee, on the Jíbaro, and whenever you see my art, you will see it full of things Puerto Rican and most importantly very colorful,” he described.
I am very surprised that young workers in particular appreciate art and are therefore looking for accessible art that represents them, as mine is Puerto Rican and contemporary they are excited.”
-Vicky Ortiz Santiago, artist
Ortiz Santiago also has a virtual gallery on his Instagram account @vickydoingart, a platform he uses as a portfolio, as well as an exhibition and sales tool.
The festival included an equally diverse music program within the basic premise of promoting traditional Puerto Rican music. This Sunday, ACirc, El Show de los Mocosos, Ballet Folklórico Hermanos Ayala and the closing group would parade on stage. Robert Burgos & Descarga Zason. But it was the Rumbón Plena group that was in charge of warming up the atmosphere with the beating of the tambourines, a peal that did not stop despite the heavy rain that fell at noon.
There was no shortage of carved wooden figures and other traditional handicrafts. (Alexander Granadillo)