Viewing page 85 of 254

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

Q. What materials are used and how did you get it for the festival
Angel: It depends where you are. If forest or carpenters use sawdust, or maybe you need to buy flowers
Yolanda We communicated by Whatsapp. getting sawdust from large cabinet makers. They have varying qualities. Now I'm texting foremen in lumber yards seeking fine sawdust. They like lumpy sawdust but this week only very fine was available.
Ang: We learned to use new kinds of materials this week.
U Baldo: (He's a woodworker and has a carpenter on this team. We use some stencils from the carpenter to produce stencils. They learned to do platforms for alfombras since the ground here is different. The enemy of carpets is wind.
In the evening, the sprinkler system ruined the alfombras.
Olivia: I admire Catalan & Guatemalan determination to do the thing and persist until it's done excellently.
Baldo: A difference is that Catalans use free hand designs. In US all is quick
Before we used to mix in colors by hand
When Pope Benedict was in DC 150 meter by 50 carpet was made with a week of collecting flowers and 8 hours with an international group of 50 people plus DMV people and we brought in artists
Mayans tradition of honoring the earth (preserved by Catholic church) and the Good Friday procession walks on them, traditionally. We are now also using carpets ini US to raise awareness and raise funds to help rebuild homes of Guatemalan victims of the volcano
Here at folk life we'll do a procession + integrate the catholic tradition with the giants and imaginary figures. On Sunday night with fireworks they will walk across the carpet and have fireworks
Yolanda 11 years ago I met valdo at a festival with carpets. We have done one for Peruvian intiMañi festival, and for Mexican day of the Dead and other DC community festivals. It is participatory and the carpets may not be perfect but they will build 2 tradition if it is a fun community experience. 
[[strikethrough]] Yolanda [[/strikethrough]] Vicenta it began with corpus christ but any celebration could inspire on. In Washington we wanted to show the best in Art we could. Catalan modernism - we have the Gaudí Sagrada familia and it is well known by Catalans in DC and non-catalans.
Baldo: asks about texture of sawdust the Catalans prefer
Angel. To use only flowers would be very expensive, the bigger grain resembles Flower petals. AND you can get colors that don't naturally occur in flowers.
Q. Natural dyes? Ang: Yes. natural.
Vicenta: There are groups using only sarín, also in Mexico they put it in with fingers; some use water. They bought concentrated dyes in Catalonia for this huge quantity
textile dyes would have been more expensive. Catalans prefer dry dyed shavings.
Yolanda: I'm the procurer of goods. I used to dye it when I was young. No longer. We didn't want to dye too far ahead. And do sought to get all the purples and yellows 
We probably overdyed. May be able to use it up. It may be hard to dry it now the dye is in it...
Q: Where do you dye?
Angel You need space in the sun to dry it.
Baldo - when you can't find white sawdust. It is hard to mix colors that work.
Q (Olivia) how about farming organizations?
A Baldo: I started with carpets + dance groups. We now have a 501C3. But they try to sometimes raise funds to help sick kids back in Guatemala.
[[strikethrough]] Yolanda [[/strikethrough]] Vincenta: [[strikethrough]] They [[/strikethrough]] We have meetings coming up over the summer in other countries. They have groups from many Latino countries E.g. Brussells Aug 15. they have no North American participants yet.

Transcription Notes:
christ is a typo; should be christi