Next Frame Student Film Festival

By Juan Carlos Rojas, Temple University, DV Cam, 28 min. and 22 seconds

Coffee growers’ small towns are located in the mountainous zone of Valle del Cauca State surrounding Calima Lake in Colombia.  The oldest and most vigorous traditions of guaqueria. Guaqueros from these towns work in the area or other regions of Colombia searching for Pre-Columbian pottery and gold objects despite little profit.

Men with diverse jobs and many years of experience in guaqueria, learn this profession following  the steps of their own fathers and relatives. With the money earned by selling Pre_Columbian objects, they have brought their families up, or at least, they have celebrated with alcohol their good fortune.

A morning two or the most famous guaqueros of Darien go to a farm looking for guacas or Indian tombs. It is a difficult, exhausting job. They have been collected knowledge, experiences and stories, after many years of working the soil. The two guaqueros can not find any Indian pieces. Yet, they as many other guaqueros have found thousands of Pre-Columbian objects that have been sold to museums and private art collectors around the world.

By the end of 18th century and the beginning of 19th century, settlers from Antioquia State in Colombia brought to Viejo Caldas and Valle del Cauca a new fever of hunting Indian treasures. This fever began with the Conquistadors who came to America looking for gold. However, according to the American Indians, gold was the sacred metal, a link between the human world and the gods’ world.

Many archeologists and anthropologists believe that the guaqueros arc destroying our history. The guaqueros take from the Indian tombs only the obJccl.s with a commercial value, and they leave behind them other valuable evidences contained in the guacas.

Saturday is market day in Darien. It is also the day when many people relax and men fill up the cafe in front of the plaza. Inside the cafe, the two guaqueros chat and drink alcohol. It is time to talk about their lives, believes and stories of guaqueria. Although they are tired after many years working as guaqueros, they will continue doing it because of the endless desire of adventure and riches.