Kristin Osiecki

Nicaragua | In Retrospect

While most everyone in my life was aware of my travel plans, few were aware of the motivation behind this endeavor. While earning my Masters I began researching global arts communities. In particular, I became interested in the role that technology  plays in facilitating and maintaining learning communities. Seeking to continue this research I wrote a grant and received funding. This grant allowed me to travel to Nicaragua with The Art of Solidarity (AoS).  AoS is an abroad program offered by Maryland Institute College of Art. Through AoS, art educators and film documentarians travel to Nicaragua to collaborate with local artists (For more info about Art of Solidarity click here, or visit the Art of Solidarity blog). As part of this program I was able to experience first-hand the challenges and benefits of cross-cultural collaboration. In the coming months I will be publishing an article on my experiences on the Community Arts Network.

In addition to my interest in the role of technology in cross-cultural collaborations, this experience also allowed me to further another goal of mine, learning Spanish.  

Below is a brief run-down of how I spent my time in Nicaragua.

Managua | July 17th -  July 20th

We spent three days in Managua getting our bearings. Some highlights from our stay in Managua/Masaya:

Video workshop on Poyo Lake in Masaya.

Hotel La Abuela en Masaya

Exploring the islands of Lake Nicaragua by boat.

Celebrating the 31st anniversary of the revolution in Managua. 

Estelí | July 20th -  August 1st

While in Estelí each day began at the the house of Mothers of Heroes and Martyrs. There we ate breakfast prepared by the mothers and then spent three hours studying Spanish. The rest of our days were devoted to shooting and editing video documentaries in collaboration with VIMAU. 

Exploring at Casa de Cultura, home of the Muralist Collective

Mural tour through Estelí

Working hard at VIMAU.

House of Mothers of Heroes and Martyrs. 

Limay | August 1st - August 13th

While in Limay we spent our mornings working at the youth center. The majority of Art of Solidarity participants worked with youths to create two large murals. I worked with a smaller group leading students in the creation of a video piece. In addition to working at the youth center we spent evenings working in the marmolina stone carving studio. I also had the privilege of living with the family that runs the studio.

Milking cows with my host brother.

Students shooting a scene in the local cemetary.

Animation workshop

Students chose to incorporate animation as a time-lapse illustrating the effects of drug use. We used makeup to age “Gustavo’s” face and make him appear gaunt and sickly.

The mural team hard at work on preliminary sketches.

On our last night we premiered our student film at a local dance hall. The crowd erupted as soon as the title reading “Limay, Nicaragua” appeared on screen. I could feel not only the pride of our students, but the pride of the entire audience. Throughout the making of the film we received a great deal of support from people in the town. We were welcomed into their homes to shoot and several people volunteered as actors. The response to this film was really overwhelming. This was the first moment where I understood what our presence in Nicaragua meant to the people there.

Estelí | August 13th - August 16th

 We returned to Estelí briefly to show our videos and say goodbye to everyone at VIMAU.

Check out this video from the premier.

León | August 17th - August 19th

We spent the last three days of our trip relaxing on the coast and reflecting on our work.

Alright, that’s all for now. More photos here.

Last night we spent some time reflecting on our collaborations in Nicaragua with the guys at VIMAU. While it was a hectic day, I’m glad everyone made it. Producing four documentaries in the span of a week has been incredibly intense for everyone and left us little time for in-process critiques and reflections. More than anything it was important to me to learn what our work here has meant for the groups we have collaborated with. Beyond exchanging technical skills, our greatest accomplishments were the cultural and personal exchanges that occurred throughout the filmmaking process. Jonys, Eddy, Jorge, Marlon and Ivania welcomed us into their studio space and shared a great deal about their lives and culture with us. Despite the fact that our visit was brief I always felt at home in Estelí.

Thinking about what I have gained from this experience has me looking ahead to all of the things I want to accomplish when I return to the US.

This morning we are leaving Estelí for León. I will miss everyone here and hope to return. I’ll update this with more detail later. It’s time to pack!

An excerpt from a reflection assignment for MICA

Upon entering the city of Estelí one can feel its character viscerally. Despite our urban setting, lush green mountains remain visible to the east and west. The streets are lined with vibrantly painted homes, and businesses are covered with carefully rendered illustrations advertising the goods sold within. Every surface is like a thoroughly worked canvas, rich with color, pattern and texture. It seems as though the people of Estelí possess an innate sense of color and composition. While I came to Estelí knowing that it is home to a rich community of artists, I had no idea that artistic acuity would be so deeply infused in the culture of its people. Never before have I seen such striking and pervasive visual culture.

For me, one of the most striking features of this city are the hand painted signs and murals. Text and image are applied directly to the city’s architecture, becoming part of the visual landscape, rather than intruding on it like modern advertising in the United States. I can’t help but picture the skyline of Boston from the upper deck of 93, now cluttered with at least a dozen Clear Channel billboards advertising everything from the local YMCA to Miller Light. Even walking down the street in Boston, and every other city I have traveled to, the landscape is littered with visual communication that is completely at odds with its surroundings. While every surface in Estelí is saturated with color, texture and pattern it is never jarring. As a designer I find this continuity between culture and visual language fascinating. Even logos for modern goods and services have been skillfully translated into this language. Seeing these familiar symbols rendered in this way throws my sense of time and place off kilter. In general Estelí is a fascinating mélange of past and present, where horse drawn wagons plod down streets lined with cyber cafes.