Chachapoyas to Host 10th National Ornithological Congress May 16-21

There's a little bit of everything for everyone in Chachapoyas, it seems. If your tastes run to “birdwatching”, you can do this - http://www.perubeauties.org/2016/01/miss-world-peru-2017-se-realizara-en.html – or you can watch and learn about actual feathered beauties when Chachapoyas welcomes hundreds of participants to the Décimo Congreso Nacional de Ornitología in mid-May.

You can watch a video invitation to the event at http://www.xcnochachapoyas2016.com/video-oficial-del-xcno/.

Michell León, a noted wildlife photographer, and Antonio García-Bravo, an avian biologist, are the local coordinators for the conclave.

Antonio García-Bravo and Michell León

Michell is enthusiastic about the unique opportunity for birding presented by the selection of Chachapoyas as the host city. “Chachapoyas sits at the center of two major bird observation routes – the route from Chiclayo and the route from Tarapoto”. The conference begins on May 16, immediately after the Global Big Day of birding on May 14, when groups of birdwatchers all over the planet take up their binoculars to record as many species as possible. Peru is the reigning champion, having sent out 122 teams in 2015 to sight 1183 species of birds in a single day, edging out Brazil's 1125 to take the crown.

Marvelous Spatuletail Hummingbird

During the conference, a number of guided birding excursions will be conducted in the immediate area. Birders will be afforded the chance to view extremely rare species endemic to the Amazonas region, such as the Marvelous Spatuletail Hummingbird, the Cock of the Rocks, the Mountain Caracara, and the Buff-Fronted Owl. For those who love the visual arts, there will be contests and judging for birding illustration and photography. See the galleries here: http://www.xcnochachapoyas2016.com/galeria-concurso-de-fotografia-xcno-2/ and http://www.xcnochachapoyas2016.com/galeria-concurso-de-ilustracion-xcno/

Cock of the Rocks

Additionally, the Congreso features a full program of presentations, workshops and conservation-themed expositions conducted by an impressive array of international ornithologists, including Thomas Schulenberg, author of the authoritative Princeton Field Guide, Birds of Peru. As many as 200 participants are expected to attend the weeklong event whose major venues will be the UNTRM and the Auditorio Regional de Amazonas. For more information about the programs, visit the official website, http://www.xcnochachapoyas2016.com/.

The Congreso Nacional is officially sponsored by the Unión del Ornitólogos del Perú (UNOP), the Centro de Ornitología y Biodiversidad (CORBIDI), the Universidad Nacional Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza (UNTRM), and the Asociación para la Conservación de la Cuenca Amazónica (ACCA)

Buff-fronted Owl

Because ornithologists have been known to work up a thirst, Cafe Fusiones and Sierra Andina Brewing Company will be sponsoring a beer-tasting event of craft brews from Huaraz on Friday, May 20. Local live folkloric music and tasty appetizers will add to the attraction.

Whether you're an avid birder or just a lover of exotic flora and fauna, Chachapoyas is a must-visit destination. Its location in the “eyebrow of the jungle”, at 2300 meters elevation, is the perfect starting point to observe an incredible diversity of wildlife, including the elusive spectacle bear and several species of monkeys. You can also take in the splendors of the ancient pre-Inca fortress of Kuelap and pay a visit to Gocta, third-highest waterfall in the world. You might not want to leave until after the Miss World Peru pageant!

From Chachapoyas: Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man

Twenty-nine year old Luis Miguel Portilla Tuesta smiled when asked about his age. He referred to a birth date in 1986 and said it was a rainy day.

Since that date, it seems that the heavens have been pouring out deluges of artistic triumph: Portilla's vibrant contemporary paintings, evocative of Peruvian cultural history, and his folkloric band Illarek's haunting songs which commemorate the people and land of Amazonas.

Portilla is a descendant of the Pizarro and Tenorio clans, families who have lived in Chachapoyas since the 1600's. His affinity for his ancestral homeland motivates all he paints and every song he composes.

Growing up with four brothers, he was influenced by his uncle Marco Antonio, who encouraged all five boys to learn to play guitar or charango, the mandolin-like Peruvian instrument. Three of the brothers became the core of Illarek (https://www.facebook.com/illarek.oficial?fref=ts) – Julio, recording engineer and maestro of the charango; and Luis and his brother César who share vocals, guitar and songwriting. 

Portilla tells the story of their Nicaraguan tour in 2013. “We were the first Peruvian musicians invited to perform at the Ruben Darío Theatre in Managua, one of the largest theaters in Latin America. The messages of social justice in our songs resonated with the Nicaraguan people, who have been developing a socialist country for some time. They especially responded to our song about the Baguazo - the 2009 demonstration of indigenous people in Amazonas protesting oil exploration that resulted in 34 deaths.”

“Illarek is not just a musical group. It's an ideology, an ideology devoted to humanizing the world, to spreading the truth that we are all brothers and sisters.” Portilla says that Illarek will soon release their fifth CD, possibly sound-engineered in France where brother Julio now lives.

Portilla interrupted his university studies in engineering – he lacks a year for his degree – to enroll in the Bellas Artes school of Chachapoyas to pursue his love of painting. “I felt the need to express and share with the world those things that are my origin, not my colonial origin, but my indigenous, Andean origin.”

He often works in natural pigments – extracts from leaves, mushrooms, clays, and even animal fats.

His range of subjects and styles is truly varied, from impressionistic portraits to abstract and dreamlike images incorporating indigenous archetypes and symbology.

In 2011, an opportunity to work with inmates at the local state penitentiary turned out to be one of the most spiritually rewarding experiences of his life. Although a salary never materialized, Portilla continued for two years as an advisor and teacher of art. “It was a beautiful project. In the beginning I had 5 students, and soon I was working with forty. After nine months, eighty inmates were learning painting and sculpture.” An exhibition in Chachapoyas was arranged, and “Freedom Through Art” became a sensation. “People could begin to understand that these prisoner artists were also people, people who had made mistakes like all of us make mistakes, and that they were re-inventing themselves and improving their lives. And art gave them a chance to find a kind of freedom behind the prison bars.”

Portilla has been recently acclaimed at an exhibition in Lima at the Mercado Del Arte gallery in Miraflores.

He has been invited to exhibit his work along with five of the great masters of contemporary Peruvian art in Mexico in April next year. Currently, he's busy preparing for an exhibition in Bordeaux in February – they've asked for sixty paintings.

He's also busy with his wife, Spanish-born poet Lucia Zapata Cornejo, with the recent opening of their art gallery and crafts store, JUKU WASI, in Chachapoyas at Jiron Triunfo 850. They are displaying paintings by Luis, photographic works of youngest brother Mario Portilla, and selected artesanias of extremely high quality from throughout Peru. Lucia and a Spanish photographer, Sara López Juliá, have recently published Mujer Salvaje; Esencia Feminina, an impressive photographic essay that explores feminist ideals within a pictorial background of Amazonian and indigenous motifs. The book is available at JUKU WASI.

https://www.facebook.com/JUKU-WASI-847742095307992/timeline/

While Portilla is a talented artist and musician, he is also a serious young man. Deeply philosophical, he has this to say about his calling. “Art exists not simply to decorate a home; music isn't just for dancing. Both are forms of education. Paintings and songs are messages. Art exists to humanize the world. It is difficult to understand in this era of the supposed evolution of mankind....how humans continue to wage war, commit terrible acts of destruction and murder. Artists are obligated to concern ourselves with this world, to sensitize people and raise awareness. Everyone can make small changes. This is our role.”

Luis Portilla's works can be viewed on his Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/Portilla-500706006699803/timeline/