Comalapa, Chimaltenango
Encyclopedia
San Juan Comalapa is a municipality
in the Chimaltenango department
of Guatemala
.
San Juan Comalapa is sometimes called the "Florence of America", because of the many Kaqchikel painters living there. It is also the birthplace of Rafael Álvarez Ovalle, who composed the national anthem
.
The painting tradition started in the 1930’s, when Kaqchikel painter Andrés Curruchich
(1891-1969) started painting with oil. His creativity was noted so much that he started showing his art in the United States and achieved international success. Because of this, Curruchiche decided to teach the new generations his form of painting. Today there are some 500 painters in San Juan Comalapa, and the majority of them still use the techniques of Curruchiche. These painters are dedicated to paint the costums, life experiences and traditions of the indian towns.
The town was much devastated by an earthquake
in 1976.
San Juan Comalapa has close ties to the city Stord
in Norway
, they are friendship cities.
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
in the Chimaltenango department
Departments of Guatemala
||Guatemala is divided into 22 departments :#Alta Verapaz#Baja Verapaz#Chimaltenango#Chiquimula#Petén#El Progreso#El Quiché#Escuintla#Guatemala#Huehuetenango#Izabal#Jalapa#Jutiapa#Quetzaltenango#Retalhuleu#Sacatepéquez...
of Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
.
San Juan Comalapa is sometimes called the "Florence of America", because of the many Kaqchikel painters living there. It is also the birthplace of Rafael Álvarez Ovalle, who composed the national anthem
Himno Nacional de Guatemala
The National Anthem of Guatemala was written by José Joaquín Palma and composed by Rafael Álvarez Ovalle. The anthem was adopted in 1896 as the winning entry in a competition held by the government. The lyrics were modified slightly in 1934 by Professor Jose Maria Bonilla Ruano, a Spanish grammar...
.
The painting tradition started in the 1930’s, when Kaqchikel painter Andrés Curruchich
Andrés Curruchich
Andrés Curruchich was a Guatemalan naïve painter of the Kaqchikel people from the Kaqchikel town of San Juan Comalapa....
(1891-1969) started painting with oil. His creativity was noted so much that he started showing his art in the United States and achieved international success. Because of this, Curruchiche decided to teach the new generations his form of painting. Today there are some 500 painters in San Juan Comalapa, and the majority of them still use the techniques of Curruchiche. These painters are dedicated to paint the costums, life experiences and traditions of the indian towns.
The town was much devastated by an earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
in 1976.
San Juan Comalapa has close ties to the city Stord
Stord
Stord is a municipality in the county of Hordaland, Norway. Stord is sometimes called "Norway in miniature" - as it has such a variety of landscapes: coastline, fjords, forests, agricultural land, and mountain areas....
in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, they are friendship cities.