 The following describes some facets of Ecuadorian art and culture. The text is of a general and illustrative nature, and is not intended to be thorough. Through archeological discoveries on the American continent. We are coming in more and more contact with primitive man and with the art that forged his mind; although limited in his advances, it is not any less significant an attempt to give shape to his surrounding reality.
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Pre-Colombian ArtIn pre-Colombian Ecuador we find people who transformed docile clay into symbolic figures, to which they tried to give form, style, and life. Their determination produced a wide variety of objects, ranging from female figurines (which perhaps would have been connected with fertility rites) to stone and quartz tools, basalt and obsidian spears, etc.
In 1956, Ecuadorian archeologist Emilio Estrada Ycaza presented his research on the "Valdivia Culture" to the scientific world. This culture dates from 3,500 years before Christ, and represents the most important of the formative cultures in prehistoric Ecuador.
 The Machalilla Culture, from 1,800 years B.C., represents an artistic and technological advance; their ceramic work displays forms that were not known in Valdivia, such as earthenware bowls on low pedestals, jars with high necks, and, most noteworthy, long thin jars with spouts on top.
The Chorerra Culture (1,500 to 500 BC) had artisans with considerable technical skill, as demonstrated by anthropomorphic figures, whistling jars, lifelike sculpture, and, above all, pottery. Facial expressions and body positions of figures such as the "Woman of Alto Tocado" emphasize the artwork´s symmetry.
Additionally, the cultures known as Narrio, La Tolita, Tiaone, Jama-Coaque, Bahia, and Guangala should be mentioned. They all desired to tangibly re-create the images in their minds and to give expression to the survival instinct, innate in all humans.
We invite you to visit the extensive collection from this time period held by the Museum of Prehistoric and Colonial Art of the Central Bank of Ecuador. : Top :: Ecuadorian Art During the Colonial PeriodThe art that flourished in Ecuador, especially in Quito, during the colonial period, can be divided into three elements: architecture, sculpture, and painting. Encompassing the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, the artistic tradition of Ecuador was born just after the Spanish explorer Sebastian de Benalcazar founded Quito, December 6, 1543, and is known as the "Quito school of art."
 The artistic works of this time were primarily religious. Approximately one hundred churches, monasteries, convents, and plazas were built during the colonial time in Quito, a really extraordinary number if one takes into account the fact that it was quite a small city. Three are described below.
The church which was later converted, after various modifications, into the Cathedral of Quito, was built between 1562 and 1567, and is considered by some art historians the oldest in South America. It has a beautiful atrium with a stone stairway in the shape of a fan, and is covered by a small but attractive dome.
San Francisco was one of the first religious monuments in America; it is known as the "Escorial of the Andes." It comprises an area of 30,000 square meters; within it are located a plaza, the Iglesia Mayor, the Chapels of Cantuna and Villacis, and a large convent with magnificent cloisters. San Francisco is a prime example of the Early Renaissance in South America.
The construction of the Temple of the Company of Jesus in Quito was begun in 1605. It is considered one of the richest Jesuit temples in the world. The baroque style is completely intertwined with native art. The main altar and the side altars are covered with gold leaf, producing a visual effect of incredible magnificence.
The second element of the "Quito school of art" is sculpture and religious imagery. The innumerable altars that exist in the large and small Quito churches, as well as statues and icons, were the extraordinary creations of native sculptors. The major representative Quito iconographers during the colonial period were, in chronological order, Bernardo de Legarda, with his winged virgins, Pampite, whose crucified Christs invite for meditation, and Caspicara, founder of a new artistic concept.
In terms of painting, the third aspect of the Quito school of art, artists of singular talent lived during the colonial period. The Dominican friar Pedro Bedon painted in the last quarter of the sixteenth century. Miguel de Santiago lived later; his fame lasted until the second half of the 1700's. His most important work was a series of paintings dedicated to the lives of the saints. He and Nicolas de Goribar, his disciple, were both highly acclaimed artists during the colonial period. A daughter of Miguel de Santiago, following the tradition of her father, was influential in the eighteenth century along with the Alban brothers. :: Top :: Contempory Ecuadorian ArtNowadays, Ecuadorian painters explore different aesthetic fields such as indigenous expressionism, abstract art, constructive conceptualism, neofiguratism, expressionism, and pre-Colombian art, projecting, in almost all these forms, vivid images of people living in the equatorial region.
Contemporary Ecuadorian artists include Manuel Rendon, considered one of the best expressionists in the world, Enrique Tabara, first to use pre-Colombian motifs and images and in constant search of new aesthetic emotions, and Guayasamin, creator, along with Eduardo Kingman, Guerrero, and Paredes, of the so-called indigenous expressionism, in which indigenous people are almost always present.
 Oswaldo Guayasamin has been the winner of Bienales and his artwork has been displayed in museums and galleries all over the world. He, along with Chagall and Picasso, received the singular honor of exhibiting his artwork in the Museum of Modern Art in Paris while living. His work "The Age of Ire", a series consisting of 250 paintings such as "Haycanan," "The Path of Weeping", "The Torturers", and "Heads" deserves special mention.
Eduardo Kingman´s work reflects the oppression and misery of indigenous peoples. This is clearly seen in his paintings "Woman with Saint", "Thirst", and "The Cornfield". In recognition of his achievements, Kingman was honored by the Organization of American States with the Gabriela Mistral Award.
In the first works of Camilo Egas, who died in 1961 after having lived for many years in France, one notices the surrealistic influence, especially in "Desolation", reminiscent of Salvador Dali. From the beginning of the 50's, Egas dedicated himself to realism and eventually created a new form of abstract expressionism.
Among the most representative contemporary Ecuadorian painters are Enrique Tabara, Luis Milinari, Araceli Gilbert, Oswaldo Viteri, Gonzalo Endara Crow. Anibal Villacis, Miguel Betancourt, Oswaldo Munoz Marino, Jose Carreno, Luigi Stornaiolo, Antonio Paredes, Jorge Chalco, Nelson Roman, Ramiro Jacome, and Miguel Varea, among many others. :: Top ::
Ecuadorian LiteratureThe first important novel written in Ecuador was Cumanda, by Juan Leon Mera. This literary work appeared in 1879 and belongs to the romantic genre. The work´s backdrop is the majestic Ecuadorian jungle. The extraordinary narrative talents of Leon Mera, his ability to recreate settings and environments, and his close scrutiny of human behavior are all evident in this work. Cumanda is the starting point for the Ecuadorian novel.
 The name and work of Juan Montalvo are present in almost every Encyclopedia. After the success of his first literary attempt, Cosmopolita - whose themes include women, Hispanic America, Moorish poetry, freedom of the press, his religious beliefs, and liberty (one of his favorite topics) -- he continued to publish new work. A large portion of his literature was written in exile, without references, helped only by his prodigious memory. These books include: The Spectator, Moral Geometry, The Ecclesiastic Mercury, Las Catalinarias, The Seven Treatises (considered his "magnum opus"), The Chapters that Cervantes Forgot, and The Perpetual Dictatorship. His books have as much political character as literary, and created a new, refined, and polished style that made him one of the best and most celebrated writers of his time.
Twenty five years after the appearance of Cumanda, Luis A. Martinez published To the Coast. This novel brings together, for the first time in the field of literature, the two principal Ecuadorian regions: the Sierra and the Costa. In it he did not follow old models, but looked fairly and with perspective at the human plight while trying to change the Ecuadorian novel objectively and subjectively. Salvador Ramirez, the hero of the story, sets out on a journey to the coast in search of new horizons with the goal of giving meaning to his life, plagued with complications. However, luck does not accompany him and he does not find what he had imagined for himself.
Between 1904, when Martinez's novel appeared, and 1927, when Fernando Chavez's Silver and Bronze was published, several experiments with novels and stories occurred, but without anyone taking an in-depth look at indigenous peoples. With Chavez, Ecuadorian fiction began a new era, as indigenous people figure prominently in his work. Silver and Bronze discusses, with clear metaphors, the differences between whites and Indians and relations between social classes. Gonzalo Zaldumbide published chapters of a book entitled Tragic Eclogue, in which he describes the emotion felt upon returning home after a length of time abroad.
The success achieved by Ecuadorian realists reached new heights when the
Those Who Go Away appeared, written by three young men from Guayaquil. Its authors, Demetrio Aguilera Malta, Joaquin Gallegos Lara, and Enrique Gil Gilbert, in a message full of realism, discuss to the indigenous people inhabiting the western part of Ecuador, After their first success, the three authors produced various works in which constant formal perfection is notable, as is their wish to focus the internal world on the characters of their novels and stories. Along with them go two other important contemporary Ecuadorian authors: Alfredo Pareja Diezcanseco and Jose de la Cuadra; together, the five form the "Guayaquil Group", which is brought to attention by its high number of members, the homogeneity of its products, the quality of their work, and their innovative messages.
Jorge Icaza initiated the so-called "indigenous literature" in Ecuador. In 1934 he published his work Huasipungo, of world renown. It has been translated into practically every language. With realism and masterful narration, Icaza presents the difficult situation of the indigenous peoples. Finally, some current authors deserve mention. Short story: Raul Perez Torres, Francisco Proano Arandi, Juan Andrade Heyman, Abdon Ubidia, etc. Novel: Nelson Estupinan Bass, Jorge Enrique Adoum, Benjamin Carrion, Miguel Donoso Pareja, Adalberto Ortiz, etc. :: Top :: Ecuadorian MusicThe music of Ecuador reflects the multiethnic and multicultural character of the country, Ecuador´s music has been influenced by African rhythms, traditional Andean music, and indigenous music from the jungle.
The term "National Music" has come to be used to indicate a large variety of musical forms. The most popular of all is considered the pasillo, which originates from the classic Viennese waltz. It is currently part of folk culture and has a slow rhythm, poetic and sentimental texts, and melancholy melodies. Other popular rhythms in Ecuadorian music are the albazos, pasacalles, tonadas, danzantes, yaravies, carnavales, etc. Many of them originate in rhythms that come directly from the music of the indigenous population.
 There are a great many orchestras of wind instruments in almost all the cities and populations of Ecuador. They are an essential part of all fiestas, funerals, and other social events.
A group of black people very different from the rest of the Andean population inhabits the Chota River Valley of the north plains, near Colombia. The combination of African, Andean, and European cultures produced a very particular kind of music, that has become popular even outside of the region. It is called "Bomba", which is also the name of the drum that creates the rhythmic base of the music and dance.
People living in the province of Esmereldas, located on the northern coast of the Pacific, have retained much of their African cultural heritage. The marimba, an essential pert of the old traditions, was imported directly from Africa.
Vocal music includes a large repertory of music for funerals, which is sung with heavy percussion accompaniment.
Various indigenous communities inhabit the Amazonian region. These include the Quichua, Shuar, Achuar, Secoya, Siona, Huaorani, and Cofan. The traditional music of the Shuar comes from the religious and ceremonial life of the group. :: Top ::
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