More Ethnic Silver
In Borneo extremely heavy earrings made from brass were in fashion. I don’t know how the Dayak people could wear them without tearing their earlobes to pieces. My Bambara lady from Mali made a detour to Afghanistan and put on a richly decorated belt with deep blue glass beads. In Guatemala I chased a silver brooch with image of a Mayan god, but I could not find one I liked. Instead, my Guatemalan host showed me a park in the middle of Guatemala City where a group of Indians happened to worship their ancient gods and Christian saints in a syncretistic celebration with dancing and singing. A modern take on silver caught my eye at a tiny jewellery shop in Medellín. This Colombian town was a happy revelation for me. A lot has been done to connect the poorest barrio