Collectiviste Travel Diary : Cups of Coffee in Colombia
It has always been our goal, to work with inspiring artisans across the globe and, Colombia, you did not disappoint! With landscape that is as diverse as its cultural heritage, we came across craftsmanship that not only blew us away, but that is quite possibly the best in the world! We will be sharing more blogs with you soon about our design partnership with the San Jacinto weavers and how we have spent the last few months trying to locate a displaced indigenous tribe in the favelas of Bogota. Excited? We most definitely are!
For now, here is a list of some of the beguiling joys of Colombia and why we are delighted to now count some of its finest artisans as part of our Collectiviste family.
- Coffee
You can’t go anywhere in Colombia without being surrounded by the rich aromas of the world’s favourite brew. Better still, every maker we visited invited us in for a cup! Not only was this a lovely sign of how hospitable Colombians are, but no-one does coffee like they do, so how could we refuse.
2. Culture
Considered as one of the most ethnically diverse countries on the planet, Colombia’s cultural heritage includes a beautiful panopoly of indigenous, african and european flavours, which translates into a rich fusion of global arts and crafts. The art and music scene is exploding with all these amazing influences.
The incredible Andes mountains, the unspoilt Caribbean coastline, the verdant jungles of the Amazon...Need we say more - Colombia has ALL the natural beauty and then some!
A violent and downright scary history of colonialism, drug cartels and guerilla insurgencies mean Colombia is no stranger to adversity. But what doesn’t kill you, definitely makes you stronger and Colombia is testament to this. We salute all the incredibly talented artisans, who remained committed to preserving their traditions and crafts through what was the longest running war in the history of the Western Hemisphere!
Everywhere you look, there are splashes of colour. Even the national flag is vibrant mix of primary colours and many things are based on this colour scheme, including the public buses. Yellow stands for the original indigenous gold mines, when Colombia was known as El Dorado. Blue signifies the abundant access to the ocean as Colombia boasts both an Atlantic and Pacific coastline. Red is to remember the vast blood shed in the fight for independence.
6. Cool hats
There are traditional hats for every region in Colombia and they are all pretty funky. Many older Colombian men and women still sport a hat daily. This is great, as I'm sure you would agree, the world needs more hats!
