Colourful Cows Graze in
Guanacaste
(InfoWebPress) - Cows
— animals that have been
an integral part of
Guanacaste’s economy and
culture — have overtaken
the parks of Liberia and Filadelfia. But on this
occasion, the grazing
ruminants are a bit less
aggressive and, well, of
drastically different
breeds.
A sampling of the
popular “Cow Parade,”
which in previous months
filled with color and
creativity the streets
of San Jose, arrived in
the cantons of Liberia
and Carrillo, so that
folks living in areas
other than the Central
Valley could enjoy this
unique popular culture
exhibit — where the
starts are life-size,
fiberglass sculptures of
bovines decorated in a
variety of ways.
For example, at the
Mario Cañas Park in
Liberia, we could see a
very flirty and daring
cow showing her udderly
intimate goods, but also
a gas mask-wearing
ruminant that challenged
us to become aware of
the problem of pollution
on the planet. Also part
of the exhibit was “Vacanal,”
a very colorful specimen
sporting bunches of
grapes and other signs
of debauchery. And there
was of course “Vaca Up,”
inspired by the modern
world of computers and
electronics. Hundreds of
children, and others not
so young, approached the
parade to have their
photographs taken along
with these
all-of-a-sudden popular
idols.
The Municipality of San
Jose, which organized
the Cow Parade in the
capital city, accepted
an invitation from the
two Guanacaste cantons
to loan them the show.
Once the exhibit in San
Jose was over, the local
government decided to
take the show on the
road to 12 cantons
outside of the Central
Valley — a sampling of
the Cow Parade known as
“Tour de las Vacas.”
The cows arrived in
Guanacaste last Thursday
and were expected to
remain here for a week,
leaving after that to
San Isidro de El General
on the Southern Zone —
where their tour will
end.
Even though some of the
bovine artistic
creations had already
been sold on auction in
San Jose, the tour was
also an opportunity for
companies in the region
interested in obtaining
one of these pieces of
art to do so. That way,
they could buy them
without the need to
attend the auctions in
San Jose and, above all,
to help charity — as 70
percent of the price of
each cow goes to
nonprofit organizations,
including the National
Children’s Hospital
Foundation, Hogares CREA
(drug rehabilitation),
Fundacion Vida and Obras
del Espiritu Santo. The
remaining 30 percent
goes to the artist who
gave life to the cow.
So far, 56 of the show’s
120 cows have been sold,
for a total of $173,400.
Each charity benefiting
from the sale has
already received an
advance of $6,500.
The Mayor of Liberia
thanked the Municipality
of San Jose for allowing
Guanacastecans to enjoy
this unprecedented show.
Meanwhile, San Jose
Mayor Johnny Araya said
that it was a pleasure
to take the show to
Guanacaste, a province
so familiar with
livestock activities,
and highlighted the
importance of cultural
activities on the
quality of life of
communities.
“I’m very pleased with
the Municipality of
Liberia for having
accepted this sampling
of popular art, which
shows that culture must
be a part of the work
municipalities do,
because a country
without culture is a
country without a soul,”
Araya said.
A popular culture
initiative, the Cow
Parade began in Zurich,
Switzerland — a country
whose economy has
historically been ties
to dairy production. A
group of business owners
there came up with the
idea of creating
life-size fiberglass
cows, later inviting
artists to decorate
them. The show was so
well received that it
was taken to other
cities, including
London, Paris and
Madrid.
San Jose was the fourth
Latin America city to
host such a show. |
