Otavalo is a city beloved by its people and known by them as “llakta”, which means “town” in their mother language. The people from this city are a vivid example of coexistence and adaptation to the modern world. They are people eager to show how much they are worth through their values, their love for nature, their craftsmanship skills and simply their excellence and versatility in all senses: qualities that have spread their fame to the whole world.
The main aspect of these people’s lives follows very simple rules: to respect Mother Nature, to use the natural resources in a rational way, to encourage the community’s development and to be joyful and committed to their responsibilities. These simple guidelines had made the people from Otavalo be great farmers, painters, musicians, weavers, polyglots and merchants not only in Ecuador, but all around the world, getting the fame of being impressive, multifaceted and certainly successful people that have set an example of development and organization for societies.
This way, with no other help except for their own ability to organize, they have created the South America’s largest and most colorful textile and handcraft indigenous market, making the city if Otavalo get the attention of the whole world. At present, their textiles and handcrafts are exported to places such as Australia, Italy and Spain, as well as some Middle Eastern countries.
Otavalo’s fame is not only due to the products they export. The artists from this town thought their music would also be liked by people from other countries. With no hesitation, they have managed to travel to countries like the US, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore, where their excellent live Andean music is still enjoyed by many fans.
The culture of this town is a culture that has profited from its ancestral knowledge. The people from Otavalo has always believed in it and worked to make it richer and to move forward. Some of the locals are nowadays cosmopolitan people, but they keep on being themselves. They keep on expressing the art, the culture and the values that have given them their strong identity and that bond them to their hometown: their beloved and yearned for Llakta.
Photo: Rinaldo W.
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