…to a craft.
Leading into Easter each year there are fabulously elaborate ceremonies and processionals in Antigua Guatemala . As part of this ceremony, dozens or hundreds of people set about crafting this:
What appears to be a woven carpet is actually painstakingly created from…(ready for it?)…sawdust. (It’s not really sawdust, it’s a material derived from a plant, but it looks just like sawdust.) The carpets take 6 people about 10 hours to make. They are respected and revered throughout the course of the next day, then they are swept away. We caught one in mid sweeping.
Here’s another view:
When Pope John Paul II was visiting Guatemala City several years ago a sawdust carpet was made that stretched from the airport terminal to the main cathedral. The carpet was over 23km long!
So here’s a question for you:
How do you measure your devotion to your craft? If you knew that everything you worked painstakingly to create tonight would be enjoyed for a few hours and then destroyed by tomorrow night, would you work with the same energy and focus?
In this interview, 
June 4th, 2008 at 11:59 am
This is really nice, Todd. I’m from Guatemala and this one looks gorgeous. I’d like to add that these carpets are generally meant to be stepped on, and not only revered. The one in the picture is probably being swept because it was elaborated inside of a house or institution, but their place is in the streets, for the procession carriers to step on, which makes it that more meaningful (and makes your point much more meaningful too :-)) The material is sawdust. What’s derived from plants is the vegetable coloring agent, although, more and more, artificial coloring matters are used. Devotion to the craft; excelent point. Much like ice sculptures or sand castles, eh.