Filmmaker in Serach of Her Subject - visit to northern coastal Peru #2

part #2

But pushing on to Zaña:

From Chiclayo in Lambayeque, and the museum del Señor de Sipán, I continued on by taxi to Zaña where I was to meet with Luis Rocca of that town's Afro-Peruvian museum.  Luis Rocca has done incredible work with the museum, rescuing and recreating a large number of Afro-Peruvian musical instruments - especially drums made out of hollowed logs and a percussion instrument made from a gourd called a checo. 

Luis Rocca relaxing in a room in the museum

 I had met him in Lima, introduced by Nachi Bustamante, wife of percussionist Cotito. 

Zaña is a tiny town, on the scale of el Carmen.  The museum is also small, and seems to be run single-handedly by Luis Rocca.

a street in Zaña

He had a young man named Yim show me around;  he is from Zaña and is studying law in Germany but was home on vacation.  One of the things he showed me were a ruined convent and ruined churches...very large and impressive...which he explained had been ruined by "the flood."

Yim and his sister, who was one of the dancers of "Baila tierra."

I assumed "the flood" had happened a few years ago, but no, it had occurred in the 16th or 17th century, and the convent and churches have never been repaired.  It seems that Zaña was a major commercial center in the first part of the Spanish colonial period...but the flood put an end to that and the glorious buildings were never rebuilt.  Instead, a much smaller, more modest town was constructed higher up from the river and Chiclayo took over the commercial functions formerly enjoyed by Zaña.

part of the ruins of the convent

In the 3 or 4 days I spent in Zaña, Luis Rocca also had a young couple perform an old folk dance (which he encouraged me to film) called "Baila tierra."  It is reputedly the precursor of the immensely popular, current "national dance" of Peru, the Marinera.  This dance comes out of the Afro-Peruvian tradition.

City Hall rather dwarfs the buildings around it

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Eve A. Ma, a former university professor, lawyer, and director of a non-profit cultural organization, is the producer-director of two documentaries about Afro-Peruvians:  A Zest for Life and Masters of Rhythm with addendum.  Sign up for her newsletter to keep up with her work and get a special video:  www.PalominoPro-signup.com