Saturated. With colors. My offer for this week’s photo challenge, still sharing bits and pieces of the Bolivian culture, through the 52 Bolivian Sundays Photo Project! 😮
This photo was taken during one of our recent hikes, just outside La Paz, through the Valle de La Luna unique geological formations. Flute players, Andean musicians usually come over and greets adventurers and pass-byers with their art… in more ways than one!
This beautiful wood case is commonly used to carry the Quena set, the traditional Andean flute. Note the unique wood work inside the case, all the colorful faces, carefully design to represent different Bolivian pueblos.
The quena is a South American wind instrument, mostly used by Andean musicians.
And here, a little bit of ‘cultural’ background… 😮
The quena (Quechua: qina, sometimes also written “kena” in English) is the traditional flute of the Andes. Traditionally made of bamboo or wood, it has 6 finger holes and one thumb hole, and is open on both ends or the bottom is half-closed (choked). To produce sound, the player closes the top end of the pipe with the flesh between his chin and lower lip, and blows a stream of air downward, along the axis of the pipe, over an elliptical notch cut into the end.
Quena is mostly used in traditional Andean music. In the 1960s and 1970s the quena was used by several Nueva Canción musicians, this use was in most cases for particular songs and not as a standard instrument but some groups such as Illapu have used it regularly. In the 1980s and 1990s some post-Nueva Canción rock groups have also incorporated the quena in some of their songs; notably Soda Stereo in Cuando Pase el Temblor and Los Enanitos Verdes in Lamento Boliviano. The quena is also relatively common in World music.
♥ Enjoy as you please, and thanks for stopping by! ♥
3rdculturechildren 
Thanks for giving a link to my post “Saturated” ! 🙂
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You’re more than welcome – always my pleasure to share other bloggers’ interpretations! 😮
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Art inside a box, lovely!
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Isn’t that right? It’s simply a wooden case, to house the flutes… but quite lovely, indeed! 😮
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Love the vibrant colors!
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Thank you, Island traveler! 😮
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I always enjoy seeing these beautiful, one-of-a-kind art pieces, especially if they also serve a functional purpose. So different from the uniformity of plastic “art” from you know where….
thank you for the pingback!
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Glad you liked it! and the wood case is fully hand-made/hand-colored… definitely, one-of-a-kind, the opposite of the mass-production we’re so overwhelmed by! Thanks for stopping by! 😮
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I love the saturated colors of South America!
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They’re everywhere down here, right? This is the third country I’m living in… and the richness [of colors, textures, fabrics] remains the same! Thank you very much for stopping by and commenting – much appreciated!
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truly saturated…are they a “Happy” people …colors usually make me happy!
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Happy, indeed! Thank you for stopping by and checking it out! 😮
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it’s so colorful
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Thank you very much, Erick143!
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Reblogged this on Erick_s08blog.
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Thank you for sharing the post – much appreciated! 😮
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This is lovely. Thanks for showing us Bolivian art. So colorful.
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Thank you very much, Likeitiz! It’s my pleasure to share some of the unique traits displayed by the Bolivian culture… and like you, I do love the colors over here! Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
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