On a Tuesday morning in July 1994, my photographer mate Victor Englebert and I drove up into the hills of Cauca to the town of Silvia. Every Tuesday the Misak people – also known as the Guambiano – descend from the surrounding páramo and villages to trade, catch up and, just as importantly, be seen.
By mid-morning the plaza was a wash of deep indigo and cobalt. The Misak favour blue: blue woollen ponchos edged in pink, blue skirts falling to sturdy boots, blue shawls pinned against the chill. And everywhere, the unmistakable bowler hat – perched squarely on heads young and old. The hats give the gathering a curious Edwardian echo, yet nothing about the scene felt staged. It was simply who they were.
Women wore cascades of white beaded necklaces looped thick around their necks, each strand catching the thin Andean light. Men leaned against whitewashed walls trimmed in red, hands tucked beneath ponchos. Friends greeted one another with laughter before turning to business.
The livestock truck that rolled in was quickly transformed into a grandstand of blue-clad passengers and bulging sacks. In the market courtyard, bananas, carrots and maize were piled directly on the ground. Woollen ropes lay coiled beside woven bags. A young girl proudly held up a textile depicting the same bowler-hatted figures gathered outside. Life reflecting art reflecting life.
What struck me most was the sense of occasion. Market day wasn’t just transactional. It was reunion. It was news exchange. It was courtship, gossip and family duty rolled into one. People arrived serious, even reserved, but within minutes they were smiling, comparing purchases, sharing stories from the hills.
I remember standing back with Victor, cameras in hand, aware that we were observers in something both ordinary and ancient. The Tuesday market in Silvia wasn’t a spectacle put on for visitors. It was continuity. A weekly affirmation that, in this corner of the Colombian Andes, culture still arrived on foot, in blue wool and bowler hats, and gathered faithfully in the town square.
