Santa Fe de la Laguna

Santa Fe de la Laguna

Lake

Patzcuaro

Tierra Brillante

The Morelia Film Festival presents a new documentary film, Tierra Brillante.

“The dream of a woman to have their Purepecha land shine again.”

Meet the artist, her family and other actors, listen to live music and eat the food of Santa Fe La Laguna.

Synopsis: By custom, thousands of artisans in Mexico still use lead based glazes in their pottery without knowing the damage that this toxic element causes to their health. Herlinda, an indigenous Purepecha potter, is one of the few artisans in her community who uses alternative lead-free glazes. Having achieved safer and healthier living conditions for her family, she faces the difficult task of finding a market for her impressive pieces. But this does not dull her dreams of having her shop thrive and her brothers return from the United States to rejoin the family tradition. An unexpected trip could crystallize this dream.

Morelia Film Festival -- October 20, 2011, Museo del Estado, Morelia

Herlinda of Santa Fe la Laguna

Santa Fe de la Laguna is an indigenous community located on Lake Patzcuaro and a few miles from Quiroga. In 1533, Bishop Quiroga founded in Santa Fe de la Laguna the first hospital Michoacán. This was the result of interest in applying the Utopia of Thomas More’s ideal society.

The site preserves the majority of cultural traits that distinguish the Purepecha. The language, clothing for women, customs and traditions are part of everyday life that develops along its cobbled streets and inside of the simple houses of adobe and tile.

The main square is pleasantly quiet and typical of many villages in the lake region. The cross sculpture joins religious and artistic elements of two cultures. The church is simple but evokes solemnity and was built in the eighteenth century and remodeled in the nineteenth century.

Among the work to develop the people of Santa Fe de la Laguna notes handicraft production. At the entrance to the town center and shows what can be done with wood, plant fibers and clay. Particularly notable for the quality pottery of the items in black glaze, applying the frosting and burnishing techniques to give the finish.