Baile del Venado (Deer dance) , Santiago Atitlán, 1988

To explain his art, Daniel can point to the significant subtext in any photograph which ties the image to its place in time and space – the indicators that reveal, to use his term, the “it-ness” of the image. By way of one complex example, consider the last image in the gallery at the bottom of this page. It is a photograph of a cemetery, beautifully balanced with a symbolic tree of life rising above a mid-field horizon line. But the “it-ness” of the photograph only comes clear if you know the significance of the dates (early 1982) and what that era meant in the history of Guatemala (a time of unrelenting violence and war) The realization of that shared experience between the artist, the subject, the history and the viewer is the root of the there / not there paradox. Oddly and inspiringly, you also get the sense that this means you, too. The woman with the child on her hip is not there. Nor are you. The man with the lottery tickets is not there. Nor are you. Death as a costumed dancer is not there. Nor are you. And yet you all are – in a place out of time and space. Chauche is the conduit to that Antigonish experience. Danza de los Venados This dance is of pre-Hispanic origin and references the hunting of deer for food and sustenance. Directed by a Maya priest, the dance features 26 dancers, with a single marimba providing the music, and represents the struggle between humans and animals for meat. During the dance, groups of young men with dogs must fight off lions and tigers in order to claim the deer for their own. When the dance has concluded a feast begins, and all the guests are offered meat.