Atavios: The Roots of Colombian Fashion [Hardcover]

Benjamin Villegas (Editor), Nacho Marin (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 1997

The result of a three-year collaboration between photographer Nacho Marín and publisher Benjamín Villegas, this remarkable volume sets out to display traditional garments, jewelry, and ornaments of the indigenous cultures of Colombia in joyous and unprecedented abandon. Using his experience as a choreographer and costume and set designer, Marín has created an extraordinary series of theatrical tableaux where myth and memory, fashion and fantasy intermingle in a riot of rich color.

The variety of attire and ornament featured on these pages represents diverse pre-Colombian cultures, among them the Tairona, Kogi, Calima, and Nariño. Inspired by priceless museum pieces, talented craftsmen in Colombia today have re-created gold bracelets, nose rings, necklaces, breast plates, and a wealth of other personal adornments as well as beadwork, masks, cotton, and wool garments, carvings and ceremonial objects. Far from the typical representation of such artifacts in neutral and serene museum surroundings, these objects are modeled by nude men and women-- their bare skin is a perfect foil for gleaming gold and soft natural fibers.

Nature and artifice are blended here in unique and unexpected ways. From the roots of ancient cultures and crafts, endless new possibilities spring forth for adventures in design and fashion. This book offers an entertaining dialogue between traditional concepts and contemporary style, and provides novel ways for looking at design based on historical precedent.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Spanish

From the Inside Flap

The result of a three-year collaboration between photographer Nacho Marín and publisher Benjamín Villegas, this remarkable volume sets out to display traditional garments, jewelry, and ornaments of the indigenous cultures of Colombia in joyous and unprecedented abandon. Using his experience as a choreographer and costume and set designer, Marín has created an extraordinary series of theatrical tableaux where myth and memory, fashion and fantasy intermingle in a riot of rich color.

The variety of attire and ornament featured on these pages represents diverse pre-Colombian cultures, among them the Tairona, Kogi, Calima, and Nariño. Inspired by priceless museum pieces, talented craftsmen in Colombia today have re-created gold bracelets, nose rings, necklaces, breast plates, and a wealth of other personal adornments as well as beadwork, masks, cotton, and wool garments, carvings and ceremonial objects. Far from the typical representation of such artifacts in neutral and serene museum surroundings, these objects are modeled by nude men and women-- their bare skin is a perfect foil for gleaming gold and soft natural fibers.

Nature and artifice are blended here in unique and unexpected ways. From the roots of ancient cultures and crafts, endless new possibilities spring forth for adventures in design and fashion. This book offers an entertaining dialogue between traditional concepts and contemporary style, and provides novel ways for looking at design based on historical precedent.

Benjamín Villegas was born in Bogotá, Colombia in 1948. Working together with noted photographers and writers, he has been the creator, designer and publisher of over 100 illustrated books on different aspects of Colombian culture. An architectural graduate of Los Andes University in Bogotá and a graphic designer with an honorary degree from the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University in Bogotá, he has also designed corporate logos for more than 200 companies, directed journalistic programs on television and produced documentary films. His books have won outstanding national and international awards, among them an UNESCO prize for the world's most beautiful book.

Nacho Marín was born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela in 1961. Marín is a self-taught photographer whose art is based on his experience as a hairdresser, make-up artist, set and wardrobe designer, and choreographer and his studies in the fields of engineering and fine arts. His familiarity with the history of art is seen in the mannerist and baroque influences in his compositions. Especially attracted to mythological themes and the phenomena of eroticism and human sexuality, he has developed an original, independent and highly perfectionist body of photographic work, which has been exhibited, since 1992, in Venezuela and Latin America, published in magazines and won him a number of international awards. Atavíos is his first book-length photographic essay.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Villegas Editores (March 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9589393276
• ISBN-13: 978-9589393277
• Product Dimensions: 13.9 x 10.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,648,470 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spectacular, November 23, 2002

By 

Bert Ruiz "Author" (Pleasantville, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Atavios: The Roots of Colombian Fashion (Hardcover)

As always...Villegas editores publishes a tier one book. The quality of the text is first class. Most immediate impressions of "Atavíos Raíces de la Moda Colombiana," is of nakedness. However, the genius of this book must not limited to such simplistic observerations.

This Spanish language text is a masterpiece of light and color. The fact that it includes some bare bodies is secondary to the spectacular display of glimmering Colombian jewelery and colorful traditional costumes. Although this book is sensual in nature and may be a turnoff for bland coffee table collectors I consider it a work of art and a fine contribution to a serious library.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional Photography, February 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Atavios: The Roots of Colombian Fashion (Hardcover)

Although the images presented in this book do not show much of contemporary Colombian fashion, they are extremely artistic, with lots of character, and even thought-provoking. Prudes will definitely not like this book, but I highly recommend it to those interested in fashion photography, as well as to any artist in any medium who needs inspiration for human body studies. Excellent book, exceptional images, and fresh approach!