Peru has launched an art exhibition in Bangkok featuring sacred bull sculptures to promote diplomacy and tourism.
The exhibition, titled “Torito de Pucará: the Ambassador of the Peruvian Highlands”, is co-hosted by the Peruvian embassy and the Siam Piwat Company.
Peruvian ambassador Cecilia Galarreta said on Thursday that “Torito” meant “Little Bull” and “Torito de Pucará” meant “Little Bull of Pucará”, referring to a small town in the south of the country where the sculptures originated.
The town is well-known for clay work and pottery, she said.
She said the Torito is a symbol of prosperity, happiness, fertility and protection. Toritos usually come in pairs because of the Andean belief in duality — positive and negative energy that comes together and blends, she said.
The exhibition is being held worldwide by the Peruvian Foreign Ministry and authorities of Puno to promote Peruvian culture, she said. An exhibition featuring 20 bulls painted by local Peruvian organisations had been displayed in Japan and Singapore, she said. After Bangkok, the exhibition will open in Jakarta, Indonesia, she said.
“Each of the 20 Toritos represents experienced Peruvian pottery and art by individuals in Peruvian associations,” she said.
Furthermore, two Thai artists have joined forces to exhibit their Toritos under the theme of “Into the Rainbow: The Colour of Quechua” by illustrator Spun Inthawong and “The Guardians: The Combination of Peruvian and Thai Culture” by Sukumarl Sarakasetrin, a lecturer from the Fine Arts Faculty Creative Art Department of Chulalongkorn University. The exhibition runs until July 23 on the 5th floor of Siam Discovery. On July 22, a Torito painting session for the public will be held on the 4th floor of the shopping mall.
Toritos created by Thai artists Sukumarl Sarakasetrin, left, and Spun Inthawong, right, show a combination of Peruvian and Thai artwork. (Photo: Poramet Tangsathaporn)