The mention of San Juan Comalapa causes everybody to think about paintings, na•f art and color. Indeed this place is all this and more. The talent is innate in its residents, proofs of it are the streets, its park and all the names of artists that this town has given to the country, such as Andrés Curruchich.

At the entrance to San Juan, the walls that circulate the cemetery draw the attention powerfully because of the murals that are painted on them, for they are the beginning of a journey full of landscapes, common episodes and color.

As you go into in the town it is not strange to go across small art galleries, as that of Oscar Perén. The daily activities of the people from Comalapa are captured in their canvases full of color and memories. The most important thing is that this ability is part of the inheritance of the residents from San Juan to their children, because Oscar's children are also devoted to the plastic art.

The walls of this character's house have murals on them, which confirm their enormous talent and they make of San Juan, without a doubt, a different place. And this is only a name among many.

Following the road to the center of the town, the facade of its outstanding church humbles the sight. To one side is the new temple built as a substitution of the first church that suffered serious damages during the earthquake of 1976. In front of it, there are sales of vegetables and the children that walk as they leave school, make of the panorama a truly cheerful sight. In the park, the colored kiosk reinforces the feeling of being in a land of artists.

After stopping for a while to contemplate some fabrics made by industrious women at one side of the plaza, I go to the one that was, in other times, the house of the author of the music of the National Anthem of Guatemala, Mr. Rafael çlvarez Ovalle.

San Juan Comalapa is a town of kaqchikel origin, called by them chixot which means "in or on the griddle." Previously it was known as San Juan of Comalapant or San Juan the Baptist of Comalapant. After the conquest of the Spaniards, its name was modified with the nahualt which translated to Spanish is the current Comalapa.

Comalapa has been distinguished as one of the Guatemalan populations of more artistic tradition. Therefore, it is not strange to find that families remain united by means of the plastic arts.

The art type that these artists create is known as na•f or primitivism. The anthropologist Karen Cardoza believes that the old Mayan beliefs have prevailed, and that they are captured in its current art. "It is necessary to take into account that the internal development of these paintings makes as much echo in its origins, as in the current context that the indigenous artists lives", she comments.

Some of the characteristics that compose this style are: To capture the geographical environment, as well as the traditions ingrained on the population.

Regarding Comalapa, one of the first primitivism-painting artists to be known, was Andrés Curruchich Cœmez (1891-1969). He was not only the pioneer, but his work is the best quoted in the art market.

Their first painting was sold in a fair, in 1930 and by 1960 he was famous already. He has left an artistic legacy, not only for his family, also recognized by their talent, but for the new generations of people from Comalapa who search, by means of the paintbrush and the canvas, to express their yearnings.

Two blocks from San Juan's central park you will find the House of Culture, also well known as the museum Rafael çlvarez Ovalle. The new construction, inaugurated in 1984, harbors the personal objects of the author of our national anthem.

As we enter, Mr. Francisco Otzoy welcomes us; he is the one in charge of the museum. First he takes us to the library of the place, called Oscar De León Palacios. Later on, we enter in a space that preserves elegant suits, hats, a cane, the head of the bed of Rafael çlvarez Ovalle, in the form of a Lira, his night table and the pedal of his piano. Music scores composed by the master are inside illuminated cabinets, as well as pieces of history of his life and work. An important characteristic is that the remains of Mr. çlvarez Ovalle are in the patio of this house, in which, music classes are imparted.

San Juan Comalapa is, without a doubt, the cradle of art. And who may doubt of it, it is enough to take a walk around the town to meet face to face with a sample of the talent of its inhabitants.

He was born on October 24, 1858 in San Juan Comalapa. Since he was a boy he manifested interest in music, and the teacher Juan Alegría was the one who provided him of his first musical knowledge. By the time he was 15 years he became the head principal of the music school of Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa. By the time he was 29 years he composed the music of the National Anthem, which is considered one of the three best hymns of the world by the Music Academy of Milan. On October 24, 1941, he received the last homage in his native Comalapa.

San Juan Comalapa is a town full with movement.
This trip was carried thanks to the Instituto Guatemalteco de Turismo (Guatemalan Institute of Tourism), INGUAT.