During a breakout session at the Art of Community gathering in the Catskills Mountains in 1999, I heard some say that their favorite thing about living in Community is that they have met so many interesting people from every level of society - from famous personalities to local pockets of tradition holders. They felt immensely enriched by the simple fact of living in a place that generates interest so widely. From folks who are just curious, to visitors seeking to experience intentional community, to learn about, contribute to and perhaps join or create one, an ongoing and growing stream of people are coming through intentional communities around the world.I could easily relate to that observation, being myself part of an intentional community for over 25 years in Mexico. This aspect of community living was vividly demonstrated in March (2002), when we celebrated our 20th year anniversary in a way that exemplifies the spirit of our community. Huehuecoyotl is an aspiring ecovillage in Mexico founded on the basis of our dedication to the Arts, Ecology and Spirituality. In the past 20 years, we have seen a great number of people from all walks of life come to either visit the community as whole or someone there. These have included many artists in all fields of the arts, as well as scientists, visionaries, prophets and fools of all kinds. We have always embraced every human being (and most other life forms) that have found their way to our remote location in the mountains of central Mexico. We have particularly nourished those with an artistic talent, and have often helped them find their way along the uncertain and challenging path of the committed artist.
We do not look at arts as a commercial undertaking or a quest for fame and recognition, but rather as an elemental necessity of community and the most sublime expression of the human condition. In this way art is like bread for social movements and community. With this philosophy we have organized numerous events over the years centered on peace, justice, ecology and humanity, and involving many artists from all over the world. We always take advantage of visiting troubadours and other roaming troupes of eco-locos that have found their way to our small village. When we decided to host an anniversary celebration this past March it was obvious that we would try to contact some performing artists to help us in the celebration.
We were amazed by the response and the number of performers who offered their talents. However, we had no idea how many of them would actually show up, or what level of quality they would bring to the event. As it turned out, we had two solid days of performances that included over twenty-five acts with everything from music to poetry, theater, comedy, dance, vaudeville, acrobatics, clowns, painters and puppets. It was clear to see that the nourishment we had given over the years to all those aspiring artists had multiplied by scores and that Huehue is the home of all their artistic ideals. All of the groups and individual artists that presented their work did so without charge, as a demonstration of their gratitude for the inspiration and direction that Huehuecoyotl offered them over the years, and their work is of the best quality to be found anywhere. Artists came from the surrounding area, but also traveled from as far away as Argentina, the U.S. and Europe. I wish I had space here to list them all, but Huehuecoyotl is not about the individual artist and their great accomplishments, rather about how the artists fits into the fabric of community and how their hard work and dedication makes community living a rich and meaningful experience for us all. I reflect back to that comment I heard in 1999, and for me, it is now more meaningful than ever before.
Giovanni Ciarlo co-founded “The Illuminated Elephants Gypsy Theatre and Artistic Community” with a group of people representing eight different nationalities, and in 1982, with a group of Mexican activists, bought land and created an eco-settlement based in the arts, ecology and spirituality - Huehuecoyotl Ecoaldea in Tepoztlan, Mexico. Giovanni, and wife Kathleen Sartor, are performers and educators in a musical group called Sirius Coyote. Giovanni is the Mesoamérica representative on the Ecovillage Network of the Americas Council, and co-founder of Red de Ecoaldeas de México (The Network of Mexican Ecovillages)
Ecovillage Network of the Americas, website