The myth in the artwork of Oswaldo de León Kantule: an approach to guna cosmogony

Abstract

The connection between the work of indigenous painter Oswaldo de León Kantule and his culture touches upon the fundamental knowledge of this people's cosmogony. Traditionally, the themes of artistic expression have been informed by mythology and religion, and in this case, the mythological, religious, and oral tradition allusions that Kantule makes in his works bring us closer to his people's culture. The research aims to identify myth in the art of Oswaldo de León Kantule as an approximation to Guna cosmogony, bearing in mind that art is the best vehicle for exploring a culture through its signs, symbols, and images. Kantule's work delves into the origins of their culture, their worldview, and their ritual aspects. However, his vision as a contemporary artist also reflects his concern with the social, ecological, and technological transformations of the modern world, linking ancestral cosmogony to the reality of the 21st century. Understanding Indigenous societies through painting is a learning experience that allows us to understand one of Panama's most significant cultures. Based on a qualitative paradigm, using the Guna myths and rituals in Kantule's work, a deductive-inductive method was used to decode, analyze, and classify the artist's two works using documentary techniques. The qualitative paradigm allowed us to interpret the works from a phenomenological perspective and through hermeneutics, linking art with ethnography and education. The result demonstrates that through images, it is possible to understand a complex culture and unravel its basic mythological aspects, establishing a relationship between art and the learning experience.