Independent Caribbean Republic of Santa Candela
The Independent Caribbean Republic of Santa Candela is a territory of peace and good mood. It is a nomad country and changes location according to the turns of life and the time of the year.
It has a population of one person: Candela Josefina Del Castillo Silva, the current president, beauty queen, spiritual leader, external relationships minister, internal affairs minister and national hero.
The density of Santa Candela is relative, usually of one person per square foot but it can vary when there is tourism. The landscape is curvatious and the most recognized geographical coordenates are the valley of friendship, the mountains of the family trees, the rivers of romance and the dark zone where the mighty tigress Ferocia lives. The weather is mostly sunny and warm with the occasional tornados that generate temporary floods of tears.
Candela Josefina Del Castillo Silva, the only citizen of the Independent Caribbean Republic of Santa Candela, was born in a small tropical town of cocoa trees to the music of drums and accordions. Her father is a poet, her mother a singer and since she was a child her blood has vibrated to the rythms of caribbean music. Before learning to walk she learned to move her hips to the beat of cumbia, salsa, mambo and bullerengue.
When she was old enough she decided to travel the world and dance around many places: this is how she found the ups and downs of life in the planet earth.
When she returned to the Tropic she found that her old town had been destroyed and that her family had abandoned their land of cocoa and coconut to live in a cold and snowy mountain. Home was not home anymore so she was lost for a while....
She started to enjoy the feeling of being lost, so she decided to stay in a permanent state of transit and this is how the Independent Caribbean Republic of Santa Candela was founded: she decided to live by her rules in her own personal nomad country.
Candela Josefina Del Castillo Silva
Photos by: Fernanda Pineda
Produced by: Hanz Rippe
Costume: Tul