Human Flower Project
Flowers in the Street: Semana Santa in Antigua
One of the most glorious floral customs of the Easter season is Antigua, Guatemala’s celebration of Holy Week—Semana Santa. Carpets (alfombras) of sawdust, palm, vegetables and flowers are laid in the stone streets, and on Good Friday, a religious procession trails over it all. Photographer Don Sanders writes: “Clouds of copal incense, long lines of penitentes, then 80 to 100 men wearing robes trudge along carrying figures of saints mounted on enormous, 3000 pound mahogany platforms. They walk across the ‘carpets’; then the homeowners and shopowners come out and build another one for the next procession which comes along five or six hours later.”
This alfombra from 2007 is a cross of palm and sandia, with a center of white daisies and “rays” of snapdragons, maroon, cream and white. Many thanks to Kim Lehman for sending on Don’s beautiful picture.
Photo: Don Sanders