They tempted him with riches, but he did not betray Peru: José Olaya is reborn in the fishermen’s association

There, in the midst of the rubble of the viceroyalty and the turbulent beginning of independent Peru, a hero was born who would soon be portrayed by José Gil de Castro, the mulatto painter who created all the iconography of the time with his oil paintings of soldiers and heroes. As the cultural manager Patricia Mondoñedo recounts, in a thesis alluding to the hero, it was President José Bernardo de Tagle himself who, two months after Olaya’s death, announced that an allusive canvas would be placed in the Municipality of Chorrillos. But this painting came to fruition only five years later.

an immaculate character

“At that time, in the fledgling republic, there was a need to create images, which is why the portrait genre was used to identify these new actors. In the case of Olaya, the State requested the elaboration of this large-format portrait with characteristics very similar to those used for military heroes.”, says Mondonedo. And what Gil de Castro delivered was a dark-skinned character with a sharp nose and high cheekbones, draped in immaculate attire.

“In the case of Olaya, the State requested the elaboration of this large-format portrait with characteristics very similar to those used for military heroes”

“While it is true —explains Mondoñedo— all those portrayed were painted with the attributes that defined their professions, Olaya was not associated with his activity as a fisherman, but was invested with neatness with a strange top hat at his side. ”.

The mural facing the sea

A few meters from the Regatas club is the fishermen’s beach of Chorrillos. There, in the middle of food kiosks and a market where pelicans and seagulls fly over as they please, is the premises of the Association of Artisanal Fishermen. Jose Silverio Olaya Balandra.

In recent weeks, on the front of this space, the artists Bruno Portuguez and Fanny Palacios have developed a mural more than three meters high and 15 meters long, in which they highlight the struggle of the people of Lima for independence, with Olaya as the protagonist. It is a tribute for the bicentenary of the hero’s death.

“My luck is that I come from a family of fishermen says Portuguez. my father fished on this beach for over 70 years, i was a fisherman myself when i was young and i have a brother who belongs to the association”. This link with the sea has led him to portray “a more authentic Olaya”. “Olaya must be shown at its roots —highlights—, I see that in some recent portraits they have painted him with white skin and French sideburns, when he was an indigenous person… Olaya was not a power cholo, but an ordinary fisherman”.

For this reason, Portuguez and Palacios now portray him in his work clothes and his traditional fisherman’s gear and accompanied by figures such as Túpac Amaru and Micaela Bastidas and heroes such as San Martín, Bolívar and Manuelita Sáenz.

“I see that in some recent portraits they have painted him with white skin and French sideburns, when he was an indigenous man… Olaya was not a cholo power, but an ordinary fisherman”

Finally, if San Pedro is the patron saint of the Chorrillano fishermen, Olaya is the lay protector. As Freddy Hidalgo, president of the José Olaya fishermen’s association, says: “We feel proud to have a father like Olayasomeone who gave his life for our Peru, for our colors, for our flag… Until today he continues to be a very important person for us”.