The Independent has published a very evocative look at the Solentiname archipelago, former hotspot of the Sandinista revolution.

I'm heading for the Solentiname archipelago, in the remote south-eastern corner of the lake, to discover the community of primitivist artists founded in 1965 by the Nicaraguan poet and rebel priest Ernesto Cardenal.

The plane thumps down on a dirt clearing – what passes for a runway in San Carlos, a ramshackle trading town on the shore of the lake. A short, bumpy taxi ride later, I'm met at the bustling dockside by my island guides, Elena Pineda and her nephew, José, who whisk me by panga – a motorised canoe – to San Fernando.

More than 40 years ago, campesinos – dirt-poor subsistence farmers – began to produce colourful paintings inspired by their daily struggle and the islands' lush landscape. Post-revolution, with Cardenal as minister of culture, the artistic community flourished once more. Today, many of the islands' 900 or so inhabitants combine farming and fishing with painting and woodcarving. Visit them in their homes and you'll find three or more generations living and working together. Elena, too, is a talented artist. I look for her work in San Fernando's small gallery but it's on show in New York.

Read more at The Independent.