Posted in Creativity, Culture, Transportation, Travel & Tourism, tagged automobiles, cars, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Vocho, Volkswagen Beetle, VW, VW bug on September 4, 2015| 1 Comment »
El auto del pueblo (the car of the people)…
The Volkswagen Beetle, known in Mexico as a Vocho, has been plying the highways and byways of Mexico since it made its debut in Mexico City at the “Alemania y su Industria” (Germany and its Industry) exhibition in 1954.
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Textiles, Travel & Tourism, tagged Chinateca, costumes, culture, Día Internacional de los Pueblos Indígenas, embroidery, International Day of the Worl's Indigenous Peoples, Mexico, Oaxaca, Papaloapan Region, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, San Mateo Yetla, textiles, traje on August 23, 2015| 6 Comments »
The celebration of Día Internacional de los Pueblos Indigenas continues in Oaxaca this weekend, with music, dance, food, and an artisan expo-venta (sale) in Jardín El Pañuelito. As I walked through the exposition, one woman’s embroidery drew me back for a second look. I was especially drawn to a huipil that had been hanging next to the one below. It’s not in this photo, because one of the “Diablos” from the Santiago Juxtlahuaca dance troupe (who were performing later) had already volunteered to climb up on a chair to take it down for her to show to me.
However, before I could get my money out, a delegation of dignitaries came by for a photo shoot.
This popular and exceptionally talented woman is Carmen Vásquez Pérez, from San Mateo Yetla, Valle Nacional, located 172 kilometers northeast of Oaxaca city in the Papaloapan Region. According to the article, Mujeres preservan bordado en Yetla, the village is surrounded by waterfalls and lush vegetation and is rich in Chinanteca customs.
Doña Carmen learned to embroider as a child and has been instrumental in an effort to preserve and promote the local traditional designs and techniques. As you can see below, her workmanship is exquisite.
After returning home and doing a little research, I’m even more pleased with my purchase. And, by the way, I did not “bargain” — my new treasure is worth every peso of its 600 peso price tag, and then some!
Posted in Creativity, Culture, People, Travel & Tourism, tagged artists, graffiti, Jesus Kobe, Mexico, murals, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, street art, Taqueria Santa Fe video, wall art on August 3, 2015| 4 Comments »
Last week, walking down Crespo, I spotted a mural at the turnoff to Calle Panorámicas del Fortín and discovered it was the work of Jesus Kobe.
Hmmm… Recently, I’d seen another of his works on Allende near Crespo.
I was familiar with the artist because last year, friends and I were walking along Panorámicas and stopped at this mural.
We walked further along to find another mural, but without a signature. It turned out the artist was walking by and when he saw us admiring the work, he graciously stopped to chat. It was Kobe and he explained that he only signs his work once it is completed.
Serendipity, why this place never ceases to surprise and delight!
And, watch and hear Kobe explain the inspiration that underlies the mural he created for Santa Fe Taqueria in Portland, Oregon:
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Exhibitions, People, Violence, tagged 43 students, Aldo Gutiérrez Solano, Ayotzinapa, Emmanuel Guzman Sanchez, Escuela Normal Rural Raúl Isidro Burgos, Guerrero, Iguala, Mexico, normalistas, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, students, Victor Robinson on July 26, 2015| 6 Comments »
A pause in La Guelaguetza action to remember…
It’s been ten months since that unspeakable night 43 students from the Escuela Normal Rural Raúl Isidro Burgos teachers’ college in Ayotzinapa, Guerrero went missing in Iguala. They are not forgotten. On the lower block of the Alcalá, an exhibition of sculptures by two Oaxaqueño sculptures, Victor Robinson and Emmanuel Guzman Sanchez is on display.
One of the pieces, Faltan 43 y Faltamos Más (43 missing and we are missing more) speaks to the 43 students and to the countless others who have disappeared.
Guzman explains, that he feels it is necessary to speak out on social issues. “I’m also installing a piece by the 43 missing normalistas; in this piece we find human remains and missing persons who do not know where they are; others that have been found in mass graves, and a broken country.”
Three other students and three bystanders were killed outright and two dozen people were taken to hospital that horrific night. Today’s CNN Mexico profiles one of the hospitalized students, Aldo Gutiérrez Solano, who remains in a coma. The family must travel seven to eight hours to go from their home in Tultepec, Guerrero to Mexico City to sit at Aldo’s bedside. According to his brother, Ulises, the bullet damaged 65% of his brain and “The prognosis is very bad. Still in that state, is not yet known what will happen, how it will be.” His family hopes for a miracle and that he will awaken to end the nightmare of Iguala.
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Exhibitions, Travel & Tourism, tagged Alejandro Guzman Vera, Danza de los Rubios, exhibitions, Guelaguetza, mascaras, masks, Mexico, Mixtec region, Oaxaca, Palacio de Gobierno, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Santiago Juxtlahuaca, video on July 14, 2015| 2 Comments »
I love the carved masks worn in many of the traditional dances in Mexico and, thus, made a bee-line to the current exhibition at the Palacio de Gobierno, Máscaras de Juxtlahuaca — part of the month-long celebration of Guelaguetza.
Most of the masks in the show are the work of Alejandro Guzman Vera, a native of Santiago Juxtlahuaca in the Mixtec region of Oaxaca. He was born in 1972 and, as a young child, made his first mask of cardboard and painted it with crayons. At age 12, he carved his first wooden mask. He went on to study at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plasticas and has become one of the premier mask-makers in Mexico. He has exhibited world-wide and is one of the honored Grandes Maestros del Arte Popular de Oaxaca, profiled in the book by the same name. By the way, he is not only a mask-maker, but also an accomplished musician and is playing a role in the rescue of the traditional music of Juxtlahuaca.
(Click on an image to enlarge it and to enable a slideshow.)
Dancers from Santiago Juxtlahuaca will be performing the Danza de los Rubios in the morning Guelaguetza presentation on July 27 and will, no doubt, be wearing masks, cracking their whips, and jingling their spurs during the Procession of Delegations on the preceding Saturday. For a glimpse at the Danza de los Rubios and to get a feeling for some of the music Alejandro Guzman Vera is involved in saving, here is a snippet from last year’s Guelaguetza performance:
Masks are donned not only for the Danza de los Rubios, but also for the Danza de los Diablos and the Danza del Macho, which are performed at various annual festivals in the region. Once carved and painted, the wooden masks can be embellished with glass eyes and real animal teeth and horns of bulls, goats, or deer. They are an amazing sight to see!
The Máscaras de Juxtlahuaca exhibition at the Museo del Palacio in Oaxaca city closes August 28, 2015.
(This blog post is especially for you, Jane and Ken!)
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Textiles, Travel & Tourism, tagged Guelaguetza, Loma Bonita, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, San Antonino Castillo Velasco, San Antonio Huitepec, San Jerónimo Tlacochahuaya, San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec, San Juan Cacahuatepec, San Pedro Comitancillo on July 13, 2015| 6 Comments »
Next Monday, the the 83rd annual modern Guelaguetza will commence on Cerro Fortín. And so, the last of my photos from last year’s evening performance…
I’ll resume my coverage with the San Paliluú of San Antonio Huitepec a village from the Valles Centrales region.
San Pedro Comitancillo performed the Danzas y Sones de Mi Tierra from the Istmo de Tehuantepec region.
And then there was the Danza de la Pluma. Moctezuma, Danzantes, Malinche, and Doña Marina from San Jerónimo Tlacochahuaya, in the Valles Centrales region, performed one of the dances that reenacts the story of the Conquest.
Loma Bonita in the Tuxtepec region, very near the the state of Veracruz, then took the stage with its rousing Rinconcito Oaxaqueño.
The sun began to set as 36 beautiful women from San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec in the Papaloapam region, wearing their with brightly colored huipiles, took to the stage for the crowd pleasing Flor de Piña.
Darkness began to fall (making for challenging photography from 1/3rd of the way up from the Guelaguetza Auditorium stage), as the lively Sones and Chilenos danced by the delagation from the Costa region village of San Juan Cacahuatepec kept the energy flowing.
La Dote y el Tercel Día e Fandango from the dancers of San Antonino Castillo Velasco in the Valles Centrales region closed the evening’s performances.
As fireworks exploded over the Guelaguetza Auditorium, the band played, the audience took to its feet, and delegations reclaimed the stage to dance the evening’s Guelaguetza performance to a close.
Now on to La Guelaguetza 2015!
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged banda, bands, dance, Danza de la Pluma, danzantes, Feather dance, Fiesta de la Preciosa Sangre de Cristo, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Subalternos, Teotitlán del Valle on July 9, 2015| 9 Comments »
Storm clouds were gathering on Tuesday afternoon, as we drove out to Teotitlán del Valle for this year’s first performance of the Danza de la Pluma. However, the clouds were chased away and the plaza in front of Templo de la Preciosa Sangre de Jesucristo was bathed and blessed with the light and shadows of the golden hour.
Ahhh…
(ps) For a Moctezuma eye view of the dance, check out Chris’s Moctezuma Cam post.
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged canastas, festivals, Fiesta de la Preciosa Sangre de Cristo, marmotas, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Teotitlán del Valle on July 7, 2015| 2 Comments »
Last night, all was in readiness in Teotitlán del Valle for most important fiesta of the year — honoring la Preciosa Sangre de Nuestro Señor Jesucristo (the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ).
Specially cut papel picado fluttered from the church.
Marmotos waited in the wings.
And canastas, lovingly decorated by their owners stood ready to be carried through the streets of Teotitlán del Valle.
Next up, the most important ingredient…
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Textiles, Travel & Tourism, tagged dance, Fandango de Cajón, Guelaguetza, Jarabe Mixteco, La Llevada del Guajolote, Mayordomía de San Andrés, Mexico, Oaxaca, Ocotlán de Morelos, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, pozahuanco, San Andrés Huaxpaltepec, San Melchor Betaza on July 6, 2015| 4 Comments »
Last year, wearing the whitest of white huipiles, skirts, shirts, and pants, the delegation from San Melchor Betaza, in the Sierra Norte Region of Oaxaca, danced the sones and jarabes from their community.
I don’t know how the turkey felt as he took center stage when Ocotlán de Morelos, from the Valles Centrales Region, performed La Llevada del Guajolote, a dance dating to the 19th century.
The dances by the delegation from San Andrés Huaxpaltepec, from the Costa Region, offered the action of the Fandango de Cajón and the grace of the Mayordomía with women wearing stark white mandiles (shawls) and caracol dyed purple pozahuancos (wrap skirts).
As the first few notes of the Canción Mixteca were played, the audience rose and, as one, began waving their hats and singing the beloved song of the Mixteca Region. With the audience warmed up, the gals from Huajuapan de León began dancing the Jarabe Mixteco — twirling and tempting the guys with their flirty skirts.
Click HERE for last Monday’s part 1. Stay tuned for more next Monday, as the countdown to this year’s Guelaguetza festivities continues.
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Textiles, Travel & Tourism, tagged Canada, dancers, Danza de los Rubios, Guelaguetza, Guelaguetza Auditorium, Huautla de Jimenez, Ixtepec, Mexico, Mixteca, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Santiago Juxtlahuaca, Sones Mazatecos, Tehuantepec, Vela "Esmeralda" on June 29, 2015| 5 Comments »
Three weeks from today, despite the Never-ending tale of the velaria, the 83rd annual Guelaguetza performances on Cerro Fortín commence. Yikes, was it really almost a year ago that one of my childhood BFFs and I walked up the hill to the auditorium to revel in the music, costumes, dances, view, fireworks, and all-around conviviality of festivities? There is always so much going on during the last two weeks of July, that I only got around to posting a few photos from that evening. Today, and for the following two Mondays, I’m going to attempt to remedy that. Better late than never!
The dancers from Santiago Juxtlahuaca, in the Mixteca, performed the rip-roaring Danza de los Rubios…
And, from the Istmo de Tehuantepec region, the beautiful women and dashing men from Ixtepec presented Vela “Esmeralda”…
That’s all folks! But, more to come next Monday.Posted in Creativity, Culture, People, Tragedy, Travel & Tourism, Violence, tagged #Ayotzinapa9meses, Ayotzinapa, Cristian Tomás Colón Garnica, Escuela Normal Rural Raúl Isidro Burgos, graffiti, Mexico, murals, Normal Rural Ayotzinapa, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, posters, stencil art, street art, teachers’ college, Tlacolula de Matamoros, wall art on June 26, 2015| 4 Comments »
It’s been nine months since 43 students from the Escuela Normal Rural Raúl Isidro Burgos teachers’ college in Ayotzinapa, Guerrero went missing — a traumatic, heartbreaking, and disgraceful anniversary that isn’t going unnoticed. The Missing Mexican Students Case Is Not Closed For 43 Families, nor for the people of Mexico.
Yesterday, in Tlacolula de Matamoros, the signs were impossible to miss, as we walked down the main street. The community continues to remember her son, Cristian Tomás Colón Garnica, one of the Ayotzinapa 43.
“His father traveled from their land when the abduction of the 43 young normal school students was first reported. ‘I am a day laborer. I make 600 pesos [USD$44.50] weekly, maximum, and that’s when there’s work, because sometimes there is no work. My boy wants to be a teacher. That is the job he wants, but they stopped him, they arrested him … What are we going to do?!'” — from Mexico Voices.
On the wall, near the stencils above, posters announced events in Oaxaca city in remembrance of the students. As the murals at the north entrance to Tlacolula de Matamoros proclaim…
“VIVOS 43 LOS QUEREMOS”
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Transportation, Travel & Tourism, tagged automobiles, cars, Mexico, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Volkswagen Beetle, VW bug on June 24, 2015| 1 Comment »
As our journey on Sunday to Santa María Tlahuitoltepec had just gotten underway, Chris and I were engrossed in conversation when I had a whoa-grab-the-camera moment. Across highway 190, just outside the city, a double row of VW Beetles appeared.
Perhaps, figuring it was safer to pull over rather than having me coming between him and the the steering in an attempt to take photos out the driver side window, Chris offered to pull over.
Some had been repainted and tricked out, but others had just been lovingly (no doubt) washed and detailed.
By the time we stopped, we had already passed at least fifty Bugs and the lines continued as we drove off.
A Classic Car Rally? There was a scattering of other makes of cars, but the Beetles were the overwhelming majority and they ruled!
(Update: Blog reader, shewhodaresnothing, offered the answer. June 22 was Worldwide VW Beetle Day!)
Posted in Creativity, Culture, People, Textiles, Travel & Tourism, tagged blusas, ceñidore, costumes, cultural appropriation, Isabel Marant, Mexico, Mixe, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Santa María Tlahuitoltepec, traditional blouses, traje on June 22, 2015| 18 Comments »
Blogger buddy Chris and I have been talking about returning to Santa María Tlahuitoltepec since our first visit in May 2013. Time flies when you’re having fun and it took the current Theft of a cultural kind controversy to motivate us to hit the long and winding road up into the Mixe. To reach our our journey’s end in the Sierre Norte, our road trip took a little over two and a half hours from the city — on a much improved route 179, I might add.
Reaching the center of town, known for its musical literacy and textiles, Tejas, a youth band, was warming up on the multipurpose municipal basketball court.
Their performance was part of the Domingos de Concierto (concert Sundays). We joined villagers to watch and listen.
Most all of the women “of a certain age” were wearing the traditional dress that is a symbol of this community.
However, our stomachs began grumbling and led us in search of comida. The comedor we had been directed to wasn’t open but there were women sitting under the portales selling tamales. This gal’s amarillo tamales (3 for 10 pesos) were muy sabrosos!
Once we had eaten, fed a couple of street dogs the crumbs (until a woman walking softly and carrying a big stick, chased them away), and our energy levels were restored, we walked across the street to the sextagonal textile kiosk — the day’s destination.
We headed to Artesanias Kojpk Okp, the tiendita of Doña Honorina Gómez Martínez, the embroiderer we had met on our previous visit to Tlahuitoltepec. Ahhh, yes, she was well aware of the Inspiration or plagiarism dispute with French designer, Isabel Marant, that even Vogue UK has covered. As I later discovered, she spoke for the embroiderers at the press conference held at Oaxaca’s Textile Museum ten days ago.
This spirited, strong, and delightful woman has been embroidering for 46 years and, as she explained at the press conference, “my heart tells me what I’m going to embroider because I have it in memory, born with that idea or feeling, experience, it is the daily life as Mixe. It is a representation of blood, food, and nature. ” [translated from the original Spanish]
She recognized us and she and her assistant (husband? son?) were more than willing to plunge into piles of her creations, pull down blusas hanging on the walls, and dismantle displays. Here is the blusa and ceñidore I came home with…
Should you be inclined to go to the source, but can’t manage a trip up into the Mixe, as always, she will have a stall in July at the special artisan market in Oaxaca city during La Guelaguetza. She can also be contacted by telephone: 01 283 596 26 05 and cell: 951 198 79 42.
Stay tuned for a blog post on Oaxaca-The Year After… (Chris has a lot more photos to weed through!)
Posted in Buildings, Creativity, Culture, Museums, Travel & Tourism, tagged Lapiztola, murals, Museo Belber Jimenez, museums, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, urban art, wall art on June 15, 2015| 3 Comments »
I walk past the Museo Belber Jimenez at least every other day and its brilliant blue walls always make me smile. If you’re in the neighborhood, you can’t miss it! In mid April, not long after undergoing a major renovation, a city bus lost control and crashed into the museum. Fortunately no one was seriously injured, but the window, grating, and wall on the Tinoco y Palacio side of the museum were damaged.
By the time I left in mid May for the trip north, all had been repaired. And then a few days before returning to Oaxaca, blog reader BJ wrote to tell me there was a “beautiful new mural” on the west wall of the museum. She was right — it’s stunning and deeply moving.
Muchisimas gracias to Museo Belber Jimenez for inviting Lapiztola to enhance the exterior of the museum and our lives with the beautiful mural and its message from Beti Cariño.
Mexican Peso Converter
Behind every mask
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged Agatha Christie quote, art, culture, graffiti, Marty Rubin quote, Nicko Foster, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Sam Shepard quote, social commentary, street art, wall art on August 2, 2015| 2 Comments »
I wonder… What is artist Nicko Foster saying along the walls of calle Constitución?
Behind every mask there is a face, and behind that a story.
–Marty Rubin
—Agatha Christie
I believe in my dance– And my destiny
—Sam Shepard
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