Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, Weather, tagged forest, graffiti, Mexico, moto taxis, New York, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, red garage, snow, street art, Tlacolula de Matamoros, Tlacolulokos, urban art, wall art on January 9, 2015| 3 Comments »
Finally over the flu, I flew to the east coast, arriving along with an arctic cold front. Brrr… it was -14ºF early yesterday morning!!! However, here on a frigid New York Friday…
And, there on a sunny Tlacolula Sunday…
A splash of red to liven up the day.
* Mural by Tlacolulokos.
Posted in Creativity, Culture, People, Travel & Tourism, tagged EmBe, graffiti, Keith Haring quote, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, street art, urban art on January 4, 2015| 2 Comments »
Instead of writing this blog post, I should be rendezvousing with gal pals at the de Young Museum for the Keith Haring exhibition. However, this season it is a more perfect world for the flu virus. Grrrr…
Thus, in the spirit of public art and social commentary, images from EmBe seen on calle Tinoco y Palacios in Oaxaca:
And, words from Keith Haring:
“One day, riding the subway, I saw this empty black panel where an advertisement was supposed to go. I immediately realized that this was the perfect place to draw. I went back above ground to a card shop and bought a box of white chalk, went back down and did a drawing on it. It was perfect–soft black paper; chalk drew on it really easily.”
“I kept seeing more and more of these black spaces, and I drew on them whenever I saw one. Because they were so fragile, people left them alone and respected them; they didn’t rub them out or try to mess them up. It gave them this other power. It was this chalk-white fragile thing in the middle of all this power and tension and violence that the subway was. People were completely enthralled.”2
“I was always totally amazed that the people I would meet while I was doing them were really, really concerned with what they meant. The first thing anyone asked me, no matter how old, no matter who they were, was what does it mean?”3
“The context of where you do something is going to have an effect. The subway drawings were, as much as they were drawings, performances. It was where I learned how to draw in public. You draw in front of people. For me it was a whole sort of philosophical and sociological experiment. When I drew, I drew in the daytime which meant there were always people watching. There were always confrontations, whether it was with people that were interested in looking at it, or people that wanted to tell you you shouldn’t be drawing there…”
“I was learning, watching people’s reactions and interactions with the drawings and with me and looking at it as a phenomenon. Having this incredible feedback from people, which is one of the main things that kept me going so long, was the participation of the people that were watching me and the kinds of comments and questions and observations that were coming from every range of person you could imagine, from little kids to old ladies to art historians.“
Posted in Celebrations, Children, Creativity, Culture, Food, Holidays, Markets, Protests, Transportation, Travel & Tourism, tagged Children's Guelaguetza, Feria Regional de Hongos Silvestres, Gorilla Gallery, Karen and Jasen Willenbrink, moto taxis, New Year's Eve, Oaxaca, pan de muerto, Paseo de los Viernes de Cuaresma, photographs, photos, Procession of Silence, Quinceañera, San Antonio Cuajimoloyas, San Pablo Villa de Mitla, tapetes de arena, Teotitlán del Valle on January 1, 2015| 8 Comments »
Adiós to 2014. It was another year filled with the always amazing and often surprising sights and sounds of Oaxaca.
January – The new year began with a Quinceañera at Iglesia Sangre de Cristo on the Macedonio Alcalá.
February – Most of the month was spent in California and New York, but returned to Oaxaca sun, blue sky, and buildings with character.
March – Ahhh… the flowers, the boys, and the girls of the “only in Oaxaca” Paseo de los Viernes de Cuaresma.
April – The banners of the Procesión del Silencio (Procession of Silence) on Good Friday during Semana Santa (Holy Week).
May – Karen and Jasen Willenbrink exhibition at Gorilla Gallery.
June – Pretty in pink, a protest by tuk-tuks (moto-taxis) on the zócalo.
July – Up into the Sierra Norte for the Feria Regional de Hongos Silvestres (Wild mushrooms fair) in San Antonio Cuajimoloyas.
August – Mini Guelaguetza sponsored by the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) on the Plaza de la Danza.
September – A rainy morning walk up to the presa (dam), Piedra Azul in Teotitlán del Valle.
October – Day of the Dead tapetes de arena in progress on the Plaza de la Danza.
November – Ofrenda in San Pablo Villa de Mitla with the village’s traditional and intricately decorated pan de muerto.
December – Nochebuenas (poinsettias) for sale at mercado Sánchez Pascuas.
Muchisimas gracias to all my wonderful 2014 blog readers! I am blown away that people from 125 countries have stopped by View from Casita Colibrí this year. Your presence, comments, and encouragement have been SO very much appreciated.
¡Feliz año nuevo a tod@s! I can’t wait to see what 2015 will bring.
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, “Lalo” Guerrero, Christmas, Christmas decorations, Christmas Eve, Christmas tree, Eduardo Guerrero, Mexico, Nacimiento de navidad, Navidad, Nochebuena, Oaxaca, Pancho Claus, Pancho Claus ‘Twas the night before Christmas, photographs, photos, piñata, poem, popular travel destinations on December 24, 2014| 6 Comments »
It’s a quiet Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) in my childhood home here in Mill Valley. There are no sparklers to wave, no nacimiento stands in the town plaza, and no posadas are likely to knock on the front door tonight. However, there is a fire burning in the fireplace, stockings hang from the mantle, and a Douglas Fir is standing in the living room wearing four generations of family Christmas treasures.
And, visions from Ernie Villarreal’s version of Pancho Claus, by Chicano music legend, Eduardo “Lalo” Guerrero, dance in my head.
Pancho Claus
‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through la casa
Not a creature was stirring, Caramba! ¿Que pasa?
Los ninos were all tucked away in their camas,
Some in vestidos and some in pajamas.
While Mama worked late in her little cocina,
El viejo was down at the corner cantina.
The stockings were hanging con mucho cuidado,
In hopes that St. Nicholas would feel obligado
To bring all the children, both buenos y malos,
A Nice batch of dulces and other regalos.
Outside in the yard, there arouse such a grito,
That I jumped to my feet, like a frightened cabrito.
I went to the window and looked out afuera,
And who in the world, do you think que era?
Saint Nick in a sleigh and a big red sombrero
Came dashing along like a crazy bombero!
And pulling his sleigh instead of venados,
Were eight little burros approaching volados.
I watched as they came, and this little hombre
Was shouting and whistling and calling by nombre.
¡Ay, Pancho! ¡Ay, Pepe! ¡Ay, Cuca! ¡Ay, Beto!
¡Ay, Chato! ¡¡Ay, Chopo! ¡Maruca and ¡Nieto!
Then standing erect with his hand on his pecho
He flew to the top of our very own techo.
With his round little belly like a bowl of jalea,
He struggled to squeeze down our old chimenea.
Then huffing and puffing, at last in our sala,
With soot smeared all over his red suit de gala.
He filled the stockings with lovely regalos,
For none of the children had been very malos.
Then chuckling aloud and seeming contento,
He turned like a flash and was gone like the viento.
And I heard him exclaim and this is VERDAD,
Merry Christmas to all, And to All ¡Feliz Navidad!
Carlsberg and Stella Artois… What is it about beer and Christmas?
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Exhibitions, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged carving, Christmas, Mexico, Night of the Radishes, Noche de Rabanos, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, radishes on December 20, 2014| 11 Comments »
Noche de Rabanos is moving!
According to an article in yesterday’s Noticias, the continued occupation of the zócalo by the teachers and the ambulantes has forced this year’s 117th annual festival to relocate. Ahhh… only in Oaxaca!
On December 23, the 130 participants and their carved radishes, totomoxtle figures, and flor inmortal scenes will be found on the Andador Turístico (aka,Macedonio Alcalá).
Hotels are expecting an 85% occupancy rate, but the business owners along the Alcalá are concerned the Rabanos crowds will block entrances to their shops. However, I’m wondering if it might improve the viewing traffic flow. If you are in Oaxaca, please let me know — I headed north to the rain and snow of el norte to spend the holidays with mi familia.
Photos from last year’s Noche de Rabanos.
Update (as of Dec. 21): Ambulantes, though not teachers, have cleared out and Rabanos WILL be held on the zócalo.
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Markets, Travel & Tourism, tagged Christmas decorations, Mercado Benito Juárez, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, piñata on December 15, 2014| 3 Comments »
In between the virgin days, it’s beginning to look a lot like Navidad in Oaxaca…
Piñatas on high at Mercado Benito Juárez.
Posted in Celebrations, Churches, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Parks & Plazas, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Templo de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, Virgen de Guadalupe, Virgin of Guadalupe on December 12, 2014| 8 Comments »
Today is Guadalupe’s feast day. This Queen of Mexico, Empress of America, and patron saint of Mexico is being celebrated all over Mexico and, apparently for the first time in Vatican history, today Pope Francis to Say Mass in Honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
In Mexico, it’s not just a one-day event. Wednesday afternoon, while Chris and I were giving our previously mentioned presentation at the Oaxaca Lending Library, only blocks away festivities began with a religious ceremony at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the side of Llano Park. It was followed that night with a calenda through the streets of the city. Yesterday, Guadalupe’s children, the little Juan Diegos and their peasant sisters, were brought by parents (and grandparents) to the Templo de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (at the north end of Llano Park), where they waited patiently in long lines to enter the church to be blessed and then be photographed in “Guadalupe” scenes.
However, on the streets of Oaxaca, Guadalupe is seen everywhere and everyday…
The other big news from Rome, that Oaxaqueños are celebrating, is the Wealth of Oaxaca craft present in the Vatican Museum — a Christmas tree and Nativity scene decorated with artesania crafted by 142 Oaxacan families from 25 municipalities in the state. The exhibition was inaugurated on December 10 and will run through February 2015 — should you be planning a trip to Italy!
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged dance, Danza de la Pluma, Mexico, Oaxaca, Oaxaca Lending Library, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Teotitlán del Valle, Virgen de Guadalupe on December 9, 2014| 7 Comments »
As a background to the December 12, Fiesta a la Virgen de Guadalupe performance of the Danza de la Pluma in Teotitlán del Valle, mañana (Dec. 10, 2014) at 5:00 PM at the Oaxaca Lending Library, Chris (of Oaxaca-The Year After fame) and I are doing a presentation about the Danza de la Pluma in Teotitlán del Valle.
From the library’s description of the talk, “The Danza de la Pluma or Dance of the Conquistadors is one of the most famous dances performed in Oaxaca. Join Shannon and Chris for a presentation filled with photos and video of their many times observing and chronicling this beautiful dance.”
Alas, it’s not free. Besides memberships, presentations like this are what keeps the library afloat. The cost is 70 pesos for OLL members and 100 pesos for non-members. Hope to see you there!
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Music, Politics, Protests, Tragedy, tagged Ayotzinapa, dance, Escuela Normal Rural Raúl Isidro Burgos, Guerrero, Iguala, Mexico, Normal Rural Ayotzinapa, Oaxaca, Oaxaca Lending Library, Twyla Tharp quote, video on December 7, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Along with blogger buddy Chris, I’ve been immersed in putting together a presentation for the Oaxaca Lending Library on the Danza de la Pluma, as it’s performed in Teotitlán del Valle. On the superficial level, the Danza relates the story of the Conquest. But, as is the genius of art, it reaches into our hearts and souls and explores and communicates the truths we feel.
And so, this brief video from classmates of the 43 missing Ayotzinapa students touched me deeply.
The ballet needs to tell its own story in such a way it can be received without having to be translated into language. –Twyla Tharp
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Creativity, Culture, Textiles, Travel & Tourism, tagged Chamuchic, Chiapas, El Camino de los Altos, El Diablo y la Sandía, indigenous textiles, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, textiles on December 4, 2014| 10 Comments »
Last Friday, I walked over to the B&B, El Diablo y la Sandía and walked into the highlands of Chiapas.
It was the first of a 3-day expoventa of textiles by El Camino de los Altos
and Chamuchic, two weaving collectives from Chiapas. Their colors and designs are sophisticated and I wanted them all!
Alas, the budget limited me to two pillow covers that have joined two solid colored brocaded covers that I bought at a similar expoventa a year and a half ago.
I think they look great under my beautiful poncho woven by Amalia Martínez Casas.
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Protests, Tragedy, Violence, tagged angular, Ayotzinapa, Escuela Normal Rural Raúl Isidro Burgos, Global Day of Action for Ayotzinapa, graffiti, Mexico, Normal Rural Ayotzinapa, normalistas, Oaxaca, Photo Challenge, photographs, photos, protests, street art, wall art on November 24, 2014| 2 Comments »
The 43 students from the Normal Rural Ayotzinapa teachers’ college in Guerrero are still missing. Following Thursday’s Global Day of Action for Ayotzinapa mass demonstrations, “analysts and commentators across the Mexican news media spectrum began speaking of a modern day revolution now brewing in the country.”
A tipping point? I don’t know…
Angular (Street art, Nov. 22, 2014 on a wall in Oaxaca.)
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Sports & Recreation, Travel & Tourism, tagged baseball cap, clowns, Mexico, Oaxaca, payasons, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, San Francisco Giants on November 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Remember yesterday’s Thought for the day clowns? Yikes, I just discovered I’d photographed them two weeks ago outside Estadio Eduardo Vasconcelos (baseball stadium) on my way home from the Lluvia de Estrellas charity home run derby and softball game. Seeing the boy’s San Francisco Giants’ baseball cap, I had to stop them and take a photo.
By the way, I was also wearing my SF Giant’s cap and they got a big kick out of that. Gotta love this place!
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged clowns, Horace Walpole quote, Mexico, Oaxaca, payasos, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations on November 22, 2014| 2 Comments »
Yesterday morning, I opened the front gate and this is the first sight I saw…
“Life is a comedy to those who think and a tragedy for those who feel.” ― Horace Walpole
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Education, Politics, Protests, Tragedy, Violence, tagged Ayotzinapa, Caravana de Ayotzinapa, Democracy Now, demonstrations, graffiti, Guerrero, Iguala, Mexico, Mexico Burns as Outrage over Student Disappearances Sparks Protests Against State-Backed Violence, Normal Rural Ayotzinapa, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, protests, Santo Domingo de Guzmán, sidewalk memorial, signs, students, Teachers on November 16, 2014| 2 Comments »
The headline, Mexico Burns as Outrage over Student Disappearances Sparks Protests Against State-Backed Violence, from the Nov. 13 “Democracy Now” show, is not an overstatement. Yesterday, in front of Santo Domingo…
The Caravana de Ayotzinapa, one of three caravans by the parents and supporters of the missing 43 students from the Escuela Normal Rural Raúl Isidro Burgos teachers’ college in Ayotzinapa, Guerrero, is scheduled to arrive in Oaxaca tomorrow morning (Nov. 17). A procession from the crucero at Trinidad de Viguera to the zócalo in Oaxaca is scheduled to begin at 9 AM. Given the prohibition against foreigners participating in political activity, as much as I would like to be there, I’ll be sticking close to home.
However, for my friends in the USA, check out photographer and writer Tim Porter’s article, #43; there are demonstrations coming to a city near you. Tim is a frequent visitor to Oaxaca and, for my Marin peeps, his articles and photographs regularly appear in Marin Magazine.
Posted in Creativity, Culture, People, Travel & Tourism, tagged Antonio Ruiz Gonzalez, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, rugs, tapetes, Teotitlán del Valle, weavers, weaving on November 10, 2014| 13 Comments »
When it seems as if we are surrounded by fear, hatred, and violence, it’s good to step back, look around, and remind ourselves that there is also generosity, love, and beauty in this world. And so I give you my exquisite new mohair tapete (rug), custom woven for me by Antonio Ruiz Gonzalez. It turned out even more beautiful than I imagined!
Here is Antonio (on the left) in front of my new rug with his delightful family, including his brother Sergio (on the right) — from whom I’ve bought several small tapetes. More about the latter, later! Should you find yourself in Teotitlán del Valle, do stop by the family workshop (Av. Juárez No. 107), where Antonio, Sergio, and their father Zacarías weave their magic.
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