Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Neighborhoods, Parks & Plazas, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged altars, Barrio de Xochimilco, Day of the Dead, Día de los Muertos, Mexico, Oaxaca, ofrendas, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Santo Tomás on November 5, 2012| Leave a Comment »
an offering.
an integral part of the Day(s) of the Dead celebration.
filled with meaning.
a beacon to the departed.
an ephemeral work of art.
the sum of its lovingly chosen parts.
This is another ofrenda from the previously mentioned “altar decorating” competition on the plaza in front of Santo Tomás in Oaxaca’s Xochimilco barrio.
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Neighborhoods, Parks & Plazas, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged altars, Barrio de Xochimilco, Day of the Dead, Día de los Muertos, Mexico, Oaxaca, ofrendas, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Santo Tomás on November 3, 2012| 7 Comments »
Living and being in Oaxaca during the Días de los Muertos is hard to put into words. There is so much to experience and to think about. Sensory overload challenges the limits of heart and mind and my emotions are running the gamut from extreme exhilaration to a quiet joy to being moved to tears.
The latter occurred a few days ago, when I walked up to the Templo de Santo Tomás in Oaxaca’s Xochimilco barrio (neighborhood) where an “altar decorating” contest was in progress. Altars were to be judged on authenticity, originality, and creativity. When I arrived, friends and relatives were in the midst of putting the final touches on their altars. Some were elaborate and some exhibited real artistry, but one really touched my heart.
He was alone — no one to help, no playful banter. When I first arrived, he was carefully etching a cross with a piece of charred wood on a stone.
He worked silently and with purpose, pulling items out of a well-worn sugar bag and carefully placing them on his altar.
When the bag was empty, he walked over to a cart and pulled out another one.
Slowly, his vision emerged, with symbology I have only a cursory grasp of and won’t presume to explain.
I don’t know who won the 5000 peso first prize or second or third place purses, and I don’t know if he was doing it for the money (he certainly looked like he could use it).
All I do know is he and his ofrenda moved me deeply.
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Music, Travel & Tourism, tagged Alejandra Robles, catrina, Day of the Dead, Día de los Muertos, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations on October 31, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Lighting, costumes, music, and dance combined to envelop last night’s audience at the Teatro Macedonio Alcalá in an other worldly experience. Catrina is a magical tale where the world of the living converges with the world of the dead and the central theme is the pain of a mother losing her daughter.
The show is a celebration of the pre-Columbian traditions and culture of Oaxaca, especially the ritual and meaning surrounding Día de los Muertos. Much of the music was traditional Oaxacan and most performers were Oaxaqueños, including Alejandra Robles, singing the title role.
At 48% (that’s over 1.6 million people), the state of Oaxaca has the second highest indigenous population in Mexico. Perhaps that is why the belief systems of the ancient Mexicans Octavio Paz, cites in The Labyrinth of Solitude, remain strong today. He writes, “Life extended into death, and vice-versa. Death was not the natural end of life but one phase of an infinite cycle.” Healthier, more realistic, and more comforting, I think…
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged calaveras, catrina, Catrinas, Day of the Dead, Día de Muertos, Días de Muertos, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, skeletons on October 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »
This Catrina arrived styling and ready to party.
Manicured fingers and toes, flower in her hair, and umbrella drink in hand, all she needs is a guy (or gal).
Young man beware — she has her eye on you!
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged calaveras, Catrinas, Day of the Dead, Día de Muertos, Días de Muertos, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, skeletons on October 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »
And, guess who’s coming to dinner? Catrinas, pinkies up!
Dahling, don’t start the party without me!
Lo siento mis amigas, sending regrets from Juchitán.
Decisions, decisions, decisions… Shall I take the Jetta, Crossfox, Suburban, or Express Van???
As for these two…
I’m not sure they are coming.
Hmmm… a lover’s quarrel? Sheesh, even in the afterlife??!!!
Posted in Creativity, Culture, People, Textiles, Travel & Tourism, tagged Annie Waterman, Chiapas, Documenting the Lives of Textiles, HAND/EYE, indigenous peoples, indigenous textiles, Mexico, Oaxaca, popular travel destinations, Sheri Brautigam, textiles, traje on October 22, 2012| Leave a Comment »
For lovers of textiles and Mexico, the latest online issue of the magazine, HAND/EYE (love the title!), has a terrific interview with friend and textile designer/collector/researcher, Sheri Brautigam. The article, Documenting the Lives of Textiles, covers a wide range of topics, including preservation and revival of traditions and concerns re traditional versus modern designs. As would be expected, given the subject matter, it includes lots of photos!
BY Annie Waterman | October 10, 2012
Courtesy of Sheri Brautigam
An Interview with Sheri Brautigam
Textile expert, Sheri Brautigam, shares with HAND/EYE Online, her experience as a documenter of “living” indigenous textiles.
HAND/EYE: How did you first find yourself in Mexico and documenting “living” indigenous textiles?
Sheri Brautigam: I went to the university in Mexico City in the 60’s and that was the beginning of my lifelong relationship and many in-depth experiences with Mexico. This time, I was training Mexican English teachers through the English Language fellowship with the U.S. State Department—sort of like the English Teachers’ Peace Corps. My location was in a small town in the State of Mexico—Atlacomulco, surrounded by many different indigenous villages. When I went to a nearby village Mazahua ‘Saints Day’ festival and saw the amazing garments the ladies were wearing, I started my documentation.
H/E: How did you first get into becoming a researcher/ textile collector?
SB: I had a textiles design studio (surface design textiles) in San Francisco for about 18 years, so I had been collecting world textiles since the 1960s. That was when they were readily available from world travelers. I have loved and been involved with textiles most of my life and always want to know how these beautiful things are made … and now in Mexico, it’s even more exciting to see them in context.
H/E: What sort of future do you predict for the world of traditional textiles? What changes have you noticed over the years?
SB: I’m very hopeful that many traditional Mexican textiles will survive and become even finer. This I have seen in Oaxaca and Chiapas. When appreciation comes from the outside world and the artisans can earn money, they have an incentive to keep producing. The more money they can earn from superior work also encourages some artisans with higher skills to train their children. The more affluent indigenous people become, the more pride they have in their own culture and the continuation of their textile traditions.
Certainly some of the indigenous will leave their village and go to the towns and cities to work and wear jeans and t-shirts—but when they come home they will wear a huipil for the feast day. It’s their cultural identity.
Click HERE to read full article.
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged calaveras, Day of the Dead, Día de los Muertos, Días de Muertos, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, skeletons, stencils, Virgen de Guadalupe, Virgin of Guadalupe, wall art on October 20, 2012| Leave a Comment »
I’ve got my eye on you…
I’m praying for you…
You just never know who might be looking over your shoulder.
Días de los Muertos are coming…
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged El Ostrakón, Kurt Hackbarth, Mexico, Oaxaca, plays, theater on October 12, 2012| 3 Comments »
While Oaxaca is filled with music, art, and dance, it hasn’t been known for its contribution to live theater. However, there are signs that this may change. In August, the cultural monthly journal, El Jolgorio featured theater in Oaxaca. One of the articles explained, that thanks to the work of Teatro Juárez and the Fundación Cultural Crisol, a drama workshop was established in Oaxaca and in three years, fifteen plays have been written, with eleven being presented in Oaxaca and Mexico City. As ex-pat playwright Kurt Hackbarth asked at the press discussing his newest play, El Ostrakón, “Oaxaca is a destination for art. Oaxaca is a destination for music. Why not now make Oaxaca as a national destination for original theater…?”
By the way, you may remember Kurt Hackbarth from my post on his comedy, La [medio] diezmada. This time around he penned a well received drama, El Ostrakón, that premiered on August 29, 2012 and ran through September 2 — a long run here! It “is a contemporary tragedy which, by using elements of farce and social criticism, tells the story of Gabriel, a homeless youth, and his attempts to avoid the traps laid by the chameleonic narrator, the incarnation of a hostile society.” (translated from El Ostrakón Facebook page)
If you missed it the first time around (or would like to see it again) and will be in Oaxaca on Monday, October 15 at 6 pm, you are in luck. El Ostrakón will be performed at the beautiful Teatro Macedonio Alcalá as part of the inauguration of the Oaxaca State Theater Festival. And, the performance is free, though a 5 peso (that’s only about 40¢ US!!!) donation is requested to help support the festival. El Ostrakón is in Spanish, but English-only language speakers can download an English language synopsis from the website.
Full disclosure: I designed the El Ostrakón website.
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged art, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, street art, thomas wolfe on October 1, 2012| 2 Comments »
All things on earth point home in old October; sailors to sea, travellers to walls and fences… — Thomas Wolfe.
It’s good to be back in Oaxaca.
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Markets, Travel & Tourism, tagged automobilies, California, cars, farmers' market, Linda Ellerbee quote, markets, mercados, Mexico, Mill Valley, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Porche, similarities, vegetables, VW bug, wall art, Zio Ziegler on September 28, 2012| 12 Comments »
I’m back in Oaxaca… arrived last night after a brief trip to El Norte. However, over the last three years, culture shock (on both sides of the border) has subsided and I am struck and heartened that despite our differences, humans share so much more… especially the compulsion to make even the most common and utilitarian, beautiful.
Artist, Zio Ziegler added a little pizzazz to a car in Mill Valley… (Yes, I know, a Porche!)
Car in Oaxaca… (Ahhh, a VW bug!)
Wall in Mill Valley (also by Zio Ziegler)…
Wall in Oaxaca…
Veggies in Mill Valley…
Veggies in Oaxaca…
From one of my favorite journalists, Linda Ellerbee: “People are pretty much alike. It’s only that our differences are more susceptible to definition than our similarities.”
Posted in Creativity, Serendipity, Travel & Tourism, tagged art, art car, California, found objects, Marin County, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Sausalito on September 26, 2012| 3 Comments »
Lost or discarded?
Artist found and created in Sausalito, Ca. You better believe it!
And please, don’t “liberate” any of the found objects, in other words… stop stealing!!!
La lucha continúa. Paz y amor a todos.
Posted in Buildings, Creativity, Culture, Politics, tagged Lapiztola, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, street art, urban art, wall art on August 27, 2012| 1 Comment »
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged clown, Mexico, Oaxaca, payaso, photographs, photos, piñata on August 24, 2012| 2 Comments »
Walking down the street… an open door… can’t help but look in…
¡Feliz fin de semana!
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Music, Travel & Tourism, tagged desfile, Guelaguetza, Mexico, music, Oaxaca, parade, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, sheet music on August 17, 2012| Leave a Comment »
On chairs in Reyes Etla.
On people’s backs in the city.
Wherever… especially during Guelaguetza!
Posted in Creativity, Environment, Exhibitions, Parks & Plazas, tagged bench, design, I Feel Good in Oaxaca, International Youth Day, Me Siento en Oaxaca, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, students on August 14, 2012| 2 Comments »
From Sangre de Cristo to Santo Domingo, along the Alcalá, one is now able to “have a seat.”
As part of the inauguration of the Me Siento Bien en Oaxaca (I Feel Good in Oaxaca) and to celebrate, International Youth Day, 13 pieces were created by students of the Faculty of Architecture Cinco de Mayo, the Free School of Art and Design, and the Urban Contingency B_root studio.
The theme was Evolution and the young people were charged with using recycled materials and innovative design.
I think they succeeded!
Alas, it is only temporary; August 18 is the last day.
However, according to a newspaper report, as a more permanent part of Me Siento Bien en Oaxaca program, benches “rescued by the City” will be put in public spaces.
Mexican Peso Converter
