Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘urban art’

Vehicular juxtaposition

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Transportation, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 4, 2024| 4 Comments »

Sometimes the sights along the streets of Oaxaca make me chuckle.

And, I just have to stop and record the scene.

Read Full Post »

Women’s voices

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on March 8, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Celebrating March 8, International Women’s Day, with women speaking from the walls of Oaxaca.

I absolutely refuse to deny my voice. Let’s fight together [against voices saying] you are insufficient, they are exaggerated.
Faces we see, feelings we don’t know. We were born to be happy.
Not all mothers celebrate, some look for [their missing children].
… Not even the women …

From ARMARTE, a women’s collective dedicated to using the arts as a tool for social transformation.

Read Full Post »

Art never dies

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Music, Neighborhoods, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on February 23, 2024| 4 Comments »

Another mural in progress by Bouler in Barrio de Jalatlaco.

The paint, brushes, and song by Macedonio Alcalá (sung by Javier Solis) may proclaim…

God never dies…

But, I think art never dies.

Read Full Post »

Hearts of Oaxaca

Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on February 14, 2024| Leave a Comment »

On this gray Valentine’s Day in the “City By the Bay,” I left my heart in Oaxaca…

Artist: Noel Gómez Lorenzo
Artist: Noel Gómez Lorenzo
Artist: Noel Gómez Lorenzo – Homage to Paulina Solís Ocampo, creator and choreographer of the Flor de Piña dance.

¡Feliz Día del Amor y la Amistad! Happy Day of Love and Friendship!

Read Full Post »

Domesticated by corn

Posted in Agriculture, Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Food, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 29, 2023| 6 Comments »

Today, September 29, Mexico celebrates Día Nacional del Maíz — a day honoring the sacred maíz, symbol of the country and base food crop for most of the nation. In Oaxaca, one never has to look far to see corn and not just in fields. Corn is depicted in murals, featured in decorations, and (of course) on most every dining table, most every day.

Decoration outside a shop in Oaxaca city.
Mural at Mercado Sánchez Pascuas in Oaxaca city – “Without corn, there is no country.”
Mural in San Martín Tilcajete.
My favorite tamales from the milpa and hands of Emilia Gonzalez Martinez in Teotitlán del Valle.

In the words of cocinera tradicional Carina Santiago, at the beginning of the trailer (below) for the tremendous documentary, Los Guardianes del Maíz / The Keepers of Corn, “Corn was not domesticated by man, man was domesticated by corn.”

Trailer for Los Guardianes del Maíz / The Keepers of Corn documentary.

Read Full Post »

Shadows — real and imagined

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Neighborhoods, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 12, 2023| Leave a Comment »

On the streets of my neighborhood…

Calle de Miguel Hidalgo, Barrio de Jalatlaco.
Calle de Ignacio Aldama, Barrio de Jalatlaco.

Papel picado creates delightful shadows — both real and imagined.

Read Full Post »

Back in Oaxaca

Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Neighborhoods, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on August 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »

I got out of Dodge (aka, San Diego) last Friday morning, August 18, 2023 — just in time. Happiness was missing the historic arrival in California of Tropical Storm Hilary. Whew!!!

August 19, 2023 – walking down 5 de mayo in Barrio de Jalatlaco on my way to buy produce at Xiguela.
August 19, 2023 – Evening wedding calenda in Barrio de Jalatlaco.
August 20, 2023 – mural seen on the way to Mercado de la Merced.
August 23. 2023 – View from the swimming pool of Hotel Victoria.

It’s good to be back.

Read Full Post »

Handwriting is on the wall

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 17, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Tomorrow, I return to the land where the handwriting is on the wall.

Expressing pride in the traditional floral embroidery (toninera) of San Antonino Castillo Velasco and their recycling efforts.
In San Pablo Villa de Mitla, “together we achieve a better town.”
In Oaxaca de Juárez, the handwriting doesn’t need translation.

Read Full Post »

Hummingbirds on the walls

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 8, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Life has been pretty good up here in el norte. The joy of having my whole family together has been immeasurable and the weather has been unusually, for this time of year in the San Francisco Bay Area, spectacular. (For those unaware of Northern California coastal weather, I give you the line attributed, albeit falsely, to Mark Twain, “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.”) Given the sun, blue sky, and warm temperatures, I’ve spent a lot of time outdoors — gardening, eating, and sitting watching the hummingbirds — just like Oaxaca! But I miss the colibries that also can be found on the walls of my neighborhood.

Artists: Seth Ruiz and Berza Remes
Artist: Oceane Isla Arte
Artist: Dulce Tamayo
Artist: Oceane Isla Arte
Artist: unknown

Read Full Post »

Maguey to mezcal to music

Posted in Beverages, Creativity, Culture, Music, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 29, 2023| 10 Comments »

From the streets of Oaxaca, maguey to mezcal in murals.

And then comes the music, “Dos Botellas de Mezcal” (Two Bottles of Mezcal).

Cheers! ¡Salud! ¡Dixeebe!

Read Full Post »

Peaceable kingdom calls for help

Posted in Animals, Creativity, Culture, Environment, Flora, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 23, 2023| 9 Comments »

The violent storms Oaxaca experienced in mid April brought down 30+ trees in the city, including one of her beloved old Indian laurels in Llano Park. And, when a tree falls in Oaxaca…

Left to right: Cuetzpalin/iguana; Coatl/serpiente/snake; Ocelotl/jaguar; Ozomatli/mono/monkey

Talented artist, Heriberto Castro López, grabbed his chainsaw and chisel and, with the blessings of the powers that be, turned the fallen tree into a public work of art, a language lesson, and a plea for help.

Cuauhtli/águila/eagle

A monkey, a jaguar, an eagle, a rabbit, an iguana, and there’s a snake in there somewhere — all animals iconic to Oaxaca — emerged.

Tochtli/conejo/rabbit

The animals seem appropriate, as Parque el Llano (aka, Paseo Juárez, El Llano de Guadalupe, and Alameda de Nezahualcoyotl) housed a zoo from 1945 to 1971 (dates not verified) — hence the gold painted lions at the four main entrances to the park.

Cuetzpalin/iguana

However, this time the animals aren’t confined to cages — they are free and calling on us to save this planet we all call home before it’s too late.

Many thanks to Heriberto Castro López for his “Llamado de Auxilio” gift to Oaxaca.

Read Full Post »

Honoring the mothers

Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 9, 2023| 7 Comments »

May 10 is Día de la Madre in Mexico and to honor the mothers, grandmothers, mother figures, and the daughters, whose future is in their hands, some recent murals seen in the city and countryside.

The celebration of Mother’s Day migrated south from the USA in the early 20th century and was embraced and promoted by the Catholic Church AND the anticlerical Revolutionaries. Their reasons being:

around the 1850s the Liberals… were nervous about women’s growing participation in the public sphere.  Establishing motherhood as venerable and the home as sanctified… would give women a sphere of their own where they could be boss.  Also, it would keep them off the streets and out of the workplace where they had begun to compete with men for jobs. Under their watch, everyday motherhood became an exalted madre-hood…. The twentieth-century Revolutionaries who succeeded them took the idea and ran with it, adding in 1922 a ritual, Mother’s Day. [Madre: Perilous Journeys with a Spanish Noun by Liza Bakewell, p. 84]

As for keeping them out of the workforce, according to a report citing the 2010 census, 33.3% of women work and this doesn’t even include those working in family operated enterprises. However distasteful the reasons behind the establishment of Mother’s Day in Mexico, it does nothing to diminish the need to honor these beautiful, hardworking, formidable, and loving women.

And to the girls and young women, may you be empowered by the strength and love of the maternal figures in your life to reach for the stars, live without fear, and be whatever you choose to be.

Read Full Post »

Jalatlaco prepares…

Posted in Celebrations, Churches, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Neighborhoods, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 6, 2023| 11 Comments »

Purple papel picado (actually, plastic) began appearing above streets a month ago. And, in the past few days, the atrium of Templo San Matías Jalatlaco has been decorated with olive trees, sheaves of wheat, and crosses embellished with flowers woven from the base of Sotol leaves.

Yesterday, Calle de Miguel Hidalgo in front of the church was closed to traffic and the Alfombristas Mexicanos colective from Huamantla, Tlaxcala began creating a beautiful tapete (rug) made of colored stones along the length the block.

Purple decorations can also be seen festooning the fronts of homes and businesses in the neighborhood.

You might ask, why all the purple? According to the Ecclesiastical Sewing website, purple symbolizes “the royalty of Christ, His passion and death for our sins, and the coming of spring.” For more of an explanation, click on the link to their website.

Read Full Post »

Strolling along Xicoténcatl

Posted in Buildings, Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , on January 25, 2023| 18 Comments »

One of the joys of living in Oaxaca de Juárez is being able to walk most everywhere I need to go. On this particular day, I headed 2 km. south to Veana Oaxaca Mayoreo in search of more plastic chairs for my terrace. Though the route, which took me down Calle de Xicoténcatl, wasn’t one I normally followed, nor along the most scenic and/or quaint of streets, it still had scenes to surprise and delight.

Given that my mission was successful, the young male sales clerk hoisted the six chairs I’d purchased and carried them half a block, where he set them down on the sidewalk at the next intersection, telling me this was the best location to hail a taxi. An empty taxi appeared within three minutes. More reasons why I love Oaxaca!

Read Full Post »

Ready for color

Posted in Creativity, Culture, Neighborhoods, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 13, 2023| 7 Comments »

It has now been almost a month of wind, rain, and fifty shades of grey skies and I am more than ready to return to the land of light and color. In the meantime, I’m channeling the murals of Oaxaca’s Barrio de Xochimilco — where even greys come with rainbows of color.

¡Hasta pronto Oaxaca!

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »