The walls of Oaxaca are speaking…
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Posts Tagged ‘wall art’
Signs of the times
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Politics, Travel & Tourism, tagged Donald Trump, Enrique Peña Nieto, graffiti, Mexico, murals, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, political art, popular travel destinations, street art, wall art on February 2, 2017| 2 Comments »
Missing the color
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged art, graffiti, Mexico, murals, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, street art, urban art, wall art on November 29, 2016| 12 Comments »
I’m still on the East Coast, now outside of Boston. It’s cold (not freezing, thank goodness), dark by 4:30 PM, and colors are bland. Today, as we dashed down an alley, dodging raindrops, from parking lot to restaurant, I caught a brief glimpse of a mural on the side of a building, but it seemed rather lackluster compared to the walls of Oaxaca.
Calle de Tinoco y Palacios, Oaxaca de Juárez — Oct. 31, 2016
Calle de Ignacio López Rayón, Oaxaca de Juárez — Nov. 9, 2016
Emiliano Zapata (corner of I. López Rayón), Oaxaca de Juárez — Nov. 9, 2016
While I LOVE (I think that’s what the last one says) seeing my family and appreciate (more than a little) paper towels that don’t disintegrate, drinking water from the tap, and plumbing that can handle toilet paper, I’m homesick for Oaxaca. Soon!
If the walls could talk…
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged Barrio de Jalatlaco, Mexico, Mose Allison, mural, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, street art, urban art, wall art, Your Mind Is On Vacation lyrics on November 17, 2016| 2 Comments »
The US election results had come in and, with mixed feelings, I was preparing for a trip up into the belly of the beast, to visit family. A mural seen shortly before I left, on the wall of contemporary art space La Curtiduria on 5 de mayo in Jalatlaco, seemed to speak to me.
Today, after hearing of the death of Mose Allison, another musical great I had the privilege of seeing in person several times, I’m thinking the wall could very well have been singing…
Your Mind Is On Vacation
by Mose Allison
You’re sitting there yakkin’ right in my face
I guess I’m gonna have to put you in your place
Y’know if silence was golden
You couldn’t raise a dime
Because your mind is on vacation and your mouth is
Working overtime
You’re quoting figures, you’re dropping names
You’re telling stories about the dames
You’re always laughin’ when things ain’t funny
You try to sound like you’re big money
If talk was criminal, you’d lead a life of crime
Because your mind is on vacation and your mouth is
Working overtime
You know that life is short and talk is cheap
Don’t be making promises that you can’t keep
If you don’t like the song I’m singing, just grin and
Bear it
All I can say is if the shoe fits wear it
If you must keep talking please try to make it rhyme
‘Cause your mind is on vacation and your mouth is working
Overtime
God and resistance…
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Education, Labor, Politics, tagged graffiti, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, street art, urban art, wall art on August 16, 2016| 2 Comments »
Murals seen in mid July on Garcia Vigil, between Independencia and Morelos. A month later, they have been painted over, but in Oaxaca, god and resistance never die…
The public school fall semester is scheduled to start Monday, August 22 and, as you can see from the Oaxaca-The Year After blog post, for good reason, no one is holding their breath.
So, while we wait, take a deep breath, exhale, and watch Lila Downs performing Dios Nunca Muere live HERE.
Hearts and flowers
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged Mainy-Dauer, Mexico, murals, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, street art, urban art, wall art on July 30, 2016| Leave a Comment »
A pause in the Guelaguetza action…
I was last on Callejón de Hidalgo about a month and a half ago and a new (to me) mural charmed me. I’ve been meaning to post photos, but there has been way too much going on and they got lost in the pictures shuffle.
Murals are usually a “no-go-zone” for graffiti. However, yesterday, walking with friends, I again found myself on that lovely little lane, but was dismayed to discover someone(s) had tagged Peter Cottontail and his tree-lined neighborhood with graffiti.
I don’t know who you are, Mainy-Dauer, but I want you to know your mural made be smile.
I’m glad I have the above photos to remember it by.
Let’s dance
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Education, Music, Protests, Travel & Tourism, tagged CNTE, graffiti, Let's Dance lyrics, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, protests, street art, Teachers union, urban art, wall art on July 1, 2016| 9 Comments »
Oaxaca quote of the day, as posted on Facebook by my friend and neighbor, J: “Antes, no salía sin checar el clima. Ahora no salgo sin checar los bloqueos.” Translation: “Before, I didn’t go out without checking the weather. Now, I don’t leave without checking for blockades.”
Mexico’s Interior Secretary, Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, is refusing further dialogue with the CNTE (teachers and education workers union) until the blockades are lifted, the CNTE is vowing to intensify its actions around the country, and rumor has it that masses of vacant hotel rooms in Oaxaca (thanks to large-scale cancellations) are being filled by federal police. There’s a dance going on in Oaxaca, I don’t know the steps, but in the meantime, let’s put on our red shoes and dance the blues.
Let’s Dance
by David Bowie
Let’s dance put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Let’s dance to the song
they’re playin’ on the radio
Let’s sway
while color lights up your face
Let’s sway
sway through the crowd to an empty space
If you say run, I’ll run with you
If you say hide, we’ll hide
Because my love for you
Would break my heart in two
If you should fall
Into my arms
And tremble like a flower
Let’s dance for fear
your grace should fall
Let’s dance for fear tonight is all
Let’s sway you could look into my eyes
Let’s sway under the moonlight,
this serious moonlight
If you say run, I’ll run with you
If you say hide, we’ll hide
Because my love for you
Would break my heart in two
If you should fall
Into my arms
And tremble like a flower
Let’s dance put on your red shoes
and dance the blues
Let’s dance to the song
they’re playin’ on the radio
Let’s sway you could look into my eyes
Let’s sway under the moonlight,
this serious moonlight
The morning after
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Education, Labor, Politics, tagged #OaxacaGrita, graffiti, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, protests, Seccion 22, stencil art, street art, urban art, wall art on June 20, 2016| 25 Comments »
It’s the morning after the day and night before — and I don’t even know where to begin.
The very short and immediate version is: Yesterday afternoon about 50 miles north of the city in Nochixtlán, six demonstrators were killed when federal police moved in to breakup a 5-day long blockade by Sección 22 of the teachers union on the main highway between here and Puebla. As the police moved toward the city, there was another battle about 8 miles north near San Pablo Etla, and then last night about 7:30 a helicopter began flying over the city, smoke rose from near the teachers’ encampment in the zócalo (about 4 blocks away), and shouting and explosions were heard. It was still going on when I fell asleep around midnight.
It’s Monday morning, but all was eerily quiet when I awoke. Very little traffic on my usually busy street and almost no buses to be seen or heard. Television news and local papers are hopeless, so I began monitoring five Facebook groups dedicated to blockades, demonstrations, traffic, etc. and Twitter for news.
Needing a few groceries (I know that seems to be a constant theme, but I don’t have a car here, so can only buy what I can carry) and wanting to see what went on last night, my neighbor and I ventured out onto the streets. The acrid smell of smoke was still evident and, at almost every intersection, beginning with the one half a block down our street, tires were still smoldering. The closer we got to the zócalo, the more graffiti and damage we saw.
Oxxo on Morelos at Garcia Vigil had been vandalized and was closed, the windows of Catedral had been broken but the restaurant was open, and all the ATMs in BanNorte had been damaged, but the tellers were in place and banking was being done. However, it’s like a Sunday morning, with few people on the streets.
The teachers’ plantón (encampment) on and surrounding the zócalo remains, but it was dirty and depressing and there were a couple of drunk guys, so we opted not to venture further. Instead, we continued east on Independencia, passing more broken windows, scrawled messages on walls denouncing the federal and state governments and warning all that it has only just begun.
If you want background and more detailed reports, you can check out posts from Oaxaca at http://elenemigocomun.net/. Yes, I know, it’s from the perspective of the teachers and protestors — I figure the “mainstream” media has got the government’s point of view covered.
Stencil photos were taken a few days ago on Garcia Vigil, between Independencia and Morelos. Yes, I did take photos this morning of the remnants of last night’s events, but I just can’t bring myself to post them. The mood is sad and wary — no one knows how and when this will end — and the ghosts of 2006 hang over the city.
Handwriting is on the wall
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Economics, Education, Politics, Protests, Travel & Tourism, tagged Asaro, educational reforms, graffiti, Jaguar Print, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, Seccíon xxII, Seccion 22, stencil art, street art, wall art on May 27, 2016| Leave a Comment »
… between Independencia and Morelos on Garcia Vigil.
That’s Mexico’s president Enrique Peña Nieto, backed by the military, leading the charge against the teachers’ union.
No to the education reform! Only books will draw this country away from barbarism.
My future is in your hands – No to the privatization of education!
To protest is not a crime – No to the education reform
Reforms: Energy – Education – Financial – Electoral – Labor
The occupation of the Zócalo continues; yesterday Sección XXII of the CNTE (teachers’ union) shut down the airport; today a federal helicopter is flying overhead as I write, no doubt keeping tabs on a mass march from the IEEPO (State Institute of Public Education) to the Zócalo; the extremely contentious election for governor of Oaxaca is June 5; Guelaguetza 2016 performances are July 25 and August 1; and the new school year is scheduled to begin in mid August. It could be a long hot summer…
Fool on the wall
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Music, Travel & Tourism, tagged Beku, graffiti, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, street art, The Fool On The Hill lyrics, urban art, wall art on May 23, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Day after day, alone on the [wall]
The man with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still…
The Fool On The Hill
by Paul McCartney and John Lennon
Day after day, alone on the hill
The man with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still
But nobody wants to know him
They can see that he’s just a fool
And he never gives an answer
But the fool on the hill
Sees the sun going down
And the eyes in his head
See the world spinning around
Well on the way, head in a cloud
The man of a thousand voices talking perfectly loud
But nobody ever hears him
Or the sound he appears to make
And he never seems to notice
But the fool on the hill
Sees the sun going down
And the eyes in his head
See the world spinning around
And nobody seems to like him
They can tell what he wants to do
And he never shows his feelings
But the fool on the hill
Sees the sun going down
And the eyes in his head
See the world spinning around
He never listens to them
He knows that they’re the fools
They don’t like him
The fool on the hill
Sees the sun going down
And the eyes in his head
See the world spinning around
Cultural callejón
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Religion, Travel & Tourism, tagged artists, Barrio Cayo Hueso, Callejón de Hamel, Cuba, Habana, Havana, murals, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, religious imagery, Salvador González Escalona, Santería, street art, wall art on May 9, 2016| 6 Comments »
Back to Havana… and the colorful and captivating Callejón de Hamel, in Barrio Cayo Hueso. (For a more in depth and fascinating history of this neighborhood, see Neighborhood as Refuge: Community Reconstruction, Place Remaking, and Environmental Justice in the City by Isabelle Anguelovski.)
It was our first full day and serendipity and synchronicity brought us Dayan, an enthusiastic guide with boundless energy and pride.
Without hesitation, Dayan immediately made a beeline to this alley — the creation of self-taught artist, Salvador González Escalona. It is a living, breathing gallery and studio, where artists were welding and painting as we stopped to watch and wonder at their creations.
The cultural character of this community cannot be separated from its religious traditions and practices — a syncretism of African religions brought by slaves and Catholicism brought by the Spanish conquerors. Salvador Gonzáles Escalona explains, “I am talking about the religion known as Santería, which comes from the Yorubas; Palo Monte, which comes from the Congo; Abakuá, which has to do with Calabar [the Cross River Delta in Nigeria]; and maybe some manifestations of spiritism, a cultural expression of working class people, the ordinary folks in our country.”
Callejón de Hamel is also home to a vibrant musical scene. “In this alley many years ago, in the 40’s, a cuban musical movement was born, known as ‘filin,’ songs of feeling, with our friend Angelito Díaz and his now deceased father, Tirso Díaz. There were figures such as Elena Burque, the late Moraima Secada, aunt of Jon Secada, Omara Portuondo [featured in Buena Vista Social Club], César Portillo de la Luz, and many others.” — Salvador Gonzáles
On Sundays, around noon, the street comes alive with musicians, dancers, and the sights and sounds of Cuban rumba. Alas, around that time, we were in the midst of changing hotels. Next time, for sure!
No place like home
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Markets, Travel & Tourism, tagged 20 de noviembre mercado, art, Aves Sin Paraíso, El pasillo de las carnes asadas, food, graffiti, Mexico, murals, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, stencil art, street art, students, urban art, wall art on May 2, 2016| 4 Comments »
A pause in the Cuba coverage to echo Dorothy, “There’s no place like home” — especially if that home is Oaxaca. I needed (yes, needed!) chocolate and coffee and, thus, headed toward the Benito Juárez and 20 de noviembre mercados. As always, even just a grocery shopping trip is a feast for the senses.
First, a calenda on Calle Independencia of students, academics, and workers to launch the registration of candidates for rector of Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca (UAJBO).
A peek into el pasillo de las carnes asadas (ahhh, the smells) in 20 de noviembre mercado, while waiting for my chocolate guy to finish with other customers.
A look at the finished murals (and merchandise) in a newly opened shop at Calle Macedonia Alcalá 100.
Stopping to gaze up at the “Aves Sin Paraíso” exhibition above the Alcalá.
Almost back to Casita Colibrí, a new stencil at the corner of Morelos and Tinoco y Palacios.
By the way, I got the chocolate, but couldn’t find my coffee guy in the maze of temporary stalls set up on the streets surrounding the Benito Juárez mercado (it’s undergoing a much-needed renovation). There’s always mañana — I’m not completely out, yet.
Walls of Oaxaca
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged art, graffiti, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, stickers, street art, urban art, wall art on April 24, 2016| Leave a Comment »
The murals may be disappearing, but the walls of Oaxaca continue to radiate with messages.
Oaxaca, never a dull moment and never a dull wall.
All against Dengue
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Health, Signs, Travel & Tourism, tagged Chikungunya, community education, Dengue, Dengue vaccine, education, health, Mexico, mosquitoes, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, wall art, Zika on April 4, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Mosquito borne diseases like Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika continue to plague the planet. Today’s good news is a Dengue vaccine proves 100% effective in human trials. Let’s hope so!
In the meantime, understand the life cycle of mosquitoes and follow the instructions on a wall in Tlacolula de Matamoros…
Wash, cover, turn over, and eliminate!
Love and language
Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged Día del Amor y la Amistad, graffiti, hearts, indigenous languages, International Mother Language Day, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, street art, urban art, Valentine's Day, wall art on February 14, 2016| 2 Comments »
Because today is Valentine’s Day and International Mother Language Day is coming up on February 21, learn to say “I love you” in 7 of the 69 indigenous languages spoken in Mexico — including Zapoteco, Mixteco, and a couple of other languages of Oaxaca.
¡Feliz Día del Amor y Amistad! Happy Day of Love and Friendship!
Call me, maybe
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged graffiti, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, street art, telephones, urban art, wall art on November 10, 2015| Leave a Comment »
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