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Published: January 2nd 2014
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We arrived in Oaxaca city on Friday after an eventful journey from San Cristobal. Opting for the overnight bus we thought we could save a night’s accommodation and not lose a day. Sadly, at least for Helen, this did not quite go to plan as she suffered motion sickness during the journey and did not get any rest. As we had taken advantage of empty seats we were not sat together so the first I heard of her illness was when we were woken at 7am by a rifle-carrying army officer who had boarded our bus. We had hit an army roadblock, everyone had to leave the bus and be searched for drugs. It turned out to be less intimidating than it sounds. The search was cursory and designed I think to serve more as a deterrent; nonetheless I can think of more desirable ways to be woken.
The premature awakening did give us the opportunity to see the fantastic landscape of Oaxaca state though (Oaxaca is pronounced wa-ha-ca).
The city is set in a valley and surrounded by rolling hills, cactus and circling turkey vultures. We had been advised to come to Oaxaca by nearly every other traveller
we have met and as it is on the way to Mexico City it seemed silly not to heed the recommendations. Famous for its food and art, Oaxaca has a very colonial feel and of all the places we have visited it has been the cleanest and has felt the safest. (I should note that everywhere has generally felt safe)
Helen travels for food so I’ll leave her the pleasure of describing Oaxaca’s culinary delights. It is true though, the food is very good, as is the art.
Galleries can be found throughout the whole city, the main ones are on Alcala but after a little exploring we found many other smaller galleries representing Mexican painters and sculptures. On Saturday evening we even stumbled upon an exhibition opening of two artists who painted with cochineal pigment which is secreted from the cochineal beetle.
The colour is a deep imperial red colour and is quite striking. It’s actually been used as a dye for centuries and although I had read about it I had never seen it used in contemporary painting.
Having worked in the art business I am not unfamiliar with exhibition openings and this one
was not much different except the wine was replaced with Mescal. Rather than drinking it like a shot, as we would at home, Mescal (and tequila for that matter) is meant to be 'kissed' or sipped. Fortunately we were aware of this and avoided a cultural faux pas. I’m pleased we stumbled upon the gallery; it was nice to get involved and mix with the locals who made us feel very welcome.
(The gallery was called
Armenta y López and the artists were Samuel Rojas & Edgar Jahir)
The contemporary galleries of Oaxaca are intermixed with museums, cultural centres and photography galleries. However I found the folk art of most interest which can be found everywhere, although it is worth looking around as some are better quality than others.
I particularly liked the skeletal figures dressed in elaborate outfits and the wooden Alebrije sculptures made from copal wood and intricately hand painted in bright colours. Most of the Alebrije are relatively modern imagined creatures, some like dragons or lizards with men’s faces and others like rabbits or dogs with accentuated features but probably the most famous of the sculptures is the Chupacabra. A hideous mythical beast famous
in Mexico and parts of central and South America not unlike big foot is in northern part of this continent. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of a Chupacabra sculpture but some examples can be seen here:
http://photobucket.com/images/chupacabra?page=1 I quite like the idea that a modern culture can still imagine mythical beasts and incorporate them with pride into contemporary folk lore. I know this happens with movies, comic books etc… but somehow the way the Mexicans do it seems more innocent and fun. As recently as 2011 a new Alebrije was unveiled in Mexico city to celebrate Mexican folk art.
Here’s some links about the Alebrijes in Mexico:
http://negocios.promexico.gob.mx/english/08-2012/lifestyleFigures/art03.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alebrije
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