“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” George Bernard Shaw

emember when you were a kid and you could just sit down and color a scene from your summer vacation without constantly worrying if it was any good? I’m not sure why we are encouraged to stop doing things unlessR we are great at them. I think when it comes to creativity we need to have a high threshold for mediocrity. As a secret writer I often try to do the math- how many horrible short stories equals one I am not too embarrassed to let someone read? A lot!

I am always awed when I see the early sketches of some great masterpiece. It is so much more interesting than letting the final product stand alone. Any great accomplishment has trial runs and failures as its foundation.

I am so grateful to the people in my life who pursue artistic dreams; the writers, the painters, the actors and musicians who keep creating. As we kick off this high season, I look forward to seeing the events that will unfold.

This past year we lost two people who did a great deal to propel the arts in Huatulco. One was artist Jim Spicka who, along with his wife Mary, organized an annual art Editor: Jane Bauer show of local talent. We also lost my dear friend Copy Editor: Deborah Van Hoewyk Carminia Magaña, founder of Amigos de la Musica and Web Goddess: Erin Vig an early contributor at The Eye. Be sure to get to the Amigos de la Musica concert on November 15th. Writers: Jane Bauer, Julie Etra, Jan Chaiken, Marcia Chaiken, Brooke Gazer, MJ Kelly, Oscar Without a doubt Huatulco is a wonderful place to Olivos, Jed Pitman, Carole Reedy, Alvin vacation and live but the thing that gives it chispa are the Starkman, Deborah Van Hoewyk, Kary Vannice people in our community who embrace the importance of artistic endeavors. A huge thank you to the writers and contributors of The Eye and to those who organize Cover Vector: Victor Tongdee concerts, art shows and film screenings. Thank you to the artists and writers behind closed doors creating the Photography/Art: masterpieces of tomorrow. Various Artists

This month our writers explore the arts, profiling well- Distribution: Renee Biernacki, Maggie Winter known artists like Francisco Toledo and local talents like Layout: Jane Bauer Carolina Schwartz. is a wealth of talent and holds creativity in high regard as evidenced by its museums, Opinions and words are those of the authors and festivals and public art. do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Eye. If you are resident or visitor seek out and support our community events. I also encourage you to create; paint, We welcome submissions and input. sing, write- don’t be discouraged by the failures- they To get involved send us an email. mean you are on your way! [email protected]

See you next month, Visit Us Online www.TheEyeHuatulco.com Jane The Eye 3 In This Issue Gilberto Bosques Saldívar and Refugee Immigration to Mexico By Julie Etra Page 6

Mexico's National Museum of Art By Brooke Gazer Page 8

The Art of Reading By Carole Reedy Page 12

Celebrity Entrepreneurship Impacts Oaxaca: Mezcal is Breaking Bad By Alvin Starkman, M.A., J.D. Page 16

Nature in Art By Jed Pitman Page 18

Francisco Toledo 1940 – 2019 By Julie Etra Page 22

Teatro Visión By Marcia Chaiken and Jan Chaiken Page 28

Camino Copalita By Jane Bauer Page 30

Carminia Magaña By MJ Kelly and Oscar Olivos Page 30

From Ancient Culture to Antique Kitsch: Mexican Feather Art By Deborah Van Hoewyk Page 34

Memoria de Luz By Kary Vannice Page 38

EDITORIAL PAGE 3 UPCOMING EVENTS PAGE 26 www.TheEyeHuatulco.com

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By Julie Etra

irst and foremost, I want On June 22, 1940, fell to to thank my friend and G e r m a n y , a n d t h e V i c h y fellow The Eye writer government was installed. The L i n d a K e l l e y f o r Vichy government, in collaboration with the Germans, began rounding introducing me to Clara up Jews and deporting them to VFaldes Hernandez, an excellent concentration camps. Although educator who focuses on Mexican Bosques initially fled, he returned culture and history, rather than to establish the Mexican consulate grammar and phraseology, in her in Marseille. He rented a castle and Spanish classes for her English- summer camp to house the speaking students. Without Linda refugees and claimed under and Clara, I would never have known international law that the property about this remarkable, unrenowned, constituted Mexican territory and and underappreciated Mexican. As a was therefore immune from Vichy governance and its policies. The homework assignment from Clara, Mexican government provided w e w e r e t o w a t c h t h e 2 0 1 0 shelter, food, medical treatment, documentary Visa al Paraíso. and even entertainment. Directed by Lillian Lieberman, a Mexican of Jewish descent, this Bosques began issuing expedited documentary tells the story of visas to Jews, leaders of the Bosques, a Mexican diplomat, who Austrian and French Resistance, saved approximately 40,000 Jews and Spaniards fleeing the fascist and Spaniards from execution by the Franco regime. He exceeded Third Reich and Francoist Spain by instructions given to him by Cárdenas, as any refugee who issuing them visas to Mexico. approached him would get a letter from the Mexican consulate saying Bosques was born on July 20, 1892, that he or she had a Mexican visa. in Chiautla de Tapia, Mexico, a mountain village in the state of Records are conflicting; some sources report that Bosques . He died on July 4, 1995, in Mexico City at 102 years of persuaded the Mexican government to send ships to the age. Bosques was very active politically; at 17, he fought in the French coast to transport refugees to Mexico, but at the time Mexican Revolution under the command of Aquiles Serdán (the Mexico had no ships and little revenue. Some refugees were first martyr/casualty of the Revolution), which began in sent to the French colonies in North Africa, mostly Casablanca, Puebla. He was a staunch promoter of public education, a and from there took French ships to the island of Martinique in major tenet of the Mexican Revolution. Prior to becoming a the Caribbean and then on to Mexico. career diplomat, he was a journalist and state legislator. In In 1943, German forces invaded and occupied the compound, 1938 he oversaw the Mexican government's newspaper, El arresting refuges awaiting departure to Mexico. Bosques and Nacional. his family, as well as 40 consular staff, were later arrested by the Gestapo and detained as prisoners in Germany for a year. Following the outbreak of WWII and the fall of the Spanish They were released after the new Mexican President Manuel republic in 1939, Bosques was appointed Mexico's Consul Ávila Camacho imprisoned German citizens in Mexico and General to Paris, France, by then President Lázaro Cárdenas. then arranged a prisoner swap, and Bosques returned to Bosques was originally mandated to protect Mexicans trapped Mexico. in Spain; as the Nazi onslaught became more apparent, his mission was expanded to save as many people as possible After the war, he served as the Mexican Ambassador to several countries, including Portugal, Finland, Sweden, and Cuba. fleeing the Nazi horror and the fall of Spain to the fascist His heroism was never recognized during his lifetime. dictator Francisco Franco Bahamondein (aka Franco) and Recognition began in 2003, when the City Hall of Vienna, grant them Mexican citizenship. Cárdenas supported the together with the Mexican Embassy and the Raoul Wallenberg Spanish republic against the supporters of Franco, who Foundation, dedicated a boulevard to Bosques. The included Hitler and Mussolini. On March 18, 1938, Cárdenas "Promenade Gilberto Bosques" was inaugurated on June 4, signed an order expropriating the assets of nearly all of the 2003, with Bosques' daughters, Laura and Maria Teresa, in foreign oil companies operating in Mexico, which were mostly attendance. In 2007 a photographic exhibition in his honor American. Being preoccupied with implementation of this was presented at the Jewish and Holocaust History Museum in order, among other complicated aspects of governance, the Condesa neighborhood in Mexico City; the exhibit traveled Cárdenas mostly left Bosques to his own devices to carry out to Xalapa, Veracruz, in 2008; in that same year, the Anti- Defamation League honored Bosques with its Courage to Care his government's wishes. Award. In Visa al Paraíso, Ms. Liberman interviews 16 people, among them his daughter, people whom Bosques saved, and The Eye 6 historians. 12 Exclusive Designer Homes Starting at 240 USD -24 hour security -HOA only 125 USD -Large swimming pool -BBQ area -Palapa Area -Shade and very pristine gardens -Gated and private entry -close to all stores and downtown

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By Brooke Gazer

exico City has numerous museums and The most important element of this exhibit is that on galleries, so if you are passing through on your Christmas Day of 1783, King Charles III of Spain issued a way to the coast, why not stop to explore this “Royal Card” establishing the first school dedicated to training treasure-trove of art and culture? The centrally artists in the Americas. Unfortunately, the Academy of the located Museo Nacional de Arte (National Noble Arts of San Carlos imported European teachers, who not MuseumM of Art), now called MUNAL, can easily be incorporated only promoted styles and themes firmly established in Europe, into your itinerary. It's easy to spot, with an enormous they also gave preference to foreign born artists. equestrian statue of King Charles IV of Spain out in front. First Floor Exhibits The permanent collection of over 3000 pieces takes you on a It was not until after the War of Independence that a true unique journey through Mexico's history of art. The staff do not Mexican identity in painting began to develop; in the latter part speak much English, but with signage in both Spanish and of the nineteenth century, a unique style of landscapes was English, you should have no trouble understanding the solidified. For me, this is where the work becomes interesting significance of each display. and these works can be found in the first floor.

Second-Floor Exhibits Eugenio Landesio (1810 – 79) was an Italian-born painter who The exhibit begins on the second floor with art of the sixteenth- significantly influenced Mexican art. He taught that a century colonial era. The collection has two main aspects. The composition required two separate elements. The first first shows predominantly religious works that represent the comprised the location (sky, foliage, fields, water, buildings) adoption of the styles and subjects current in European The second equally important element included an episode or painting, while the second aspect is the museum's collection of story. This usually involved groups of people to give the paintings done after the Mexican War of Independence (1810 – landscape a sense of scale, but it also provided a narrative 21) that depict the creation of the Mexican state. interest. The Valley of Mexico from Tenayo Hill (1870) is a perfect example. A group of picnickers in the foreground Most of the religious works are by European painters (Flemish, provide perspective to the immensity of the plains and the Spanish, Italian) brought over to fill new Christian cathedrals mountains beyond. But the figures also provide another and churches with religious paintings, murals, and screens. dimension, drawing you into an intimate family setting and The first artist of Mexican descent who appears in MUNAL's portraying an historical place in time. Landesio's time at the collection is Luis Juárez (1585 – 1639), who emulated the work Academy was short (1873 – 75), but he transformed the of Baltasar Echave de Orio, a Basque painter who had come to concept of landscape painting into a higher art form among Mexico; Juárez's painting of Christ praying in the garden of Mexican artists. Gethsemane (La oración en el huerto, no date) is considered one of his best works. One of his promising pupils, José María Velasco, went on to become Mexico's foremost teacher of the next generation. He The historical paintings range from scenes of pre-Hispanic life elevated Mexican landscape painting to international or Columbus and colonial activities, to portrayals of Mexican standing. Patio of the Ex-convent of San Agustín (1860) is a customs and ceremonies, along with early landscapes romantic depiction of everyday activity inside the ex-convent (volcanoes make several appearances). It is in this section that walls; women doing laundry communally, a horse being we begin to see more Mexican painters, and much of the work attached to pull a cart, and men carrying bundles. Later in the seeks to establish a Mexican identity, although still driven by nineteenth century, technological advances sometimes appear European ideas and techniques. in Velasco's work. The Metlac Ravine (1881) is a powerful illustration of a locomotive dissecting a pastoral landscape. The Eye 8 In the early part of the twentieth century (1910 – 21), Mexico suffered through a long and bloody revolution, basically a civil war that some estimates say claimed up to 3.5 million lives. During the aftermath, the Secretary of Public Education was tasked with reconstructing a national unity in a country that had been torn apart. To this end, he promoted Mexican modernism, a school of art that married Mexico's pre-Hispanic past and agricultural roots with developing industry. He encouraged scenes of everyday life and themes idealizing social justice; this type of art was intended to communicate the alma nacional (national soul). (958) 581 0265 [email protected] Many artists are part of Mexican modernism, including the internationally known muralists Diego Rivera, José Clemente www.bbaguaazul.com Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros, whose work tends to eclipse other modernist art and artists. While MUNAL has wonderful non-mural work by these three, it shows a much wider range of modernists. One fascinating artist is the short- lived Mexican-Swiss Saturnino Ferrán Guinchard (1887 – 1918), who was Diego Rivera's teacher at one point, and formed the Society of Mexican Painters and Sculptors with Orozco. Ferrán's work focused on purely Mexican themes, with special attention to painting indigenous peoples with strength, Huatulco’s dignity, and beauty; his style of painting, however, still embodied European influences. Frozen Yogurt Architecture This museum holds a wealth of art history, but the architecture is another reason to put it on your list of things to see. Constructed between 1904 – 1911, the exterior is a fine Gardenia Street example of the Neoclassical period. This is characterized by a grandeur of scale, simplicity of geometric forms, and the La Crucecita dramatic use of columns. Over time, the building deteriorated (2 blocks from the church) but in 1982, the National Museum of Art was founded. By Open 3pm-10pm 2000, restoration of this palatial building was completed, along Closed Mondays with upgrades in technology to preserve the art housed here.

In contrast to the building's relatively austere exterior, the interior holds an eclectic mixture of styles. Entering, you are greeted with an elaborate pair of curving marble staircases encased in extravagantly cast bronze balusters; each is flanked with a bronze lion at the base, High above the stairs is a marble frieze with ornately carved wood inset with Rococo paintings. The Reception Hall and the Patio de los Leones are two highly decorated spaces where events, lectures, films, and concerts are regularly presented. Many of these are free. You can check their website below for details.

Brooke Gazer operates Agua Azul la Villa, an ocean-view B&B in Huatulco. www.bbaguaazul.com Marina Park Plaza Open daily 11am- 11pm MUNAL – National Museum of Art Chahue, Huatulco Tel. 958 117 4502 Calle de Tacuba 8, Centro Histórico CDMX Hours: 10 am – 5:30 pm; Closed Mondays, December 25, January 1 Guided tours: 2 – 4 pm www.munal.mx/en/visita Admission: $70 MXN General Admission $5 MXN photography permit $30 MXN video permit

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Starting Pre-sale Pricing [email protected] Cel: 958 174 2212 The Art of Reading “Art is too diffuse, too vital. It's always growing and changing.” Calvin Tomkins (New Yorker staffer and art critic) on the reason one cannot define art By Carole Reedy

or whatever reasons you pick up a book – to allow Fleishman Is in Trouble: A Novel, by Taffy Brodesser- your mind to wander, to gaze, daydream, laugh, cry, Akner or seethe with anger or joy while ensconced in it – This debut novel, a finalist for the National these are essential elements that make reading an Book Award for Fiction, surprises in myriad art and imagination the vehicle. Today I present my ways. Brodesser-Akner takes us on a journey top-tenF reads of 2019, though not all were written during this that evolves and shifts as the chapters year. The list is a mixture of fiction and nonfiction that will progress, allowing one's mind to form new satisfy, I hope, the tastes of all readers of The Eye. ways of thinking about universal problems. It could be called a family saga of the 21st The first two books on this list, Milkman and Say Nothing, are century, but it is rather a statement on the fiction and nonfiction respectively, each in its own way status of women. analyzing the history and effects of the “troubles” in Northern Ireland in the 1960s and beyond. There There, by Tommy Orange

You not need be of American Indian descent, Milkman: A Novel, by Anna Burns or even from the US, to appreciate the Burns, the first author from Northern Ireland to insightful, vivid description of the plight of win the Booker Prize for Fiction (2018), captures native Indians in the 21st century. My British the reader from the very start with her breakout and Mexican friends were equally surprised to novel, Milkman. Some readers and critics were find that this reads as a universal novel. put off by a style that does not give proper names to the characters, instead identifying them by The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford their roles. For those who appreciate this technique, which contributes to the overall fear English Dictionary, by Simon Winchester created in and for the reader, it is essential. Few I couldn't resist picking up this Winchester readers will not be swept up in the descriptive, book about the making of the Oxford English frightening, isolated landscape Burns creates. Dictionary after the satisfying experience of reading his The Professor and the Madman (recently made into an excellent movie Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in starring Sean Penn and Mel Gibson, both Northern Ireland, by Patrick Radden Keefe outstanding in their respective roles). This One might call this a history of the “troubles,” version of the story is more detailed with but it is surely more than that. Not only are the regard to the main character, James Murray, sources complete, reliable, and varied, but the and his stamina over the years as he creates author portrays the main figures involved in a this most famous of world resources. detailed, nonjudgmental manner, thus creating the ambiance and tension of the times. The The Library Book, by Susan Orlean structure of the research leads us to think we're reading a murder mystery and the pace is A “must” not just for lovers of libraries, but for perfect for this rather long tome. To be honest, all readers. Every wonderful thing about and a bit trite, you can't put it down! Say Nothing is a finalist libraries is explored and described in this for the National Book Award for Nonfiction. book. In addition, there's a story line about a fire at the Los Angeles Library and its supposed perpetrator. I have loved reading Berta Isla: A Novel, by Javier Marías Orlean ever since The Orchid Thief left me in My favorite author has written his best yet. I say awe of orchids and their explorers … and of this not because of any change of style or her. philosophy of the writer, but rather because of the plot. I found the story totally satisfying in The Overstory: A Novel, by Richard Powers every way, especially the end with its unexpected twist. Marías is a master of diversion and precise I list this as one of my favorites not so much for language and thus his writing always fascinates. my emotional attachment to the plot or characters, but because it was a compelling and different way to understand climate Quichotte, by Salman Rushdie change and the importance of trees. There are Yes, a modern-day Don Quixote, told by the quirky characters and a plot in this novel that master of story-telling. I laughed from get you through the lengthy discussion of trees beginning to end and, as always, was in awe of and nature. It may sound clichéd, but I think it Rushdie's intricate take on the timeless legend is a necessary read for our times. and complex characters returned to life in this new century.

The Eye 12 Parallels and Paradoxes: Explorations in Music and Society, by Daniel Barenboim and Edward W. Said Barenboim, the Argentinian-Israeli pianist, conductor, and music director, and Said, the P a l e s t i n i a n - A m e r i c a n a c a d e m i c a n d literary/social critic, co-founded the West- Eastern Divan Orchestra to bring together young Arab and Israeli musicians. Close friends, they conducted a Carnegie Hall Talk in 1999, of their thoughts about music, politics, and clture, from Wagner to Israel, Bayreuth, Beethoven, Dickens, and Toscanini, to name just a few.

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Contact us to reserve your spot: [email protected] cel: 958 174 2212 Celebrity Entrepreneurship Impacts Oaxaca: Mezcal is Breaking Bad

By Alvin Starkman, M.A., J.D.

t's not uncommon for movie and TV stars as well as famous musicians to pass through Oaxaca, either to the state capital to get a dose of culture, or to a Pacific beach resort such as Huatulco or Puerto Escondido for pure relaxation. Remember the 1950s and 60s when Acapulco wasI in its heyday, with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., John Wayne, Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley and Johnny Weissmuller? They made the resort town, and generated billions (millions at the time) for Mexico.

So why is it that, after their 2018 visit to Oaxaca, Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston, stars of the Breaking Bad TV series, are receiving blowback from many of the mezcal pundits for having embarked upon creating their own brand of the agave distillate, Dos Hombres? Should we not be lauding Jesse and Mr. White for having drawn attention to Oaxaca and showcased mezcal to many who had previously not even heard of it, or our state?

Well, judging from the online criticism by those who are purportedly in the know (that is the mezcal “experts,” geeks, aficionados and even some brand owners), celebrities who understand very little about mezcal have no business intruding on the secret mezcal society and lining their already golden pockets by feeding off the hardworking indigenous Oaxacans who produce the spirit. Certainly their objection would extend to George Clooney, Wayne Gretzky, Dan Aykroyd, and all the other stars who have entered the alcohol business.

But should we not take a step back and more closely examine this case on its merits, prior to lumping them all together as bad actors? Let's do that. You're either living or vacationing in one of the poorest two states in all Mexico. Just look around you, a little closer than you might otherwise do. Oaxaca is culturally rich (perhaps why you're here), yet the underbelly is economically poor. We have agriculture, and we have tourism, both subject to financial peaks and valleys impacting the state's wellbeing. The former is subject to climate and international markets, and the latter to fear-mongering by foreign governments and journalists.

The “mezcal boom” is increasingly driving the economy, with many visitors to the state arriving as if making a pilgrimage to Mezcal learn about their new favorite spirit. Some travel to Oaxaca to Educational Excursions of Oaxaca TM/MR start their own brands, still others to photograph (e.g., www.galleriaspike.com/oaxacan-mezcaleros) and to While in the state capital, learn about this century's document for TV, the big screen, and podcasts most coveted spirit by spending a day with recognized (www.alasdairbaverstock.com/news/2019/5/20/mezcal- authority Alvin Starkman. Visit rural artisanal the-fine-line-between-tradition-and-profit). This means more revenue generated for lodgings, restaurants, crafts, tour distilleries (palenques) using both ancestral clay pot companies, and the list goes on. Some of it inevitably filters and traditional copper stills. For novices and down to folks at the lower rungs of the socio-economic scale. aficionados alike. Sample throughout your excursion Yet much of the world still does not even know what mezcal is! with no obligation to buy. www.mezcaleducationaltours.com The Eye 16 [email protected] Enter Breaking Bad. Some fans of the show, or even of the long gone Malcolm in the Middle or Seinfeld (remember recurring character Dr. Tim Whatley?), who until now have never even heard of the spirit, perhaps out of mere curiosity will pick up a Marina Chahue, Huatulco bottle of Dos Hombres. Inevitably many will like it, perhaps for Tel. 958 105 1671 its relatively low percentage of alcohol (42% ABV), which may remind them of the tequilas or other spirits in that range, or for Cel. 958 100 7339 its nose, flavor and finish. Of those, many will continue to Closed Mondays purchase it, others will then try other similar brands, yet others will have had their interest in mezcal piqued for the first time. And some will graduate to more “traditional” mezcals of a higher ABV, the agave distillates that the pundits regularly evaluate and critique. Join Us for Brunch! Cocktail bars will be hard-pressed not to stock Dos Hombres, even though their bartenders and mixologists may object due Sundays 9am- 3pm to little more than snobbism. After all, the anti-Hombres movement began the day Cranston and Paul unveiled their mezcal, without the experts even having sampled the spirit. And yet it's okay to mix margaritas and negronis with mezcals blended from different distilleries.

In the end the imbibing public will rule, and Dos Hombres will be a staple on the shelves. And that will significantly contribute to the mezcal industry, and more significantly for the purpose of this thesis, to the economy of the state of Oaxaca. How can it not? Just as spirits aficionados have flocked to Oaxaca to seek other brands, spending their pesos as fast as they can get them out of their pockets, so too will they stampede, most for the first time, because of Dos Hombres. Remember Acapulco.

My bias out in the open, I worked with Paul and Cranston for a couple of days last year, teaching them about the spirit and www.cafejuanitamexico.com attempting to assist with brand development. However, I have not even sampled their final product - but that's irrelevant, because some will like it, others will not … just as happens with the brands gauged by the mezcal geeks.

Put motivation out of your mind. We live in a capitalist society. Who are we to assume that their only reason for embarking upon their mezcal project is to earn money? And even if it is, so what? Should we not be as critical of silent (or not-so-silent) investors with purely financial interests in the traditional clay- and copper-distilled brands we covet? Perhaps Paul and Amazing Coffee Cranston also have an altruistic motive for their business Specialty Cocktails venture. Should we not look more to the positives of Dos Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Hombres for the state, the communities in which mezcal is Fresh Natural Ingredients produced, and the hard-working families who grow and cut the Accommodate Dietary Requests agave, then bake, crush, ferment and distill? If we keep mezcal Air Conditioning as a secret society, rather than promote it for all, we hold back Outdoor Lounge the amelioration of Oaxaca's economy.

Alvin Starkman operates Mezcal Educational Calle Mixteco Excursions of Oaxaca (between Hotel Galería del Ángel and Chedraui) (www.mezcaleducationaltours.com). Open Daily: 7:00 am - 10:00 pm

Calle Zapoteco 26 Chahue, Huatulco Tel: 958 587 2480 www.edencosta.com The Eye 17 Nature in Art By Jed Pitman Art for me is about freedom. It's how I express outwardly what is inside me. It helps me connect with people I have not met but ones who I know I will meet in the future. My jewellery connects me to people in a profound way.

hese are the words of local artist and Carolina is seemingly oblivious to my new jewellery maker, Carolina Schwarz. artistic self as she said, “When I start on a new I was perhaps not the best person to design, it is like the pieces talk to me and it is my interview Carolina, as my own job to create a harmony between each piece. It personal knowledge of anything may be that I am aware of what I am going to aTrtistic is several notches beneath zero. create before I start, but more often than not, it Drawing a stick man is as difficult for me as it all comes together as I work with my open mind. was for Michelangelo when splashing some Some take a lot of time and concentration while colour on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. In for others it is like an explosion within me. I fact, when a former girlfriend of mine once think of my creations as my sons and mentioned the words “engagement” and daughters. When they are finished and have “'ring,” I got her two front row seats at a boxing been born into this world, I can see their match. So, to put it mildly, myself and Carolina personalities but what makes it so exciting is are antonyms. when a person sees a piece for the first time and adds their own personality to it. At the same time, I am still very interested in creating what I But to learn about art is something else, as suppose has become my classic product, Carolina was soon proving. “I started making necklaces using healing stones.” jewellery 25 years ago, soon after arriving in Mexico from Argentina. When I was very young, I used to pick up anything, get a feel for These are something I know about and before it and make something from it with my hands. I too long, I am wearing several pieces. I learn realised that I had an inbuilt connection with about the importance of chakras in art and am minerals. I read books about minerals and the soon telling my friends about nadis – different energies they have and this is sushumnas, idas and pingalas. And as I write something I have carried through my life.” I this, I am on the phone to the Apostolic Palace. nodded through this with a solid amount of Apparently, Michelangelo's The Last Judgment incredulity. But she continued. needs a touch up. “On arriving in this country, I used all the natural resources around me. I always paid Carolina's shop is on Calle Chacah, 412, in La attention to nature and its all-consuming Crucecita. Her work can also be viewed on beauty, so natural materials like shells and Facebook (“maicadesigns”), Instagram oxidized coins I found buried in the sand. I (“maicadesigns”) and Tripadvisor (“Maica Silver began to open my mind so I could connect & C o n t e m p o r a r y B i j o u x ” ) . L o o k f o r further with nature and to then show other Maicadesigns. people its immense beauty.”

“What? Sorry, please continue.” “Colours are of prime importance to me, the harmony between colour and different shapes and textures which I blend with my own passions, my soul, my emotions, my thoughts. But I also have the faith that when someone sees my work, they can have an inner feeling towards it, a unique and sometimes a very deep connection with it. When someone sees a piece of my jewellery, I want to make them think about nature and about their own inner complexities. I am not a person who follows fashion. I prefer to think about souls and so look to create pieces that break all concepts of fashion or style. It is what I call urban art, using Mexico as my inspiration.”

Aaah, up pricked my ears. I, too, am not a follower of fashion. I still wear either platform boots or spats and enjoy dining on powdered egg. Perhaps there is some yang in my yin after all. By this stage, I notice that I am starting to doodle and I find it a doddle.

The Eye 18 Chiles&Chocolate Cooking Classes Huatulco, Oaxaca The best way to learn about a culture is through its food. www.HuatulcoCookingClasses.com

Morning Activities Evening Activities

TUESDAY- Seafood TUESDAY- Frida’s Favorites- -Seafood Fritter with Chipotle dishes inspired by Frida Kahlo -Shrimp Tostadas -Huazontles in Green Sauce -Citrus and Jicama Salad -Corn Pudding with Chiles in Cream -Baked Fish in Hoja Santa leaf -Chicken in Pipian -Paloma Cocktail -Zucchini Salad -Frida Cocktail WEDNESDAY- Mama’s Kitchen -Black Mole- This is the most exquisite and complicated FRIDAY- Village to Table Dinner Mexican sauce. Our 8-course dinner using local ingredients is a culinary -Yellow Mole experience not to be missed! -served with Rice and Chicken *This is not a cooking class -Handmade Tortillas -Mezcal Margarita Chiles&Chocolate Cooking Classes offer delicious culinary and cultural experiences that THURSDAY- Pigs and Rum explore Mexican cuisine. Our hands-on classes -Cochinita Pibil ensure you will leave prepared to recreate the -Corn Cakes dishes when you get home. -Pickeled Onion and Habanero -Avocado Salsa · Hands-on -Nopal and Radish Salad · Instruction in English -Horchata · Recipe Manual · Free Gift Bag FRIDAY- Street Food · Food and Drinks Included -Red and Green Salsas Transportation Included -Pico de Gallo · Morning pick-up is 9am -Handmade Tortillas and Sopes Evening pick-up is 5pm -2 types of Taco Fillings -Zucchini and Cheese Empanadas -Jamaica Margaritas Cost: $85 USD per person Activities are 3-4 hours Zimatan, Huatulco

Tel. 958 105 1671 Cel. 958 100 7339 [email protected] chileschocolatehuatulco www.HuatulcoCookingClasses.com 60 Luxury Condos 38 Prime Commercial Spaces Spectacular Marina View Prime Location- Invest in Paradise LIVE YOUR BEST STORY

Amazing Amenities -Infinity Pool -Jacuzzi -Sundeck -Terrace -Grill Zone -Sky Bar -Sky Gym -Urban Spa -Paddle Tennis -Game Room -Laundry Room -Pet Friendly

Starting Pre-sale Pricing [email protected] Cel: 958 106 9122 Francisco Toledo 1940 – 2019 By Julie Etra

rancisco Toledo, was a He is said to have been influenced by the M e x i c a n p a i n t e r , painters Albrecht Dürer, Paul Klee and sculptor, graphic artist, Marc Chagall. In 1983 he published a p h i l a n t h r o p i s t , book of engravings entitled The e n v i r o n m e n t a l i s t , Beginning, and in that same year, he was hFumanitarian, and promoter of asked by the publishing house Fondo de Mexican culture, particularly of Cultura Económica to illustrate the Oaxaca, his home state. To a large mythical creatures Jose Luis Borges and degree, he relied on his roots for Margarita described in the t h e s o u r c e o f h i s a r t i s t i c Manual of Fantastic Zoology (1953, inspirations. Although born in expanded until final edition in 1969). Mexico City, this exceptional artist The book was published in 1984, the considered himself a Zapotec illustrations have been shown around native of Juchitán de Zaragoza, the world since then, and a new edition Oaxaca, and spent most of his was published by Artes de México y el childhood in the states of Oaxaca mundo in 2013. and Veracruz. His media varied, a n d i n c l u d e d e n g r a v i n g s , “What I do is a mixture of things, but the watercolor, and oil. pre-Hispanic world has been a source of inspiration,” Toledo once explained. Toledo showed talent at an early “There are certain solutions that are age, and as a fourth grader won a decorative that come from pre-Hispanic drawing contest with his portrait of art and at the same time there is much Benito Juárez. At age 11, his primitive art that is refined or simple but parents, both bilingual but also very modern.” He used innovative speaking Zapotec at home, sent materials, including sand and him to junior high in Oaxaca City. paper, the pre-Columbian paper made Supportive of his early interest in with crushed bark of the amate tree the arts and indigenous cultures, (Ficus insipida, a species of fig). He at age 14 they approved an created images of insects, snakes, toads, apprenticeship to the engraver iguanas, bats, which can be described and lithographer Arturo García as fantastic realism. Bustos, who himself had been a student of Frida Kahlo in Coyoacán, Toledo was an artist, not a businessman, and had little interest Mexico City. During much of his early in promoting and/or commercializing his work. Many pieces adult life, Toledo studied and traveled went to collectors who purchased them in advance. extensively as part of his studies and career, before finally settling in He was a man committed to the environment and social Juchitán. His artwork drew in part on struggle, and even distributed books to prisoners. He childhood experiences with his dedicated his adult life to promoting Oaxacan culture and grandfather Benjamín, a shoemaker, opposed the construction of a McDonald's in Oaxaca City as a from the Oaxacan town of Ixtepec, perceived affront to it. He founded Ediciones Toledo, the whom he would accompany through Institute of Graphic Arts of Oaxaca (IAGO), the Museum of farmlands in search of plant resins Contemporary Art of Oaxaca), the Alvarez Bravo Photographic while being told fantastic stories and local legends. Center, the El Pochote Cinema Club, the Oaxaca Paper Art Workshop, and the botanical garden of the former convent of Toledo's first show was in 1959 at the Galería Antonio Souza, Santo Domingo, one of the most extraordinary and beautiful Mexico City, followed by a show at the Fort Worth Art Center, ethnobotanical gardens I have ever explored. He also provided Texas. Following these shows he received a scholarship to support for the protection of ecologically important areas such study in Paris with the engraver Stanley Hayter, one of the as the archeological site Monte Albán on the outskirts of most important 20th-century printmakers. There he worked on Oaxaca City and the Papaloapan River, which flows from refining his techniques and met the Oaxacan painter Rufino Oaxaca to Veracruz (papaloapan means “butterfly” in Tamayo. Nahuatl). Almost always disheveled and simply dressed, he became a symbol and expression of the deepest myths of pre- Shows followed in Paris and a year later in Toulouse, then Hispanic of Mexico. the Tate Gallery in London, and in New York. He gained a reputation for artwork that expressed a mystical, mythical, His daughter, Natalia Toledo Paz, is a well-known Mexican and sacred sense of life. Upon returning to Mexico in 1965, poet, writing both in Spanish and Zapotec, and has helped with he began to incorporate Western with indigenous art as he the revival of the Zapotec language. developed his particular style.

The Eye 22 Plaza and Hotel Laramar 14 commercial spaces Center of Santa Cruz Pre-construction prices available Custom design to meet your business’ needs

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5 minute walk Mexico’s top sunset spot- Punta Cometa Earth lovers Paradise! Contact us to reserve your spot: [email protected] cel: 958 174 2212 Upcoming Events

Huatulco Recurring Events:

English AA, Huatulco Wednesdays, Joe and Charlie Step Study, 7:15 pm Thursdays, meeting, 11:30 am Saturdays, meeting, 7:15 pm Plaza Oaxaca, Calle Flamboyant 310 2nd floor, La Crucecita, Info: Becky Wiles, [email protected]

Weekly Markets Pochutla Market- Every Monday

Huatulco’s Organic Market Santa Cruz 8 am - 2 pm First and third Saturdays of the month

Encuentro de Cocineros - Local cooks gather with sample dishes to raise money for local charities. Santa Cruz Park, 150 pesos Last Sunday of the month at 2 pm

Oaxaca City Recurring Events:

Open AA Meetings (English) Members of all 12-step programs welcome Mondays and Thursdays, 7 pm Saturdays, 9 am 303B Rayon near corner of Fiallo

Al-Anon (English) Tuesdays, 10:30 am 303B Rayon near corner of Fiallo

Religious Services Holy Trinity Anglican Episcopal Church Sundays 10:30 am Crespo 211 (between Morelos and Matamoros) Liturgy followed by coffee hour. Information 951- 514-3799

Oaxaca Quaker Friends Saturdays, 10 am, Free. All are welcome. For more information and location, contact [email protected].

Weekly Markets Zaachila Market, Every Thursday Ocotlán Market, Every Friday Etla Market, Every Wednesday Tlacolula Market, Every Sunday

The Eye 26 Plaza Paseo Punta Diamante 33 Commercial Spaces

Don’t miss out Franchises welcome Prime location by Hotel Mexicana by Electra on the main drive of Huatulco

Starting Pre-sale Pricing [email protected] Cel: 958 174 2212 Teatro Visión

By Marcia Chaiken and Jan Chaiken

e r e c e n t l y m o v e d f r o m When he decides to stop eating entirely, his Ashland, Oregon, a city frantic wife, after being short-changed by one of known world-wide for theater, her Spanish nobility clients, agonizes for a while to Saratoga, California, and then steals a turkey, prepares it and located in Silicon Valley, presents it to Macario. Macario hides in a wood whichW is known world-wide for cutting-edge with the turkey and is first tempted to share it technology. We have been delighted to find with a caballero, the devil in disguise, in that side-by-side with the internet giants, exchange for money, and then by a pilgrim to theater is thriving around here, from small save his soul. Finally when confronted by experimental groups to large venue homes to Death himself, Macario agrees to split it exactly touring Broadway productions. One special in half, and they eat it at the same time. In niche theater is Teatro Visión. return, Death gives Macario a gourd full of a potion, a drop of which can save gravely ill Teatro Visión's performances are in the people from death as long as Macario observes Mexican Heritage Plaza in San Jose. San Jose Death standing at the foot of the bed. An has a population of nearly a million and was appearance at the head of the bed means the th founded in the 18 century when California person belongs to Death. was still part of Mexico; its population is one- third Hispanic and the Mexican Heritage Plaza At the beginning of the second act, Macario is is located in a predominantly Chicano area. Teatro Visión is under the tutelage of one the nobles and has become very now part of the School of Arts and Culture, an independent wealthy by selling his services to families of the ill. Although nonprofit that provides classes in Mexican music and other some are claimed by Death, many are resuscitated and richly arts to children and adults in the surrounding communities. It reward Macario and his noble sponsor. The family is no longer was founded as Teatro in 1984 by Women in Teatro, a hungry, are well dressed and live in a huge mansion in which network drawn from Chicano theaters around California. they are amusingly continually becoming lost. All is going well until the Inquisition hears about Macario. Macario, warned The theater, which seats 500 people in a very steep stadium that they are coming, gives one vial of his secret potion to his formation, has to date produced over 60 plays – most in wife to hide. The agents of the inquisition destroy the Spanish – attended cumulatively by an audience of over remaining containers of the liquid and proclaim Macario a 150,000 people. Supratitles are provided in both English and fraud or a brujo – either of which has a death penalty performed Spanish. The ticket prices are extremely low, so virtually all in painful and public execution. They throw Macario in prison community members can afford to attend. And the support of to be tortured until he confesses. a multitude of government agencies, foundations, private corporations and individual donors allow the theater to After testing his knowledge of the fate of some apparently continue top-notch programs including world premieres. gravely ill people chosen for this examination, the Inquisitors determine he is not a fraud but a warlock. But just as they are Our introduction to Teatro Visión was at a production of a play about to execute him, the Viceroy's young son becomes very ill in Spanish called Macario that had premiered 5 years ago and and the Viceroy summons Macario for a cure. He tells him that has been presented by popular demand in subsequent years. if he saves his son he will go free but if his son dies, so will This musical is partly based on the novel by B. Traven, the pen Macario. Macario's wife bribes the guards to visit him and name of a mysterious author who was foreign-born but lived in provides him with the last vial of curative liquid. Ready to save Mexico most of his life and died in Mexico City in 1969. He is the child, Macario enters the bed chamber to find Death the author of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and his novel standing at the head of the bed. Macario tries to push Death to Macario was named by the New York Times as the best short the foot of the bed and pleads with Death to allow him to save story of 1953. The play is also partly based on the 1960 film Macario, the first Mexican film nominated for an academy the child. But Death stands firm. Macario flees. award. The novel and screenplay were heavily adapted for the stage by Evelina Fernández and Teatro Visión. The adaptation Does Macario survive? Well, we're not going to tell you. You'll added badly needed color, humor, and wonderful music to the have to come to Teatro Visión during the next Day of the Dead grim black-and-white film version. The Teatro Visión version season to see and hear for yourself. If you do, you'll experience is a charming rendition of the same story, retaining the truly emotional music and voices and you'll find yourself intensity of the messages. thinking you're back in Mexico. The language surrounding you will primarily be Spanish, many women are elegantly dressed The story takes place in two acts in colonial Mexico. Macario is in very high stiletto heel shoes, and the snacks being served at an impoverished wood cutter whose family, his hard-working intermission are a reminder of what you find in Oaxaca. laundress wife and five children, are grateful for what they have but always hungry. Macario, who has been hungry from The night we attended, the production was followed by a gala birth, is tantalized by a parade of roasted turkeys being featuring music, dancing and many traditional dishes. We prepared for the Day-of-the-Dead celebrations of the nobility. can't promise you a gala at other performances, but we can He yearns for a roasted turkey to devour by himself – a promise you highly professional acting, choreography, and seemingly impossible dream. orchestration, wonderful sets and costumes, and a performance that will linger in your mind for a long time. The Eye 28 Open Daily 12:00 pm - 10:00 pm Located beside Salt Available La Papaya in Chahue at Café Juanita in Marina Chahue

Patio Time at Frida’s Giant Margaritas, Jugs of Sangria and the best caesars in town! Variety of Burgers, Tacos and Pitas Fried Cheese, fresh shrimp cocktails

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Cell: 222 101 7123 Tel: 958 688 5444 gardening and landscaping [email protected] wwww.parquesincluyentes.com www.espaciosverdes.mx Camino Copalita By Jane Bauer

h e C a m i n o Copalita was o n e o f t h e m o s t rewarding and challengingT experiences I have ever had! A 6-day hike from San Juan Ozolotepec to Huatulco ( a b o u t 8 0 k m ) . T h e terrain was hilly and rough but I was with an incredibly supportive group and knowledgeable guides.

The group met at a café in Oaxaca City on a Sunday morning before embarking on the 6-hour drive into the heart of the mountains to the first community we would be visiting. The people of San Juan Ozolotepec were incredibly welcoming. Before dinner we stood in a circle and each person introduced themselves and said what their hopes were for this experience. I was so moved that I actually thought I might cry as I looked at the diversity of our group and the compassion we each carried with us. In a world that is consistent in its attempt to divide us, there was a certain magic in being welcomed by strangers under the vast night sky of the Oaxacan sierra, being offered food, shelter and friendship.

The first day of hiking was like walking through a fairytale forest, blanketed in pine needles and cloud mist. The guides were patient and full of encouragement. The second day led us downhill past women planting corn on steep slopes- I’m sure we were quite a sight but they smiled and waved nonetheless. And so the days rolled on; some marked by a steep climb or river crossings. We arrived at camp and the women from the community would de preparing dinner. We would change our clothes, rest in hammocks and bask in the silence of nature.

One day it rained and we trudged through the jungle, all of us soaking wet from a river crossing, the air thick with bugs as our lead guide cut through the bush with his machete. There were moments when I thought I would cry, not merely from tiredness, but from the feeling of smallness that is unavoidable when surrounded by the mountains.

The last leg of the journey was done by raft down the Copalita river. The sun pounded down as we got closer to the ocean. When the rafts floated to the shore of the lagoon at Bocana we all stepped out and made our way to the ocean, letting the sea water wash over our blistered and tired feet.

For more information about the group that organizes this trek and the wonderful work they are doing in education and reforestation: www.caminocopalita.com .

The Eye 30

Carminia Magaña

By MJ Kelly and Oscar Olivos

arminia Magaña w a s b o r n i n Mexico City on October 28, 1939, t o a f a m i l y o f YucatecanC origin; was one of three children, although her brother died as a child. Her f a t h e r , a l a w y e r , w a s secretary in the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation. Her pedagogue mother was a precursor to the preschool education commissioned by P r e s i d e n t A d o l f o L ó p e z Mateos. She received all her education at the American School and obtained a degree i n A r t H i s t o r y a t t h e University of the Americas. Her command of English and French, and ease in public relations, allowed her husband, who was an attache official for Pemex, to live and entertain in different cities, such as The Hague, Paris and New York.

Carminia was a woman of vast culture, great intellect, and humor, and a lover of good food and drink. She was an epicentre of energy, laughter and love of life that she bestowed on all of us. She had three sons and one daughter, Roberto, Alberto, Héctor and unforgettable Ximena Osegueda, who died in 2011. Carminia generously supported her children in their pursuit of career and family. Together they created a paradise in La Javelina, with the intention of growing all indigenous species of plants in the Huatulco area.

A list of Carminia's artistic endeavors and productions of worthy events would take pages, but the creation of of Amigos de la Musica in 2007 showed her true love of community and the arts. Carminia recruited more than 40 sponsors to contribute an annual fee of 1000 pesos and with that they could cover the expenses for the musical artists. Thus, four concerts a year were held at the Chahué marina, the golf course, and the hotels Castillo Huatulco, Barceló, Dreams and Camino Real Zaashila; at Camino Real, the concerts were held beside the sea, in an unparalleled atmosphere. The concerts were carefully prepared to the smallest detail by passionate volunteers. Currently, Amigos de la Musica remains alive with the coordination of new and original members who share the same vision. With only 6 months before she would have turned 80, Carminia passed away leaving many projects incomplete, such as a hostel for older travelers in La Javelina.

Carminia Magaña was a facilitator of cultural projects and environments. As an artist herself, she loved the creative process and fostered that in so many artists, musicians, writers, dancers and intellectuals. Her home was always frequented by these artists and friends with whom she shared the intrigue of life and art. She often said, "I really do all this for me!” But we know she did it for all of us. To so many of us, she leaves a huge emptiness that can never be filled by anyone else. She loved nothing more than to intermingle her children, grandchildren and friends together with lavish meals and much laughter and banter. As we ponder life and death, we will hear her laughter and smile at the beauty that surrounds us. We will always hold dear her memory in our hearts knowing full well that the world is and we are better for having loved her.

The Eye 32 Located at Salchi Beach • 12 House Units Casa Club: 45 minutes from Huatulco Airport • 19 Cabin Units -Reception Area • Lots of 350 m2 and 560 m2 -2 swimming pools • Three hectares -Children’s pool • 15 amenities -Terrace with Bar • More than 6,000 m2 of green areas. -Sunbathing Area • One entry and exit access -Gym • Security and 24/7 surveillance -2 Jacuzzis

-Games Room Exterior Amenities -Air-Conditioned Event Room • 725 m jogging route -Restaurant • Park -SPA Cell: 958 174 2212 • Childish games [email protected] • Parking for 32 cars From Ancient Culture to Antique Kitsch: Mexican Feather Art

By Deborah Van Hoewyk

f you had been lucky enough to be museum hopping in The money also supported Mexico City a while back (2011), you would have research into conservation of encountered a two-museum exhibit that marked the feather art – feathers are fragile, rebirth of an ancient Mexican art. Alas: El vuelo de las bugs love to eat them, daylight imágenes del mundo indigena (Wings: The flight of fades them, they lose their imagesI from the indigenous world) took place at the famous iridescence; if it's too dry, they get National Museum of Anthropology and History and the brittle and collapse, if it's too somewhat less visited National Museum of Art (Museo humid, they get moldy and rot. Nacional de Arte, now known as MUNAL – see article And don't forget those damn elsewhere in this issue). The exhibit was followed in 2016 by a bugs! book of 33 essays exploring the creative interaction between the new and old worlds, as seen in … FEATHERS (Images Take The exhibit and book have Flight: Feather Art in Mexico and Europe, 1400 – 1700). p r o m p t e d m o r e i n t e r e s t i n f e a t h e r w o r k . A 2 0 1 4 Plumaria – a Fragile Art documentary by Jaime Kuri Aiza, The work shown was plumaria (sometimes plumeria), or E l P e n a c h o d e M o c t e z u m a , featherwork, which combines art and craft to produce textiles, plumaria del México antiguo ceremonial costumes, mosaics made of tiny bits of feathers, ( M o n t e z u m a ' s H e a d d r e s s : and decorative objects, both sacred and profane. For three Featherwork of Ancient Mexico), centuries (about 1400 to 1700), plumaria was considered high won an Ariel (Mexico's Oscar) for art. The fragility of feathers, however, means very few best short documentary; you can see great closeups of examples survive of all the work – headdresses, shields featherwork (www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaI48sA_XGs) in the (chimalli), cloaks, wall hangings, banners, screens, decorative 75-minute film, which also won the Scientific and Cultural and funerary objects – so coveted by the before the Reporting prize at Mexico's 2014 National Journalism Awards. conquest and by the conqueror Hernán Cortés, who sent any In 2016, UNAM (Mexico's national university) added a number of pieces back to Europe, more about that later. After postgraduate art history course on Plumaria de México, arte y the conquest, the Catholic rulers of New Spain convinced the tecnología (Featherwork of Mexico, art and technology), and feather artists to produce Christian work – altar pieces, priestly there have been lectures and conferences in various garments, wall hangings, you name it, adorned with images of universities since then. Even better, the conservation Mary, Jesus, saints, and sacred stories. research sponsored by the Getty Foundation may well make future exhibitions more likely – and, just possibly, bring a The exhibition came out of years of international collaboration Mexican treasure home, more about that later as well. by art scholars and historians from the U.S. and Italy working with the National Museum of Anthropology and MUNAL. The Amantecas Italian art historian Alessandra Russo, Ph.D., who teaches at When he wrote to his king (Charles I of Spain, and Charles V of Columbia University, first saw photos of the Holy Roman Empire to boot) to describe Tenochtitlán (now in 1994 and started reading up on it. Her curiosity led her to Mexico City), the place he would conquer in the years 1519-25, Gerhard Wolf, Ph.D., Director of the Kunsthistorisches Institut Cortés said it was “as big as Seville or Cordoba. The main in Florence, where there is a major piece of Christian feather streets are very wide and very straight; some of these are on the art sent from Mexico, and Diana Fane, Ph.D., the Andrew W. land, but the rest and all the smaller ones are half on land, half Mellon Curator Emerita for Arts of the Americas. This heavily canals where they paddle their canoes.” credentialed crew approached the Getty Foundation for support, and in 2002 the Foundation awarded them nearly $200,000 to prepare the exhibition.

The Eye 34 Feathers, he reported, The city had about 70 independently organized could be bought in a neighborhoods, some of which, like Amantla, were organized great marketplace, as calpulli, or artisan guilds (“amanteca” also includes most probably the one weavers and painters). Gold- and silversmiths lived and i n n e i g h b o r i n g worked in a neighborhood called Yopico, fishermen were Tlatelolco, an adjacent found in Hitznahua, the merchants in Pochtlan, and the island to the north of pulque producers in Tlamatzinco. Calpulli had members of T e n o c h t i t l á n . the noble classes; they provided the costly materials for According to Cortés, artisan creations – for the amantecas, it was the brilliant 60,000 people shopped feathers. t h e r e e v e r y d a y . P e r h a p s t h e m o s t We know from the (c. 1577), Father prized feathers were Bernardino de Sahagún's encyclopedia of “the things of New those of the resplendent Spain,” that dimensional pieces like headdresses or wristlets q u e t z a l , n a t i v e t o were made by tying the feathers to a base with agave cord. The Central America, but feather mosaics, called “feather painting” by the Spanish, were t h e m a r k e t s o l d a more exacting craft, involving very small pieces of feathers f e a t h e r s , m o s t l y from multiple kinds of birds pasted down on paper with a glue im p o r te d , o f m a n y made from orchid bulbs, and backed with a layer of amate, or colorful tropical birds – paper made from pounded tree bark. cotinga, hummingbird, emerald toucanet, troupial, macaw, troupial, and parrot El Penacho (The Headdress) of Moctezuma II feathers. Feathers were exceedingly valuable, and so were For a brief while after Cortés arrived, landing in Vercruz and used to pay the tributes demanded by ancient rulers. Feathers moving on to Tenochtitlán, all was well. Moctezuma II were measured by the handful – one codex lists three tributes entertained the Spanish, gifts were exchanged, etc., etc. before of “eight thousand little handfuls of rich feathers,” things went downhill. It is possible that one of those gifts from “rich red feathers” and “rich green feathers.” Since a bird the Moctezuma II to Cortés was an imperial headdress made of size of a parrot yields somewhere between seven and eight glowing green quetzal feathers. handfuls, perhaps the decline of feather art was in the cards from the beginning. A tribute of 8000 feathers would kill 1000 Given its fragility, only two examples of pre-conquest feather birrds. There were severe penalties for those who dared to art remain in Mexico itself, and the headdress is not one of wear feathers when not entitled to do so. them. Whether or not Moctezuma actually gifted the headdress to Cortés, or ever wore it himself, is debatable. In any event, off it went to Europe, possibly in a group of gifts Before the conquest (1519-25), plumaria was created known to have been sent over to Cortes upon his arrival in throughout Mexico, but the most renowned feather artists Veracruz, then dispatched to Spain as proof of success. were the amantecas, men of the Amantla neighborhood in Tenochtitlán. There were also tecpan amantecas, feather The headdress is now displayed in the Museum of Ethnology in artists who “made it” – they worked in the royal palace where Vienna, Austria. It had been discovered in 1878 by Ferdinand they had their birds kept right on hand in cages; there were so von Hochstetter, a geologist, explorer, and the newly appointed many, it apparently took a crew of 300 to care for the aviaries. director of the then-new museum, who was wandering the countryside looking for exhibits. In a dusty drawer in Ambras Castle in Innsbruck, Hochstetter came upon something the castle inventory had listed as both an “Indian Apron” and Chiles&Chocolate “Moorish hat.” Hochstetter decided it wasn't wearable, so it Cooking Classes must be a battle flag, carried into combat on a pole. Huatulco, Oaxaca It is primarily made of hundreds of emerald-green tailfeathers of the , but in the center is a feather mosaic The best way to learn about a culture is through its food. of red, blue, and green body feathers from the quetzal and other birds, with sewn-on gold ornaments. The whole thing is NEW CLASS! supported by tying each feather to a wicker frame with agave thread. THURSDAY MORNINGS It took the work of an anthropologist, the American Zelia Nuttall, to determine that it was a headdress. When she Pigs and Rum published her findings in the very first issue of Harvard's Peabody Museum Papers (1887), no one believed her, of course. -Cochinita Pibil Not until she showed up in Paris at the 1888 International -Corn Cakes Congress of Americanists wearing a mock-up of the headdress was it acknowledged that, yes, indeed, it could be a pre- -Pickeled Onion and Hispanic headdress. Habanero -Avocado Salsa There is a reproduction of the headdress in the National -Nopal and Radish Salad Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, made in 1940 and -Horchata actually more vivid than the original. Over the last 30-odd years, Mexico and Austria have been wrangling over repatriation of the original. The Austrian argument is that it is too fragile to withstand the vibrations of an air journey back to the New World, unless it traveled in a special case in a Tel. 958 105 1671 Cel. 958 100 7339 humongous airplane (nearly ten times the size of the [email protected] Concorde), it wouldn't make it. So there it sits in Austria. www.HuatulcoCookingClasses.com Continued on page 36 The Eye 35 In the Service of the Church Featherwork became more varied and popularized, e.g., As soon as the Conquest was complete, the Spanish decided feathered fans for the ladies, family insignia such as crests that feather art should be converted to Christian purposes, and shields, and a few depictions of historical events. By the and the amantecas were set to “painting” religious works in 1700s, feather art was produced by non-indigenous artists, feathers to adorn altars, the walls of cathedrals, and the bodies and was combined with areas of oil painting for the faces, of priests. paper borders instead of gold, etc. By the 1800s, feather art had just about disappeared except in some areas of Arguably the oldest surviving piece of Mexican feather art Michoacán, where the explorer and scientist Alexander von (certainly the oldest colonial mosaic with Christian imagery), Humboldt (1769 – 1859) bought an image of Our Lady of the Mass of Saint Gregory is currently being shown at The Health in Pátzcuaro made of hummingbird and other kinds of Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue in New York. The feathers, with Mary's face and hands painted in oil. Now inscription indicates that Father Pedro de Gante, who had referred to as The Feather Madonna, it resides in the established a school to train amantecas in the subtleties of Ethnological Museum of the Staatliche Museum of Berlin. producing Christian images and themes, commissioned the th piece from then-governor Diego de Alvarado Huinitzin By the 20 century, what had been a magnificent mixture of (ironically both nephew and son-in-law to Moctezuma II); it was art and craft had descended into an amusing handcraft; the completed in 1539 as a gift to Pope Paul III. Paul had recently supply of exotic, brilliant feathers was long gone, and (1537) issued a papal bull declaring that the indigenous featherwork was done with dyed chicken plumage. Although peoples were rational human beings with souls and should not several artists have tried to revive the art, the lack of feathers be enslaved. has proved an insuperable obstacle.

The mosaic is based on a European engraving, now in the At midcentury, though, if you wandered on Avenida Juárez National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, showing Pope and Calle Madero in Mexico City, you could find curiosidades Gregory I (540 – 604) celebrating the Eucharist. Christ, bearing mexicanas (Mexican curiosities) using feathers. In carved the wounds of crucifixion, floats above him to represent wooden frames, most often on black backgrounds, exotic transubstantiation – the wafer has become the body of Christ. birds that never lived have been created with dyed poultry feathers, their strange trees painted with equally unreal colors. These proved popular souvenirs for tourists – my pair was purchased in an antique shop in Scarborough, Maine, Feathers Fall to Earth and any eBay search for “Mexican folk art feathercraft” turns As the amantecas who had been able to turn their craft from up a seemingly unlimited supply. On average, you'll be indigenous motifs to Christian art began to die off, feather art spending about $10 apiece on eBay, although one made in likewise declined, partly because European art had moved to 1972 showing multiple birds sitting near a pond, surrounded focus on developments in oil painting, especially for religious by vaguely Japanese flowers, would run you $50.00, plus images, and because interest in indigenous arts waned as $17.83 for shipping within the continental U.S. exploration and exotica gave way to settlement and economic exploitation of the New World.

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Av. Monte Albán Mz. 8, Lte. 4, Sector K, Bahías de Huatulco, Oaxaca, C.P. 70989 Memoria de Luz

By Kary Vannice

On September 7, 2019, two years after an 8.2 magnitude earthquake struck southern Mexico, a community action group in Huatulco, Colectivo Tilcoatle, honored those affected with a photography exhibition entitled Memoria de Luz (Memory of Light).

The exhibition featured 15 local photographers who captured the physical and emotional devastation that followed in the nearby isthmus de Tehuantepec.

Sponsored by local businesses and funded by the Secretaría de las Culturas y Artes de Oaxaca, it was a true collaboration from grassroots all the way up to the highest levels of state government.

The exhibition was held at the home of the colectivo, Casa Tilcoatle, in La Crucecita. The photos documented the looks and gestures of panic of the residents of Juchitán, Xadani, Tehuantepec, Unión Hidalgo and Ixtaltepec two years ago. This exhibition invites us on a journey of image and nostalgia commemorating the devastating earthquake.

The photos were accompanied by personal accounts and poems written by those who survived the quake and its aftermath. The exhibit as a whole told a story of wreckage, rubble and remains. But it also told the story of ambivalence, arrogance and neglect on the part of government agencies, construction companies and foundations.

To help paint the picture of Memoria de Luz, here is a translation of the text that accompanied a selection of photos that were graciously shared with The Eye by the Colectivo.

Promotional Description: Who pressed the shutter at 11:49 at night, that September 7, 2017? Who walked stumbling during that eternity when the whole earth was cracked, the walls cracked, the roofs collapsed, the dogs howled tirelessly and the souls of the Juchitecos flew out of their homes to take refuge in some infinity where it never trembles?

But no, there was no such refuge from the gods. The dust reigned for who knows how long, before the debris could be seen, before hearing plaintive moans of those beaten by some powerful hand that violently moved our branches, before hearing the tears crying for the dead under tiles, bricks and timbers.

People do not forget the rumble that came beneath the earth. We do not forget the terrible noise of fallen objects. We do not forget the looks and the gesture of panic that lived among us for many days, in Juchitán, in Xadani, Tehuantepec, Unión Hidalgo or Ixtaltepec.

Between the pain, between the fallen walls, between the broken houses, next to the demolishing machines and their giant shovels, the photographers, perhaps with their right index finger trembling, shot, in a difficult exercise to capture the nightmare that now brings the memory together with the images of those days. Memory of light (Memoria de Luz) that does not forget the time of the disaster.

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