On Tuesday, October 2, 2012, 5:30-7:30 p.m., an opening reception will be held at Duke University Friedl Building Jameson gallery for “Days of the Dead: From Mexican Roots to Present Day Practice in the United States,” in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month. Included will be 25 photographs taken in 2011 by participants* in the Day of the Dead Photography Expedition, produced by Oaxaca Cultural Navigator. The exhibition is organized by the Program in Latino/a Studies in the Global South at Duke University, whose executive director Jenny Snead Williams participated in 2011. The exhibition is curated by Bill Bamberger, award-winning faculty member in the Duke University Center for Documentary Studies and expedition leader/instructor, and Jenny Snead Williams.
*Participants in the 2011 expedition whose work will be exhibited are: Cheryl Cross (Towson, Maryland), Liz Bryan (British Columbia), Nick Eckert (Washington, DC), Wayne Kubal (Tucson, Arizona), Jenny Snead Williams (Durham, NC), Norma Hawthorne (Pittsboro, NC), Jenny Haynes (British Columbia) and instructor Bill Bamberger (Durham, NC).
Eric Chavez Santiago, education director at the Museo Textil de Oaxaca, and his sister Janet Chavez Santiago, a linguist and coordinator of the Centro Academico y Cultural San Pablo educational programs, are invited by Duke University to participate in the opening activities. They will talk about Day of the Dead traditions in their family home and village of Teotitlan del Valle and work with students to build a traditional Oaxaca Day of the Dead altar.
Chavez Santiago family rugs will also be on exhibition and offered for sale during the opening reception. The family produces extraordinary textiles woven with 100% churro sheep whose wool is hand-spun and then dyed with natural plant materials (wild marigold, indigo, moss, pomegranates, nuts) and cochineal (the bug of the prickly pear cactus that produces natural, color-fast and intense shades of reds, purples, oranges, and pinks).
The altar offerings include wild marigold (cempasuchitl), photographs of deceased loved ones, pan de muerto (special egg bread), papel picado (cut out paper decorations), the favorite fruits, foods, and beverages of loved ones, Oaxaca chocolate, sugar skulls, tamales, candles, and incense. An essential part of the Oaxaca altar is also religious and spiritual — an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe and of the Crucifixion.
Jenny Snead Williams tells me that area elementary school students will be creating another part of the exhibit with Duke students and faculty, and that Duke students will also be working on a third project that relates to the US celebrations of Days of the Dead. “Overall, it’s a rather complex exhibit because it will include so many constituents from local school children and teachers, to the general community, to students and professors.
Eric, Janet and Norma will be in Atlanta on October 3 and 4, where we will be hosted by Robin and Ted Blocker, and Lauren Waits and Art Gambill, for two evening rug exhibitions and sales. If you live in Atlanta or know anyone there, let me know and we’ll send them an invitation!
Small jug for milk or juice, hand-painted with fruit assortment–blue grapes, lemon, mango, pomegranate, and peaches. Stands about 7″ high. $58 USD.
Small salad or butter plate (above, right), about 6″ in diameter. Has holes on the back to make this lovely piece suitable for wall hanging. $23 USD.
Dilemma: Separating the blog from my personal life — gaps and overlaps
This post is not so much about life and travel to, in, and around Oaxaca and Mexico, as it is an update about where I’ve been over the last few weeks and where I am now — both in the physical and existential sense. It isn’t easy to write about this since it means going beyond the usual and revealing more about what I’m feeling. An emotional essay is not my standard, and presents a dilemma about how much I should talk about online that personal. While Oaxaca Cultural Navigator is my personal perspective, it focuses on travel, culture, art, and history, etc. Lately, I haven’t been writing as regularly because my attention is elsewhere and I feel like I want to explain this.
My 96-1/2-year-old mother is nearing the end of her life. Yet, we don’t know when her life will end. She has had a long life. Her life has been long enough to realize her dreams, though she has fulfilled only a few of them. Often, the yearnings of women of her generation were suppressed in order to support home and family. She has been my role model for how to live otherwise with more independence and intention.
In the past four weeks I have been to Northern California twice, making round trips from Mexico City each time to have time with her and to give my caretaker sister some time for herself. But, it’s never enough time when you know that time is finite and the person who you love and who gave you life is strugglng to sustain her own. I am sad, and feel that however much time I’ve had with her still won’t fill the gap — for her and for me. In the last few days my mom has told her children and grandchildren how much she loves us and how proud she is of us. The messages are by email with copies to us all. (This is a perfect goodbye from my mom who has used the Internet for over 10 years.) I know she is getting ready, and in this way she is preparing us. I think I’m prepared, but ….
Last week, I flew from San Francisco to Boston, arriving in the middle of the night, staying with friends, and then driving to Portland, Maine, to meet up with my husband. We hadn’t seen each other in two months because of all this back and forth. Now, I am with him in a little cabin at the edge of a beautiful Maine lake where there is no WiFi connection. A blessing for us. We are here on vacation for another 10 days.
This morning, at the end of our yoga class, our instructor asked us to continue cool down by going into the fetal position. As I curled up and the tears came, I felt for a moment the sensation of birth and death. Beginning and ending of life. Thinking of my mother and her journey, and exit. This is what preoccupies me now.
This means not as many blog posts. And, because I’m not in Oaxaca right now, I am unable to give you daily updates of life there as I know it. An information gap for me and for you. And, because of my frame of mind, I’m not able to write as often right now.
Hopefully, more will come soon. I wanted you to know, and appreciate your patience and understanding.
Abrazos,
Norma
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Posted in Cultural Commentary, Travel & Tourism
Tagged blogsherpa, essay, Mexico, Oaxaca