Monthly Archives: April 2011

A Gift: Lifting Your Creative Voice Chapbook from the Oaxaca Women’s Writing Retreat

Today I received an extraordinary gift.  Morgen, one of the participants from our women’s writing and yoga retreat, has collected the product of what we wrote and spoke during our week together in March and created a chapbook.  I received this just moments ago as did the other women who were with us.  It came via email as a PDF in a zip file and is a stunning sampling of our creativity, our compassion, our desire to express ourselves through words written and spoken, and the fondness we developed for each other over the few days that we were together.  I do not have permission to publish what was written, so the chapbook won’t appear here.

However, I will reprint one of the writings I contributed that was especially meaningful to me:

The Artisan’s Woman (fragment), by Elsa Ramirez

I tore out the fibrous coat of the palm,

I cleaned the down out of the gourds,

I reached with machetes to the hard heart of the coconut,

I squeezed tubes of pastes with my fingertips

I smoothed the grains of the planks.

I polished with stones; I soaked the paper to its point

I saw the textures of the house with proud eyes

of who can unravel them.

I threaded in embroidering, I walked through the dust and mud.

From the Museo Textil de Oaxaca exhibit on indigenous weaving

What this post represents is a tribute to the creative process, to our writing instructor and coach Professor Robin Greene, to yoga master Beth Miller who gave us the spiritual grounding to reveal ourselves to all possibilities, and to the talented women who came from throughout the Americas unknown to each other and open to discovery.

Gathering for morning yoga in the altar room--sacred space

Our daily rituals (mas o menos):  begin with yoga and vocal resonance in the altar room of Casa Elena, move to al fresco breakfast in the garden at Las Granadas, meditate in silence, share readings of authors and poets who have meaning for us, write from our hearts independently, bring our work to the group for workshopping (feedback sessions), explore and write on our own or participate in an alternate activity (massage, temescal, cooking class, hiking, reading, visiting artisans), along with fabulous lunches, dinners and snacks.

What Are Those Things, By Humberto Ak’Abal, Mayan Poet

Que son esas cosas

que brillan en el cielo?

pregunte a mi mama.

Abejas, me contest.

Desde entonces cada noche,

Mis ojos comen miel.

What are those things

that shine in the sky?

I asked my mother

Bees, she answered me.

Every night since then,

My eyes eat honey.

(contributed by Bridget)

"Class" over lunch at El Descanso restaurant

The beauty of this Chapbook is that we have something tangible to hold on to that is a memory of our time together.  This bit of time, a parenthesis, an exclamation point, a colon that separates us from the routine of life and gives us a space to bring life to our thoughts, ideas and feelings.  It was a remarkable week by all accounts!  And, on the final night we had a  reading.

 

Nancy reads her poem

Bridget reads her play

More Unfolds–Oaxaca Day of the Dead Documentary Photography Expedition 2011

We are fine-tuning the experience!  Two highlights to alert you about:  On All Saint’s Day Eve, we will start out for the Xoxocotlan cemetery in mid-afternoon to capture the final decorating of family gravesites as dusk settles and the world glows at that magic hour just before sunset.  On All Soul’s Day, each participant will be embedded with a Zapotec family in the village of Teotitlan del Valle to personally participate and document in family rituals as the spirits of loved ones who have returned to earth are guided back to their final resting place. This expedition will be an unforgettable experience!

Oaxaca Day of the Dead 2011 Photography Expedition

North Carolina Welcomes Oaxaca Jewelry Designer Brigitte Huet in April 2011

Brigitte Huet is coming to the U.S. and North Carolina at the end of April 2011 to exhibit and sell her extraordinary work.  We will offer two showings, one on the evening of April 28, in Chapel Hill, NC and the other on the evening of April 29 in Pittsboro, NC.  This is a great opportunity if you live within driving distance to come and see some of the most creative jewelry designs coming out of Mexico today.  They are substantial yet comfortable to wear and definitely make an eye-catching fashion statement.  You won’t find anything like this unless you travel to Oaxaca, Mexico.

Artist Mauricio Cervantes Exhibits at Manuel Garcia Contemporary Art Gallery in Oaxaca

Mauricio Cervantes Exhibition Cibeles Sombra

Mauricio Cervantes is an expressive and accomplished contemporary artist who lives and works in Oaxaca.  His new exhibition of recent works, Cibeles Sombra, is showing until May 7 at the Manuel Garcia Contemporary Art Gallery located at Portal Benito Juarez #110.  If you are visiting or live in Oaxaca, please put this on your calendar.  Let them know you read about it here!

Gallery Hours: Monday through Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. (closed for lunch 2-4 p.m.).  On Saturday, the hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Telephone: (951) 514-1093.

You can visit Mauricio’s website/blog at www.mauriciocervantes.wordpress.com/exposiciones/

Mauricio Cervantes Exhibition at Galeria Manuel Garcia, Oaxaca