Photos show Mexico from new angle

In celebration of the bicentennial of Mexican Independence Day, UNM libraries will exhibit a collection of photographs from Juarez and protest art based out of Oaxaca, Mexico, starting Wednesdsay and running through Oct. 20.

The exhibition, “Grass Roots Narratives in Oaxaca and Ciudad Juarez,” portrays the intensity of social struggles in Mexico and celebrates the community’s grassroots counter-effort, said exhibit curator Mike Graham.

He said Mexico’s history is rife with public discontent. He said the Mexican revolution was sparked by Porfirio Diaz’s oppressive dictatorship, and today much of the Mexican populace is still fighting for civil liberties.

“In the post-revolutionary era, which is now, there is a political party which has ruled many parts of Mexico since the revolution,” Graham said. “At the same time the revolution promised land and liberty, the indigenous and rural communities are facing a lot of grief.”
Michael Wolff, a photographer featured in the exhibit, said the U.S. and Mexican media have focused largely on drug-related violence in Juarez.

“There are also people and communities that are doing their own things to move on and recreate a sense of normalcy in their lives,” he said. “Our objective was to focus more on their lives than specifically the violence.”

The exhibit features an assortment of paintings, wood etchings and graffiti art from the Assembly of Revolutionary Artists of Oaxaca (ASARO), a Oaxacan-based group of protestors. Graham said MySpace and YouTube have played a role in drawing attention to the problems Mexico faces.

Suzanne Schadl, coordinator of Latin American Collections of UNM Libraries, said the exhibit highlights some of the issues neglected by the media.

“There’s definitely some reporting in the U.S., but I don’t think that reporting gives the story that (some) Mexican groups would offer, especially since they are already marginalized within the Mexican context,” she said.

Wolff said the exhibit’s theme is overcoming struggle.

“To do that amidst such instability, such public insecurity, you have to make pretty impressive individual and social communitarian efforts,” he said. “You see a lot of beauty in human society when you have to overcome something very tragic.”