“La lucha sigue” reads the graffitied wall in Oaxaca, Mexico.
“The fight continues” this month, as the struggle for justice in Oaxaca continues at UNM.
Now through Oct. 20, “Grass-roots narratives in Oaxaca and Ciudad Juárez,” an exhibit of revolutionary art from Oaxaca paired with photographs of Ciudad Juárez, is displayed in the Herzstein Latin American Gallery in Zimmerman Library.
Event curator Mike Graham said the art from Oaxaca, much of it done in graffiti style, was provided by the Asamblea de Artistas Revolucionarios de Oaxaca, or ASARO. He said the group was founded following a dispute in the Mexican state between a teachers organization and former governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz.
“There’s been a lot of dispute over land. On May 1, 2006, the teachers started organizing. … For a few months, Oaxaca City was its own sovereign place. The ASARO art came out of that,” he said. “Their first art exhibits were on the walls of Oaxaca City.”
The Student Organization for Latin American Studies organized a reception for the gallery Wednesday.
SOLAS President Kellie Baker said the art is important to the school because it provides a solid record of the oppression experienced by the people of Oaxaca under Ruiz Ortiz.
“I think that when people can actually see an actual physical artifact in front of them of something that’s going on elsewhere, it makes it more real to them. And so to see these prints and original pieces of art sort of drives it home that this movement is real,” she said.
Student Amelia Burd said the exhibit gave her an opportunity to learn about a social movement that is not widely known in the U.S.
“It made a pretty strong impression on me. I hadn’t been exposed to much of this stuff before. It’s just a real eye-opener,” she said.
Burd said the use of graffiti to make political statements can be effective, especially the way it was employed by ASARO.
“I think that if you’re trying to get your message across, graffiti in public places is probably the best way to do it. I can’t say I agree or disagree with the concept of it, but if you’re trying to get your message across, putting it up on a wall where thousands of people are going to see it is a good way to do it,” she said. “(ASARO’s art) seems to be very ‘for the people’ — trying to make life better for the people that live there.”
Graffiti art provides a voice for people that are otherwise silenced, student Robert Lemay said.
“I respect them (ASARO) that they moved beyond Oaxaca to speaking out about everything that’s going on to hurt the people of Mexico, whether it’s all the way in Juarez or next door in Chiapas. It’s very powerful art, and it’s the only voice the people have there,” he said.
Graham said the exhibit also features photos taken in Ciudad Juárez by UNM student Michael Wolff.
“The photos were taken in Juárez this last summer after there was a 14-year-old boy that passed away when the Border Patrol shot him. So the photographer went to figure out what’s going on down there,” Graham said. “I see it as what happened in Juárez started when Calderón came to office. He’s taking over what’s happening in Juárez, taking over that autonomy and putting federal troops in there. It’s like what happened in Oaxaca. Oaxaca was the same thing.”
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The photos from Ciudad Juárez touch on themes that affect many UNM students, Graham said.
“Everyone has friends or family in Juárez. Juárez is that one spot where everybody goes to get across, to find some sort of normalcy in their lives, but they end up being stuck in Juárez,” he said.
*“Grass-Roots Narratives in Oaxaca and Ciudad Juárez”
Today to Oct. 20
Herzstein Latin American Gallery
Second floor of Zimmerman Library
Art viewable on Econtent.unm.edu
*
