December celebrations in Oaxaca

2015

 Little Angels, Noche Buena 2016

from Night of the Radishes, 2016

Oaxaca is at its best in December, with two remarkable celebrations, the Night of the Radishes on the 23rd, and Las Posadas, on the 24th.

You can view a selection of my photos of the Night of the Radishes here.

And from Las Posodas, or Noche Buena at this URL.

I have a name--latest venue

Tom Feher's photos of migrantes en route from central America and Mexico to the U.S, along with their stories in their own words, will be on display at the Zimmerman Library, University of New Mexico, in Albuquerque, NM, from August 17 through October 10, 2015.

Here are some photos of the installation (thanks to Prof. Suzanne Schadl):

 

 

Kudos for Viva Oaxaca

Mother and Child, Oaxaca, 2011     Credit: REA

It's very gratifying when we hear that our insider's guide to Oaxaca, Viva Oaxaca, really added to someone's visit to our favorite city. Here's the most recent such comment:

I wanted to write and thank you for publishing Viva Oaxaca. My partner and I 
stayed 10 days in Oaxaca in the beginning of October, and used your book 
constantly. It was such a pleasure to read, and the recommendations for 
everything (meals, parks, shopping, markets) were accurate and clear. I think we 
had a better vacation than we would have had if we relied on Lonely Planet and 
Trip Advisor. Your love and enthusiasm for Oaxaca is contagious, and 
appreciated.

The things we enjoyed the most were the guided tour of the Botanical Garden, the 
Tamayo Museum, and eating lunch at Itanoni.  We might have missed out on the 
Botanical Garden and Itanoni if we didn't have your book compelling us to go 
there. We were last in Oaxaca in 1992 for the radish festival/Christmas holiday, 
and being there again felt both familiar and different. It was nice to be in 
Oaxaca during the off season (although we were the only guests at our hotel some 
nights). It is still charming and fun and cosmopolitan all at the same time.

I don't normally write fan letters, but it made me wish for a book like yours every 

time we travel.

Thanks again,

J.B and D.G., New York City

"I have a name"

I have a name is a project that sets out to illustrate, through photos and biographies, that the often nameless, faceless migrants trying to enter the U.S. from Latin America are real people...individuals with names, faces, and histories.

For the past eighteen months, Tom Feher, a talented photographer, and I have been working on this project in Mexico. Tom has been taking photos of Latin American migrants passing through a shelter in Oaxaca, Mexico on their way to the U.S., and I’ve been interviewing them. Our goal is to produce a movable exposition of 30 or more life-sized photos and written vignettes that will convey what we’ve been learning firsthand--that it’s one thing to have a concept such as “migrant,” “migrant worker,” “undocumented worker,” or “illegal alien,” and quite another to know people as individuals with their own names, faces, life stories and dreams.

The inspiration for this project came to Tom when a neighbor of his in Seattle kept referring to a worker as “Jose” or “the Mexican.” When Tom spoke with “Jose,” he found out that he was neither Mexican nor named Jose. That was the catalyst for I have a name. Tom and I want to do what we can to let people meet the usually nameless and faceless migrants who pick our food, staff our restaurants, and build and maintain our homes. We think this approach has the potential to change hearts and minds. We’ve now interviewed and photographed 18 men and women, about half the number we want for the exposition. We’ve lined up our first venue, Trinity Church in Boston, for December, 2014.

Putting together an exhibit like this will require considerable financial support. Tom has calculated the material and transportation costs of the project at about $25,000. We hope to raise this amount through the funding site indiegogo.com. Any contribution you can make, from $1.00 up, will help. You can see more about I have a name by clicking here  or on any of the linkes above, or by navigating to indiegogo.com and searching for "I have a name." And, if you feel as we do that this is a worthwhile project, please send this note on to some of your friends or associates.

Thanks very much for your time and attention, and, hopefully, your support.

Robert Adler

Christmas Eve celebration, Oaxaca, 2012

Oaxaca has just finished its unique Christmas celebrations for 2012. You can view a short slideshow of the posadas--processions--circling Oaxaca's zocalo on Christmas Eve at this URL.

Here's one photo from the evening:

Oaxaca's International Film Festival--3rd edition--starts tomorrow! It's scheduled for November 8-17, 2012. This is a great event, one where you can view new independent films from hilarious or edgy short subjects to full length feature films, and get to meet and speak to many of directors, producers, writers and actors. You can read all about it at the hyperlink above. They have the full ten-day schedule posted online. The festival's founder, Ramiz Azar tells us they'll be screening 156 films from 50 countries, including 30 feature films and more than a hundred documentaries and short subjects. All non-English-language films will be subtitled in English. You can buy tickets and dive in at the festival's center, in the Plaza de San Jeronimo on the pedestrianized Alcala. The center will be staffed every day of the festival from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Day of the Dead, Xoxocotlan, Oaxaca, 2012

Oaxaca's neighbor city, Xoxocotlan, is famous for its celebration of Muertos, or the Day of the Dead. Usually its old and new cemeteries are glowing with candles, the graves covered with flowers and surrounded by the families of departed souls who are expected to return for a visit at this time. The celebration tonight, October 31, 2012, was dampened by an unseasonable rain. When we saw the cemeteries, there were relatively few flower-decked, candlelit graves, although some families were starting to arrive for the night. However, we were able to catch a few colorful moments--

A young boy stands guard at a family grave

A very young Catrina

A Catrina in a sand painting

Death playing his magic flute

A giant figure of Death, dancing in the street