Oaxacan Art and Politics: The Ungovernable Aesthetics of Colectivo Subterráneos

Project Lead: 

Toni Gentilli, Curator of Exhibits, Maxwell Museum of Anthropology

Affiliations:

Collaborating Partners: Gustavo García and Natalia MarÍa Toscano, PhD candidates in Chicana/o Studies; Irene E. Vásquez, Professor and Chair, Chicana/o Studies Department; Colectivo Subterráneos; Pavel Acevedo

Project description:

Oaxacan Art and Politics: The Ungovernable Aesthetics of Colectivo Subterráneos is a collaboration between the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, the Chicana/o Studies Department, and El Centro de la Raza centered on the artistic and cultural work of contemporary Indigenous Oaxacan youth. The objective of the collaboration is to develop and install a six-month-long exhibit complimented by two presentations and a woodblock printing workshop with the collective goal of exploring the subversive tactics of street art and enduring impact of print culture in Oaxaca city in the aftermath of a 2006 popular uprising, and the transnational connections of Oaxacan labor in Mexico and the United States. The exhibit will open the day after Labor Day and will be on view during the fall semester, over the course of Hispanic Heritage Month and the American Folklore Society annual conference being held in Albuquerque. At the exhibit opening, several members of Colectivo Subterráneos will present on the contemporary landscape of Oaxacan woodblock printing and artivism (art+activism). During Hispanic Heritage Month, internationally reknown artist, Pavel Acevedo will teach a woodblock printing workshop in the Hibben Center. In the Spring semester toward the closing of the exhibit, Gustavo García will give a presentation on the important contributions of Colectivo Subterráneos in raising awareness of Indigenous Oaxacan communities in the United States.