Thursday, July 31, 2008, 03:17 PM
Amigos y amigas,
En beneficio de las mujeres y las familias de Tlamacazapa, Guerrero, estan invitados a un gran concierto el 22 de agosto a las 7:30pm en el club de Leones en Cuernavaca, organizado por Caminamos Juntos/ Atzin. Todo la informacion esta en el cartel abajo. Los esperamos - ¡¡Vamos a disfrutar esta noche todos!!
Dear Friends, You are invited to a wonderful concert on the 22nd of August at 7:30pm at the Lions Club in Cuernavaca, Morelos, organized by CJ/Atzin. It is a fundraising benefit for the women of Tlamacazapa, Guerrero and their families. See the poster below for more information, or call (777) 310 5577. This night promises to be great fun!
(Favor de mandar este mensaje a otros, gracias. Please pass on the word.)
Atte. El equipo de CJ/ Atzin y los promotores de Tlamacazapa.
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Director of Caminamos Juntos receives the 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Calgary
Monday, June 30, 2008, 08:20 PM
CJ Update: On June 5 2008, Susan Smith, Director of Caminamos Juntos, received the 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Listen to her acceptance speech about defining moments, inner oppression and compassion.
For more information about the award, visit the UC website.
Every year CJ holds a ten-day training school called Iguatlanesti, meaning “Here comes the dawn” in Nahuatl. In March 2008, participants in the eleventh school hiked between two volcanoes, Iztaccihuatl (“Sleeping Women,” in background) and Popocateptl (“Smoking Mountain”), crossing from the State of Mexico to Puebla. Group photo: Susan Smith (right side in dark shirt) with CJ promoters and crew of Tlamacazapa, and two fulltime one-year volunteers, Robin (back, tan cap) and Winston (right, white cap, red jacket).
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Wednesday, October 24, 2007, 12:07 PM
On the Patio by Maya Saenz
(oil on canvas)
High in the mountains of central Mexico in northern Guerrero, the Nahua villagers of Tlamacazapa weave palm baskets, an ancient art form preserved over centuries. Palm is the basis of the economy in this village of 6,200 people. The villagers live in acute poverty with environmental toxicity. Harmful toxins and metals in their water, soil, glazed clay cooking pots and palm dyes seriously affect their health, especially that of the malnourished young child and pregnant woman.
The women’s stories, expressed in the paint and ink of four artists, portray an inspirational movement from oppression to the freeing of spirit. As one weaver said,
The women in Tlamacazapa tolerate and are silent. We need to speak in order to solve our problems. If I remain fearful, I will never advance. I want to be courageous and speak.
Within a frequently violent and disorganized setting, the women weavers work to transform this silence -- a crippling vacuum that permits physical and spiritual toxicity -- into a compelling call to action. Their goal, “clean water for all,” reflects their belief that sufficient, pure water and a harmonious environment are basic human rights and a collective responsibility. The women of Tlamacazapa are re-weaving their lives, to ones that are rich with purpose, pride and peace.
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The RWL exhibition has four main objectives.
• To sensitively portray the complex lives of rural Indigenous women living in poverty in one Mexican village through art work done by four artists (two Canadian, two Mexican).
• To create opportunities for participating village women to engage in reflective processes about their lives, their work and their hopes so that they are able to place increased value on their own work and on themselves and are strengthened to take social actions on their own behalf.
• To organize displays and discussions of the paintings and baskets in Mexico and in Canada as a means for increased public education and support towards the alleviation of poverty and environmental contamination, and the obtainment of sufficient clean water.
• To promote the integration of scientific research on water and environmental toxins with poverty alleviation and sustainable development.
In 2004 and again in 2005, the artists visited Tlamacazapa, working closely with the weavers, visiting their houses and participating in their daily activities. Each weaver took photographs of her daily life, using the photos as discussion starters in reflection circles with the artists. Each weaver also wove her best baskets, the “art in palm.” Today, nineteen weavers have baskets on display in the exhibition.
The international tour of the “Reweaving a Life” exhibition began in Mexico City at the National Museum of Popular Cultures in September, 2006. The tour included the William Spratling Museum in Taxco, Guerrero in December 2006; the San Diego Fort Museum in Acapulco, Guerrero in March 2007; and the Regional Cuauhnahuac Cortes Palace Museum in Cuernavaca, Morelos in April/May 2007. Moving to Canada, the exhibition showed at The Pearl Gallery in Hamilton, Ontario in September 2007 and will open at the Chapel of the Holy Spirit in Ottawa, Ontario on November 3rd until November 30th. In February 2008, “Reweaving a Life” will move to the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta for six months.
The Reweaving a Life Art Exhibition is co-sponsored by Caminamos Juntos para Salud y Desarrollo, A. C. (Walking Together for Health and Development, Cuernavaca, Mexico) and the Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG McMaster, Hamilton, Ontario) with financial support of the Canadian Auto Workers Social Justice Fund; the United Food and Commercial Workers Canada Humanitarian Fund; and the Belleville Tlama Clean Water Group.
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Tuesday, August 15, 2006, 10:20 PM
Retejiendo una Vida
Arte de Tejedoras de Palma: Su Lucha con la Pobreza, Agua e Identidad
Tlamacazapa, Guerrero, México.
Reweaving a Life
Art of Women Weavers of Palm: Their Struggle with Poverty, Water and Pride
Tlamacazapa, Guerrero, Mexico.
A long awaited moment; an invitation to attend. The inauguration of the “Reweaving a Life” Art Exhibition is at 6pm on Thursday, 21st of September, 2006 at the National Museum of Popular Cultures, Mexico City. The paintings and etchings of four talented artists, two Mexican and two Canadian, capture daily life in Tlamacazapa, and are complemented by the ancient art of palm, the beautifully woven baskets of nine women weavers. These women live with the toxic synergy of oppressive poverty, malnutrition and environmental contamination; this is their courageous story of a “re-weaving” of their lives. With the sparking of hope, this exhibition speaks to our human need for passionate compassion and definitive action.
Click invitation to enlarge:
;)
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Monday, May 1, 2006, 05:04 PM
CJ introduces an international Mexico-Canada exhibition using art as a powerful vehicle for social expression. Read below for a description of the “Reweaving a Life Art Project” and how you can help.
REWEAVING A LIFE Paintings of Women Weavers of Palm: Their Struggle with Poverty, Water and Pride. Tlamacazapa, Mexico
The Water Carrier, Tlamacazapa
Oil by Yar Taraky
Daily, people interweave the strands of their lives. When people believe that a better life is possible, they are able to re-weave the strands, altering colours, shapes and textures to create a new reality, one more richly woven with hope and purpose. The "Reweaving a Life" Art Project portrays the daily reality of Nahua women of Tlamacazapa, Guerrero, Mexico. The women are basket weavers who live in acute poverty, both economic and spiritual, and who are caught in a complex web of social disintegration coupled with environmental toxicity and water shortage. Tlamacazapa is the largest Indigenous village in the state of Guerrero and one of the largest in Mexico. Life revolves around basket-making which provides their basic income. Working steadily, a woman can weave a large basket in three to four days, which will sell for a few dollars outside Tlamacazapa. Today, the women of Tlamacazapa struggle to recreate a dignified life through a “reweaving” of identity and of inner strength.
Nine women weavers opened their hearts and homes to four Canadian and Mexican artists who produced a series of paintings and etchings based on Tlamacazapa. Each art work interprets aspects of the women’s lives and the coming social changes, with basket weaving and water as consistent themes. By interacting with the artists about their weaving and their dreams, these courageous women continue a unique journey, one that is enabling them to place increased value on their work and on themselves as individuals and as a community.
The art will be exhibited publicly in Mexico and in Canada along with woven baskets and village photographs. The "Reweaving a Life" Art Exhibit will debut on September 22 to November 5, 2006 at the prestigious Museum of Popular Culture in Mexico City, and then move to the states of Morelos and Guerrero, and onto Canada. Pending funding, the Woodland Cultural Centre (Brantford, Ontario) has invited twelve weavers to Canada for the Planet IndigenUs Festival in August, 2007, knowing that the weavers are Indigenous artists who are preserving an ancient craft. Following the Festival, the women will attend an opening reception of the "Reweaving a Life" Art Exhibit in Hamilton, Ontario. Exhibition locations and dates will be posted soon.
YOU CAN HELP BY:
1. Contributing donations or frequent flier miles to transport weavers and art works from Mexico to Canada, and across Canada.
2. Contributing donations or services to produce art prints, posters and souvenirs that will raise funds for CJ and Tlamacazapa.
3. Donating time, space, goods or services to facilitate special promotional events in those locations: Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Halifax, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Victoria. Items needed include: space, catering, silent auction and door prize items, volunteer workers, accommodation, local transportation, sound and lighting, a/v equipment, media coverage, publicity materials.
4. Attending the RWL Art Exhibition in your city and participating in special promotional events.
Contact information in Canada: OPIRG McMaster at telephone 905 525 9140 ext. 27289. Email: opirg@mcmaster.ca or smithsaw@telus.net
The "Reweaving a Life" Art Project is co-sponsored by Caminamos Juntos para Salud y Desarrollo (Mexico) and The Ontario Public Interest Research Group McMaster (Hamilton, Ontario) with the generous financial support of the Canadian Auto Workers Social Justice Fund and the United Food and Commercial Workers Humanitarian Fund.
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