Tuesday, May 2, 2006, 10:29 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.
