Afrovalerians. Memory, territory and otherness

“Afrovalerianos. Memory, territory and otherness”, is a long term documentary and visual work, based on the relationship, trust and collaboration achieved with the Afro-Mexican community of Valerio Trujano, in the Cañada region of Oaxaca. This closeness and immersion have allowed me to carry out processes of visual representation in which social, cultural and historical meanings mentioned by the community itself have been integrated. The visual documentation has mainly included portraits, landscape, architecture, as well as the rescue and digitalization of photographs from their family album as a central element of their identity and collective memory. The consideration of their photographs of the family past intertwined with the images generated in the present, have made possible the emergence of crucial stories and reflections for the community in their search for reaffirmation of their Afro-Mexican identity, which has been invisibilized and not even considered in the cartography that represents the black peoples of the coast of Oaxaca. The proposal intends to converge, from photography -as a social link of a gaze of otherness; of ways of life that from human rights and the cultural dimension we seek to recognize in their otherness-, three crucial aspects for their social memory and identity: visual history (by rescuing and digitizing the family album), oral history (by recognizing their voices, testimonies and stories as support and dialogue with the images created) and the photographs I take of their present (considering their diverse realities and imaginaries, and even being sustained and “intervened” these images from the stories, significant sites and memories that the villagers themselves share with me).

Image taken in a landscape of the Cañada region, alluding to the photograph “La buena fama durmiendo”, but with the complicity of the young Mirly, from the Afro-Mexican community of Valerio Trujano.

The nopal is part of the unique landscape and biocultural resources in the community, being a cactus that is exploited and used in their diet as part of their traditional knowledge.

The cococha cutting season starts in March and April. The cococha should be cut before the flower comes out so that it retains its flavor and can be used in the traditional food: Mole de cocochas.

Once the flower is born, the cococha cannot be used in the mole, but it sprouts with singular beauty. In the image, Aunt Chona has placed the flowers in her eyes; in an act of confidence, playful and creative, as in a mise-en-scène: it blooms.

Brenda Leyva, on the Grande River. “Los Sabinos” is the popular name for this place because of its trees and the generous shade they offer, being very popular during the Holy Week season.

In the center of the picture Aunt Chona, as Mrs. Enriqueta Concepción Urrutia Astilleros, 83 years old, is known in the community, accompanied by her daughters María Tecla and Elbira Hernández Urrutia; Maricruz and Lidia Alcalá Urrutia

She worked as a flight attendant for Mexicana Airlines. Professional women in the community who evoke pride in the family.

Some of Varlerio Trujano’s properties are part of the Tehuacán-Cuicatán Biosphere Reserve, along with 30 other municipalities.

Mr. Luis Urrutia Astilleros, alias Uncle Liche, is 85 years old. He is the last living member of the musical and family group “Los Jaibos”, where he played the saxophone, animating the parties in the region.

José Guillermo Chiu is a young Afro-Mexican man who does a variety of masonry and construction work to support his family. He, as well as the young people in the community, did not board the train, but they have heard many stories from their relatives about the socioeconomic and cultural importance that the train had in the entire region (until the end of the 20th century), being a primary symbol of modernization throughout the country. Some villagers moved their products -mango, lemon, piloncillo, aguardiente, etc.- in pack animals to the Tomellín station, about 3 kms. from Valerio Trujano, where the train station was located. The trade was directed mainly to the city of Oaxaca and Mexico. When the railroad ceased to operate, passenger transportation by rail ceased and the commercialization of local products decreased drastically, since transportation by other means was more expensive; those who could take their products directly to the markets had to rely on private transportation.

In order to continue with her distance learning classes and meet the demands of the prolonged pandemic, Mirly Narcedalia, an Afro-Mexican student, was given a computer by her cousin to help her continue her nursing studies. She is aware of the responsibility she has and the effort it has meant for her mother and grandmother to support her studies, since she will become the first professional in her family. The image was taken one afternoon, at home, while she was doing her homework and “surfing” the internet; the sunlight filtering through, enlivening the beautiful colors, it seemed as if she was on board a ship (of knowledge), ready to be transported to another future.

Valerio Trujano is the community that currently concentrates most of the Afro-descendants in the region of La Cañada, since it was there that the former hacienda Güendulain was established in the 16th century, with a black enslaved population. It is interesting to see how the past and the present coexist architecturally and experientially. In the image, you can see in the background its vestiges and most important architectural elements of its history (the aqueduct and Ex hacienda Güendulain) integrated to the present by sharing space with the elementary school and kindergarten, where the teachers have been gradually reflecting with their Afro-Mexican students about their roots, their history and the importance of commemorating the proclamation of their freedom.

The Mantecoso tree stands out in the Cañada region and is used for firewood.

Mirly Narcedalia, a young Afro-Mexican nursing student in Tehuacán, Puebla, was forced to take her classes virtually in the midst of the pandemic, due to the closure of the University. On her dining room table, she ingeniously improvised a set to exhibit; using the doll she was given as a gift at her fifteenth birthday party, she was able to record a video -and simulate- through her cell phone the procedure for administering intravenous fluids and perform other medical care practices with her “white” doll, “güerita” (little white girl).

Tío Chona evoking the memory of her late husband Sabás, who drowned in the Grande River while trying to cross the river that connects Valerio Trujano and Cuicatlán.

Portrait of Juan Antonio Chávez Aguirre, cab driver of the region.

El Cardón is a species of cacti. Its beauty at dusk is a singular part of the landscape as well as of the vegetation that exists in the mountains and next to the road that leads to Valerio Trujano.

“Afrovalerianos. Memory, territory and otherness”, is a long term documentary and visual work, based on the relationship, trust and collaboration achieved with the Afro-Mexican community of Valerio Trujano, in the Cañada region of Oaxaca. This closeness and immersion have allowed me to carry out processes of visual representation in which social, cultural and historical meanings mentioned by the community itself have been integrated. The visual documentation has mainly included portraits, landscape, architecture, as well as the rescue and digitalization of photographs from their family album as a central element of their identity and collective memory. The consideration of their photographs of the family past intertwined with the images generated in the present, have made possible the emergence of crucial stories and reflections for the community in their search for reaffirmation of their Afro-Mexican identity, which has been invisibilized and not even considered in the cartography that represents the black peoples of the coast of Oaxaca, Mexico.

The proposal intends to converge, from photography -as a social link of a look of otherness; of ways of life that from human rights and the cultural dimension we seek to recognize in their otherness-, three crucial aspects for their social memory and identity: visual history (by rescuing and digitizing the family album), oral history (by recognizing their voices, testimonies and stories as support and dialogue with the images created) and the photographs I take of their present (considering their diverse realities and imaginaries, and even being sustained and “intervened” these images from the stories, significant sites and memories that the villagers themselves share with me).