Client: Museum of Contemporary Art, Oaxaca
Location: Oaxaca, Mexico
Completion date: 2018
Artwork budget: $50,000
Project Team
Artist / Cinematography / Editor
Rebeca MĆ©ndez
Rebeca MĆ©ndez Studio
Commissioner
Cecilia MingĆ¼er
MACO Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Oaxaca
Cinematography
Gabriel Noguez
Ceremony
Video Editor
Addie Liang
Logan
Composer
Drew Schnurr
Drew Schnurr
Sound Designer
Dale Strumpel
Overview
Ascent of Weavers, is a 3-channel video that was commissioned by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Oaxaca, Mexico. The premise was to create a new work of art in collaboration with a local artisan. My collaborators were a family of Zapotec weavers and healers based in Mitla, Oaxaca (LyobaĆ” in Zapotec) meaning āPlace of the Deadā, and is home to the most important Zapotec pre-hispanic archeological site. In Zapotec mythology there are various accounts of women weavers represented as warrior goddesses. Drawing from Zapotec indigenous knowledge and traditions of reciprocity I proposed a short film focusing on the healing of the earth. Dimensions variable, projected at architectural scale, color, sound. 31:19 minutes.
Goals
For a world facing social and environmental crises, Ascent of Weavers is a call for awakening and action for collective healing of the earth. Entities of white, red, blue, and black embody cycles of the sun, the heavens, and the underworld and directions of human life in pre-Hispanic Zapotec civilization. The entities undertake a journey into Mictlanāthe underworld of the Mixtec mythologyāand emerge as goddesses of weaving and warriors leading us to a more just, equitable, and sustainable relationship with our planet.
Process
Full description: For a world facing social and environmental crises, Ascent of Weavers is a call for awakening and action for collective healing of the earth. Entities of white, red, blue, and black embody cycles of the sun, the heavens, and the underworld and directions of human life in pre-Hispanic Zapotec civilization. The entities undertake a journey into Mictlan (Lyobaa in Zapotec)āthe underworld of the Mixtec mythologyāaided by Xolotl (a canine god), who leads them through the underworldās nine levels. Here they are challenged by piercing winds and crushing mountains, finally crossing rivers of blood to emerge as goddesses of weaving (Tlazolteotl, or Nohuichana in Zapotec)āwarriors leading us to a more just, equitable, and sustainable relationship with our planet.
Additional Information
Film by Rebeca MĆ©ndez with the Hernandez Quero familyāweaving artisans and healers of Mitla, Oaxaca. Cinematographer: Gabriel Noguez. Sound by composer Drew Schnurr.