Nuevas Ancestras.
New Ancestors, the women from the Istmo de Tehuantepec.
Nuevas Ancestras is an ongoing project made of collaborative portraits that admire the Zapotec identity and memory of the women from the Istmo de Tehuantepec (Oaxaca, México) and their relationship with that territory. It also traces a personal journey in search of belonging after my own long exile.
In 2018, my curiosity about the multiple female representations from the Istmo made me want to approach those women well known from their delicate flowers, and the strength of their presence. I arrived at a landscape with a carpet of mangoes, in a land that shakes and breaks, with a wind that dances with the dust, under a sun that itches. It felt so familiar to be there that every trip after feels like the closest thing to returning home.
I started to naturally weave relationships with women of my generation, or who are entering adulthood. They are agents of change; artists, poets, rappers, actors, single mothers, activists, they are rebels who want to take charge of their destinies despite the colonial and patriarchal wounds. For the sessions they choose how to represent themselves in front of the camera, and they tell their stories through their traditional garments, the huipiles and enaguas. These pieces are loaded with legacy and emotions, they serve as a family archive as they are usually inherited from their grandmothers. They represent memory. In the images, I also infiltrate details and nuances that speak about my own forgetting.
Our shared reflections sprouted more questions: How do they experience the duality of embracing traditions and questioning inherited roles? What does it mean to dress with their family’s heirlooms? What legacy do they want to leave as the new ancestors?
In order to understand the historical context of the garments, I collaborated with Mayra Cernas in her research project ‘Como Hacer un Huipil’ (how to make a huipil). This allowed me to delve into the origins, the colonial imposition, and the representations from foreign gazes that often exoticize indigenous bodies. As part of my intention to create new narratives, I have also gotten involved with the community; I have imparted free workshops for the youth and shared the creative process with a presentation/talk open to the public.