In 2022 and 2023, I traveled to Oaxaca with my husband and two children. Our family had spent much of the pandemic in a small house in San Francisco facilitating Zoom school, kinder and 1st grade for my son, middle school for my daughter, and running a non-profit and an art studio. When we had our vaccines and could travel again, we were eager to be out in the world with the kids.
Libraries are “free, non-judgemental, and accessible“ (Hasan, 2022).
On our first wander, we passed the Centro Cultural San Pablo, an old convent spanning an entire block of the city center. Drawn in by the doors, we discovered a site-specific installation of umbrellas, an exhibition space, a children’s library (Biblioteca infantil), a textile museum, and a research library. I picked up the free publication at the door and found that the Centro Cultural was part of a network of libraries and education spaces throughout Oaxaca. These spaces are run by Fundacion Alfredo Harp (FAHHO), a philanthropic foundation supporting the cultural heritage of Oaxaca. During our two-week trip, we saw a piano concert on the central patio of Centro Cultural and often took a break in Centro’s garden space, a refuge from the hot stone streets of the city center. All of this was free and accessible to both Spanish-speaking travelers and residents. The next summer, we rented an apartment in Xochimilco, near the Biblioteca Infantil. My eight-year-old son took an Alexander Calder-inspired sculpture class, free except for the materials list, which became a scavenger hunt to source steel wire, pliers, and colorful paper for the mobiles. We attended a puppet show at the BS Ferrocarril with the master marionette maker, Alejandro Jimenez Moli.
The state of Oaxaca has a larger indigenous population than any other state in Mexico. Mixtec and Zapotec are commonly spoken along with Spanish. English is much less common. Local municipalities in Oaxaca are governed by assemblies focused on local needs and community participation (Magaloni et al., 2019). Cultural preservation is a core value of Oaxaca, a place recognized for its festivals, cuisine, and craft forms. Printmaking cooperatives with large presses capable of making 3’x 6′ prints preserve the social/political place of the print (grabado) in Mexican culture. The printmakers install these large-format prints in guerilla-art style on the facades of colonial-era stone buildings.
Many of the international examples in our Hyperlinked Communities module have focused on the Global North, and they are inspiring! Oaxaca’s library culture is an example from the Global South that demonstrates accessibility, a wide range of programming, and commitment to cultural preservation.
I loved this recent example of cultural heritage preservation that FAHHO is commissioning: the Mixtec Carousel. Using codices or manuscripts/mnemonic devices from pre-Columbian and early colonial eras, along with inspiration from children’s literature and partnering with local artists, FAHHO is realizing an iconic feature of amusement parks and imbuing it with local meaning.
References
Magaloni, B., Díaz-Cayeros, A., & Ruiz Euler, A. (2019). Public good provision and traditional governance in indigenous communities in Oaxaca, Mexico. Comparative Political Studies, 52(12), 1841-1880. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414019857094
Hasan, T. (2022). ‘Free, non-judgemental, accessible’: How your local library is a sanctuary of health and wellness. SBS Bangla https://www.sbs.com.au/language/bangla/en/article/free-nonjudgmental-and-accessible-how-your-local-library-is-a-sanctuary-of-health-and-wellness/t15blzsi9
