Zapotec Aesthetics: The Heart of an Indigenous Community

Name: Zapotec Aesthetics: The Heart of an Indigenous Community
Start: 2025-03-04T12:00:00-05:00
Location: 416 N Indiana Ave, Bloomington, IN, United States, Indiana 47408

Schedule

Tue, 04 Mar, 2025 at 12:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

416 N Indiana Ave, Bloomington, IN, United States, Indiana 47408 | Bloomington, IN

Join us for a talk on Zapotec aesthetics and society presented by Anya Peterson Royce.
Juchitán’s unique ability to support generations of risk-takers and border-crossers lies in its long history of choosing transformation over stasis. That they have been so successful is a testament to their ability to work as a community while respecting the contribution of each individual member. One of the driving forces behind this lies in the way that an aesthetic sensibility lies at the heart of this Zapotec community.
The arts and artists are broadly conceived. Transformation lies at the heart of it; transformation that has a deep aesthetic component and is practiced by those who take great care with their craft both in its making and in what it contributes to Zapotec society. These artists include poets, painters, and musicians, but also prayer leaders, goldsmiths, shamans, cooks, potters, embroiderers, hammock-makers, healers, oxcart drivers, designers of spaces for special occasions, dancers, teachers. As poet Irma Pineda has said “We create to believe, to remember. Alive in this way, we can illuminate the world.”
The presentation will set the material culture within the larger context of the transformative Zapotec aesthetic. We will see clothing and textiles, jewelry, photographs of the city and its celebrations; we will listen to poet Irma Pineda and learn about extraordinary creators of traditional clothing and jewelry, cooks renowned for their traditional cuisine, and artists whose work is transformative.
Parking Information:
Limited complimentary parking is available in front of the museum entrance off Indiana Avenue. Parking is free on weekends and on weekdays after 5:00 PM in the neighborhoods surrounding the museum and at the nearby Poplars Garage. Paid parking options include the McCalla Building lot off Indiana Avenue, the Indiana Memorial Union lots, and metered street parking in the downtown/Sample Gates area.
About Anya Peterson Royce:
Anya Peterson Royce, IU Chancellor’s Professor of Anthropology and Comparative Literature, emerita, and External Examiner, Irish World Academy of Music and Dance is a cultural anthropologist who began her now 57-year field research with the Isthmus Zapotec of Juchitán, Oaxaca in 1968. Her work spans the political importance of the indigenous Juchitecos, the place of the arts and crafts that are fundamental to community life, and the social practices that bind family and community-wide groups together. Royce has published books, articles, chapters, blogs, and poetry in English and Spanish, contributed prefaces to books by local historians, has done two major exhibits of her Juchitán photographs and given lectures in the city. Her place in the community has been recognized by the awarding of the Medalla Binniza (Medal of the Zapotec People), the first non-Mexican to be so honored.
Questions?
For accessibility assistance or questions about this event, please reach out to Camden Hill at [email protected] or (812) 855-1696.