Mexico I, 1995--gouache painting by Mitzi LinnThis painting is in recognition of the Zapatista uprising on Jan 1 1994. I was in Oaxaca about to go to San Cristobal, Chiapas to see friends. Well, I couldn´t go, as the government of Mexico was bombing the mountains around San Cristobal and the Pan American Highway was closed. I went a year later. Today in Oaxaca there is a big demonstration by the teachers, the Popular Assembly and many others against the policies of the state and federal government. This goes along with the annual celebration of the 1910 revolution in Mexico.
Still, since the violence of 2006 when Federal and State troops attacked peaceful demonstrations by the teachers and others, the most recent uprisings are not distant, romantic history. In the painting an indigenous woman from Chiapas is looking out, wondering what will happen in Mexico in her lifetime. Perhaps she is one of the Zapatistas or one of the many indigenous pueblo people looking to regain power that the Spanish took 500 years ago. Vamos a ver!
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