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Faith, Frida, and Friction....
Oct. 29th, 2006 09:52 pmI came down to Mexico City as a representative from Pacific Yearly Meeting to a celebration of the 50th Anniversary of La Casa de Los Amigos. This is the home of Mexico City Monthly Meeting, but the two organizations are not the same. The Casa is a civil or secular association guided by Quaker principals. The Monthly Meeting is the religious group that makes it home here, so the health and functioning of both are intertwined.
Where do I fit into all this?
In 2005, I was appointed by PYM's Nomination Committee to be our representative to La Reunion de los Amigos en Mexico, which met this past April, as well as being appointed by the Naming Committee to serve on Nomination. Now the Reunion is a gathering of Quakers of differing sects existing here in Mexico, which the Monthly Meeting in Mexico City generally took part in. This year however, I was the only unprogrammed or "silent' Friend in attendance, in large part due to the small size of the unprogrammed Meeting in Mexico City. I delivered a report to PYM at Plenary session before a good 300 or so unprogrammed Friends, and that evening was requested by our Clerk to make the trip to this gathering. A conversation with a member of Ministry & Oversight of PYM, filled me in on another important task which is to try and figure out how can we as a Yearly Meeting can support and assist this very small and very distant Friends Meeting, which is also a constituent part of our Yearly. So, I'm fact finding while I'm here, and thinking about solutions.
In any event, today's schedule for this celebration was light, with Meeting for Worship from 11 to 12, followed by an open house at the Casa, later in the afternoon. In the down time between, 4 of us decided to head off for a few hours to La Casa Azul - El Museo Frida Kahlo in Colonia Coyocan.
I've been a fan of Frida Kahlo for easily a dozen years, so seeing the Casa Azul was very much on my list of things to see this week. The Casa was Frida's home with Diego Rivera, as well as her studio. There are a fair number of her works on ddisplay there, as well as some smaller pieces by Rivera (who was best know for his sweeping murals - see my post of the other day). There are also works of several other artists from the Kahlo-Rivera collection, including 2 small pieces by the muralist, Orozco. I hadn't seen Orozco's work before, but was particularly curious to see some as it was his estate that donated his home to the Casa de los Amigos. Meeting for Worship takes place in the Casa's library, which once was the artist's studio. In any event, the Casa Azul is not huge, the exhibits are well laid out, and the audiotour available in either Spanish or English for 35 Pesos, was well worth the cost. Not only are Frida's works on display, but so is her living and work space, including the rather small alcove where she chose to spend much of the last years of her life, painting in her bed, with a view of her fountain and garden below. The Casa Azul really gives you a wonderful taste of the complex, talented and intense woman that Kahlo was. I cannot recomend it more highly. For more on this: http://joannao.blogspot.com/2006/09/blue-housela-casa-azul-de-frida-kahlo_18.html
On the darker side, there's much unrest currently here in Mexico. Protests happen daily. My friend Romy had planned to come to Meeting for Worship this morning, but couldn't get thru as Avenida Reforma was closed by protestors. The other night when he took me back to La Casa, we drove down Reforma a good part of way here. A fairly iconic monument marks Reforma, which apparently makes it a frequent choice for protest. (http://www.mexperience.com/gallery/viewimage.php?imageid=503&location=mexicocity&type=)
The federal election for president has been decided in favor of the PAN candidate Felipe Calderon, though many still believe that Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the PRD's candidate as well as the very popular and respected Mayor of Mexico City, has been defrauded by election irregularities. The election was last June, Calderon was certified as the winner in July and is scheuled to take office in January, but the protests continue. There are plenty of reports of potential fraud and irregularities from around the country, plus Lopez Obrador had been ahead in many polls, hence many are calling not only for a recount, but to have the election anulled. One report I've read indicated that in the state of Tabasco, over 3 million votes were lost, only to be found 24 hours later. Makes me wonder perhaps if Tabasco is Spanish for Ohio?
The other unrest that's hit the news, as well as the streets here is the violence that's happening in Oaxaca State, that started with a lengthy teacher's strike and the state government's reaction to it. Reports indicate a number of peaceful protestors have died violently, in what has been described as over-reaction by the police. Both of the translators that served the Celebration this weekend live in Oaxaca and reported that they knew of violent police action at home, which had in part made getting here difficult for them. If you're interested in another take on what's happening here follow this link: http://www.mexicosolidarity.org/site/news_and_analysis
So with a small amount of trepidation, I leave in the morning for Tlaxcala with a crew of 16 to 20 folks from the Casa to visit a former work camp site and to see what has happened since Friends left there. I leave early in the morning and will hopefully return by 11pm. More to follow upon my return.
Where do I fit into all this?
In 2005, I was appointed by PYM's Nomination Committee to be our representative to La Reunion de los Amigos en Mexico, which met this past April, as well as being appointed by the Naming Committee to serve on Nomination. Now the Reunion is a gathering of Quakers of differing sects existing here in Mexico, which the Monthly Meeting in Mexico City generally took part in. This year however, I was the only unprogrammed or "silent' Friend in attendance, in large part due to the small size of the unprogrammed Meeting in Mexico City. I delivered a report to PYM at Plenary session before a good 300 or so unprogrammed Friends, and that evening was requested by our Clerk to make the trip to this gathering. A conversation with a member of Ministry & Oversight of PYM, filled me in on another important task which is to try and figure out how can we as a Yearly Meeting can support and assist this very small and very distant Friends Meeting, which is also a constituent part of our Yearly. So, I'm fact finding while I'm here, and thinking about solutions.
In any event, today's schedule for this celebration was light, with Meeting for Worship from 11 to 12, followed by an open house at the Casa, later in the afternoon. In the down time between, 4 of us decided to head off for a few hours to La Casa Azul - El Museo Frida Kahlo in Colonia Coyocan.
I've been a fan of Frida Kahlo for easily a dozen years, so seeing the Casa Azul was very much on my list of things to see this week. The Casa was Frida's home with Diego Rivera, as well as her studio. There are a fair number of her works on ddisplay there, as well as some smaller pieces by Rivera (who was best know for his sweeping murals - see my post of the other day). There are also works of several other artists from the Kahlo-Rivera collection, including 2 small pieces by the muralist, Orozco. I hadn't seen Orozco's work before, but was particularly curious to see some as it was his estate that donated his home to the Casa de los Amigos. Meeting for Worship takes place in the Casa's library, which once was the artist's studio. In any event, the Casa Azul is not huge, the exhibits are well laid out, and the audiotour available in either Spanish or English for 35 Pesos, was well worth the cost. Not only are Frida's works on display, but so is her living and work space, including the rather small alcove where she chose to spend much of the last years of her life, painting in her bed, with a view of her fountain and garden below. The Casa Azul really gives you a wonderful taste of the complex, talented and intense woman that Kahlo was. I cannot recomend it more highly. For more on this: http://joannao.blogspot.com/2006/09/blue-housela-casa-azul-de-frida-kahlo_18.html
On the darker side, there's much unrest currently here in Mexico. Protests happen daily. My friend Romy had planned to come to Meeting for Worship this morning, but couldn't get thru as Avenida Reforma was closed by protestors. The other night when he took me back to La Casa, we drove down Reforma a good part of way here. A fairly iconic monument marks Reforma, which apparently makes it a frequent choice for protest. (http://www.mexperience.com/gallery/viewimage.php?imageid=503&location=mexicocity&type=)
The federal election for president has been decided in favor of the PAN candidate Felipe Calderon, though many still believe that Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the PRD's candidate as well as the very popular and respected Mayor of Mexico City, has been defrauded by election irregularities. The election was last June, Calderon was certified as the winner in July and is scheuled to take office in January, but the protests continue. There are plenty of reports of potential fraud and irregularities from around the country, plus Lopez Obrador had been ahead in many polls, hence many are calling not only for a recount, but to have the election anulled. One report I've read indicated that in the state of Tabasco, over 3 million votes were lost, only to be found 24 hours later. Makes me wonder perhaps if Tabasco is Spanish for Ohio?
The other unrest that's hit the news, as well as the streets here is the violence that's happening in Oaxaca State, that started with a lengthy teacher's strike and the state government's reaction to it. Reports indicate a number of peaceful protestors have died violently, in what has been described as over-reaction by the police. Both of the translators that served the Celebration this weekend live in Oaxaca and reported that they knew of violent police action at home, which had in part made getting here difficult for them. If you're interested in another take on what's happening here follow this link: http://www.mexicosolidarity.org/site/news_and_analysis
So with a small amount of trepidation, I leave in the morning for Tlaxcala with a crew of 16 to 20 folks from the Casa to visit a former work camp site and to see what has happened since Friends left there. I leave early in the morning and will hopefully return by 11pm. More to follow upon my return.
