Guillermo Olguín
Oaxaca de Juárez has long been a city celebrated by cultural travelers: revered for its complex cuisine (among the most sophisticated in the world), its contributions to folk and modern art and—no trivial matter in Mexico—its safety. But during the second half of 2006, violent protests against the despised state governor turned ugly: Locals took to the streets, set buses on fire and erected barricades in the Zócalo, the central square. Restaurants closed their doors, and travelers stayed away. But art flourished. And once the army restored peace toward the end of the year, the postmodernist painters, sculptors and conceptual artists who congregate in Oaxaca helped the city’s restaurants recover. When the recent swine-flu panic threatened to paralyze Oaxaca’s businesses once more (after a few fearful weeks, tourists rightly returned), the artists again showed their support by continuing to frequent their favorite food hangouts.
It turns out that many of Oaxaca’s visual and conceptual provocateurs care deeply about protecting the city’s food traditions. Indeed, when McDonald’s planned to open an outpost in the Zócalo, renowned artist Francisco Toledo and his friends set up a stand in front of the proposed location and gave away tamales, atole (an indigenous drink made from ground corn) and other deeply regional foods—and McDonald’s skulked away to the suburbs.
When I arrived in Oaxaca three years ago, I was immediately drawn in by this subversive atmosphere. In my work as a writer I often collaborate with visual artists. Also, I am a troublemaker. And so, as I explored the terrific restaurants, cafés and bars where artists and intellectuals gather, I formulated my own idea for an art exhibit.
My concept was inspired by the intriguing tug-of-war taking place daily on my street: Artists would put up exquisite political graffiti on the walls one day; the authorities would whitewash it the next. My idea—for which I could have been deported—was to create a fictional curator: El Sargento Detective Jorge “Saúl” Converso, the policeman responsible for whitewashing the city walls. Converso would invite local artists to submit work to a gallery, which he would then tastefully censor and put on display.
http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/oaxacas-art-and-food-rebels