Join us for a reception at Richmond Arts Center to celebrate our community-created visual art exhibit based on the Fotonovela Art Zine!
Women Weaving Stories is an exhibition of a newly released art zine created by members of Mujeres Unidas y Activas (MUA) an organization of Latina and Indigenous immigrant women with a dual mission of promoting personal transformation and building community power for social and economic justice. This project was done in partnership with NAKA Dance Theater.
As a culmination of a participatory art project, the zine was created by a cohort of Latina and Indigenous immigrant women who came together in a series of collaborative learning circles where art was used as a medium to share stories, learn from each other, and give voice to their lived experiences as immigrant women in the United States. This exhibition presents the individual pages of the zine as poster size prints. Through colorful imagery, these pages weave together the personal reflections of the women’s experiences as Latina and Indigenous people in the United States.
This exhibition is presented in Mam, Spanish and English. Oakland and the larger Bay Area is home to the largest Mam speaking community outside of Guatemala. Many of the women who participated in this project are Indigenous immigrants from Guatemala who speak Mam and/or Spanish as their primary language. Translation to Mam was done by Ana Diaz.
About the Artists: We are a diverse group of women who have woven our lives and our stories into these drawings, creating a tapestry of our histories. We have cultivated a creative space where we support and listen to each other through art, caring for each other, making space and working in solidarity to transform the challenges we face under a patriarchal system. Through these experiences, we recognize the profound importance of raising our voices as women united in a movement.
About the Zine: Starting in late 2020 and continuing through 2021, we began to work as a team in Collaborative Learning Circles (Círculos de Aprendizaje), meeting twice a week on Zoom. We built an inclusive space, where we learn, adapt and figure out how to communicate with each other. Since our team is made up of people who speak different languages, using illustrations in the zine seemed the most appropriate way to express what we wanted to express without needing to choose a particular language, while still recognizing each person’s languages and traditions.
The Fotonovela is made up of four sections, which were chosen based on the interests of all the women who participated and the community we represent. In the first section, we focus on what MUA represents. In the second section, we center cultural aspects deeply rooted in our daily life, prioritizing food, customs, traditions of our countries of origin and in the self-determination of Indigenous Peoples. In the third section, we focus on gender issues. And the last section is about migration, focusing on aspects related to personal and emotional experiences that we have had as immigrants.
The Fotonovela team is made up of Adriana Pérez, Leticia García, Luciana Rodríguez, Paulina Calmo and Victoria Pablo, in collaboration with NAKA Dance Theater and members of MUA.
Mujeres Unidas Y Activas is an organization of Latina and Indigenous immigrant women with a dual mission of promoting personal transformation and building community power for social and economic justice.
NAKA Dance Theater creates experimental performance works using dance, storytelling, multimedia installations and site-specific environments. NAKA builds partnerships with communities, engages people’s histories and folklore and expresses experiences through accessible performances that challenge the viewer to think critically about social justice issues.
Español
Mujeres Tejiendo Historias – Women Weaving Stories
Fecha de Expocision: June 1, 2022 – August 20, 2022
Recepción de apertura: Saturday, June 25, 2pm-4pm
Horario de la galería: Wednesday-Saturday, 10am-4pm
Localización: Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804
Mujeres Unidas y Activas (MUA) y NAKA Danza Teatro se enorgullece en presentar la publicación de nuestra primera fotonovela, ahora convertida en una exposición.
Somos diversas mujeres que fuimos tejiendonos con nuestras historias en estos dibujos, como lo hace un telar, el cual tenemos muy presente porque forma parte de nuestra vida. Generamos un territorio creativo para acompañarnos y escucharnos a través del arte, cuidándonos unas a otras y dando un espacio para transformar los aconteceres con los que lidiamos en este sistema patriarcal en solidaridad y apoyo mutuo. Todo esto nos ha llevado a reconocer la profunda importancia de nuestra voz como mujeres unidas y activas.
Este proyecto se realizó durante la pandemia a finales del año 2020 y todo el 2021 mediante el Zoom. Participaron mujeres miembras de MUA (una organización de mujeres Latines e Indígenas inmigrantes de base con la doble misión de promover la transformación personal y fomentar el poder comunitario).
La revista está conformada por cuatro secciones, que se definieron a partir del interés de las participantes: En la primera, nos enfocamos en manifestar lo que representa MUA para cada una de nosotras. En la segunda, visibilizamos aspectos culturales de nuestra vida diaria, priorizando los alimentos, las costumbres, tradiciones de nuestros países; y en la autodeterminación de nuestros pueblos indígenas. En la tercera, hablamos sobre cuestiones de género. Y en la última sección sobre migración, centrándonos en aspectos relacionados a vivencias personales y emocionales que nos atraviesan como inmigrantes.
El equipo de Mujeres Tejiendo Historias está conformado por: Adriana Pérez, Leticia García, Luciana Rodríguez, Paulina Calmo y Victoria Pablo.
Mam
Eje xuj nchachmon qa o che ex tuj
tajlal xjaw tun tex q’on junio 1, 2022 – Agosto 20, 2022
Mujeres Unidas y Activas (MUA) ex Naka Danza Teatro ntzalaj ma k-elix tyein tnejil tib’lal (fotonovela) otz’ok qq’ona te ye’k’b’il.
ojoya xuj la’ qb’aja o kub qchmona qa o q-exa tuj (historia) chu’n qa tib’lal lu’, ju’ tisin ntemb’a jun chemaj (telar) tun jun aj chmol , jatzin jlu tkub’saxix qwitza ex otz’ok te tajlal qchwinqlala. O b’ant t-ten jun tenb’il chb’anix quna ja tum tun chtena quk’la ex tun tzaj chb’ina qoya tun jun tb’anixix yek’b’il (arte), nqo kuena qeya qunx qib’xa, ex nxi q-q’ona jun amb’il tun tch’expaj jaj jun o-qexa tuj ex nqo q’ona ipb’il tij jun sistema patriarcal ex nqo oni qeye qwitz qib’a. Chaqil jlu o tzaj t-yek’iin qeye jaj txilen jun qwiya xuj qoya Mujeres unida y activas.
Jaj jun aq’untl lu ja tb’ant tuj jun yab’il (pandemia) ch’ixtaq tel ab’q’i 2020 ex chaqiltzin ab’q’i te 2021 tuj jun programa te zoom. o che aq’nan txjali MUA (Jun chmob’il che xuj te junl tnam (latinas) ex qe q-xechil te aj tu qyol (indigena) o q-u’l tuj junl tnam (imigrantes) ja te toklen tun txi tman ex tun tb’ant chten qe xjal ex tun txi cham tun t-ten tipin tnam.
Jaj jun yek’b’il u’j lu te chaj piẍ te’l, o b’aj b’inchan alche il tij te che qa aj ajb’el: Tuj tnejil piẍ, o tz’ok q-q’ona tilil tun txi q-yek’na al che te MUA txilen te junwin qeye. Tuj tkab’in piẍ, o txi qyek’na al che txilen qeya q-xechil tuj qchwinqlala, lujtzin qe wab’j nb’ant qu’na te jatuma tzajin qoya chuj qe tnam ex jun tb’anixix txilen te qeya te aj tu qyol qoya, lujtzin qe qniq’ije tuj qe tnam; ex ojoxa nqo ximna tun tb’ant qtanma che qxjala (indigena). Te t-toxin piẍ, o qo yolna tij xjalilal (genero). Tuj tzin tch’ip piẍ o qo yolna tij n-chi’ xjal tuj chtanmi (migración) o ok q-q’o na il tij ex o txi qb’ina alchekyaq te junwin o tz’ex tuj jaj nb’aj qija te junl tnam qoya.
A jun k’loj xuj aj chmol alkyechaq o ch-ex tuj b’inchamaj chun qe ajb’inchal: Adriana Pérez, Leticia García, Luciana Rodríguez, Paulina Calmo y Victoria Pablo.