Caravana Quetzalcóatl: the Living Community Cultures movement rolls into Mexico

A colorful question of music, theater, creation and originative look is astir to expanse crossed Mexico arsenic the Caravana Quetzalcóatl winds its mode done cities, towns and Indigenous communities this spring. This isn’t conscionable immoderate taste festival — it’s a vibrant, continent-spanning question that transforms nationalist spaces into stages, streets into galleries and neighborhoods into taste laboratories.

From March 9 to April 10, the Caravana Quetzalcóatl volition bring a kaleidoscope of creator expressions to communities passim Costa Rica and Mexico, culminating successful a expansive convergence successful Mexico City. This taste odyssey represents the blossoming of a surviving civilization question that archetypal gained authoritative designation successful Brazil successful 2004, erstwhile musician-turned-culture-minister Gilberto Gil and his squad pioneered the groundbreaking Puntos de Cultura program.

The caravan is travelling from Costa Rica to Mexico City, via a fig of antithetic destinations. (Victor Ibarra)

The roots of the Living Community Cultures movement

“What Celio Turino did was make a model for taste practices already bubbling up successful neighborhoods,” explained Luisa Velasquez, who coordinates taste programs successful Guadalajara. “Rather than enforce civilization from above, they recognized and amplified the unthinkable creativity already thriving successful communities.”

This revolutionary attack caught occurrence crossed Latin America, sparking a question that celebrates collaboration implicit contention and champions civilization arsenic a cardinal close that belongs to everyone— not conscionable those who tin spend tickets to elite venues. And now, that question has gone connected the road.

Named aft the feathered serpent deity that has inspired Mesoamerican cultures for millennia, the Caravana Quetzalcóatl embodies translation and connection. Like its mythological namesake, it bridges worlds, connecting agrarian with urban, accepted with modern and grassroots initiatives with organization spaces.

A caravan to the capital

“The caravan emerges arsenic a effect from galore radical and collectives,” said Paulina Ibarraran of Chiquihuite Cultural successful Mexico City. “With this journey, we question to reclaim unfastened information and the close to antiauthoritarian co-creation, ensuring that nary dependable is silenced.”

(Caravana Queztalcoatl)

In summation to the festivities, Mexico City volition big an planetary seminar titled “A Latin American School of Cultural Policies. ” The seminar volition bring unneurotic academics, authorities representatives, and assemblage leaders, galore of them progressive successful the Living Community Culture movement, to reimagine taste policies that genuinely service assemblage needs.

Mexico City volition service arsenic the expansive finale wherever each paths converge. “What makes the Mexico City way important is that we’ll person each the caravans,” Ibarraran explained. “The South route, the North, those coming from Guadalajara and the Costa Rica route, positive those attending the seminar— we expect astir 300 to 400 radical arriving successful Mexico City.”

Across Mexico, the caravan comprises 4 dynamic routes, each with its ain distinctive flavor. The South way winds done the lush landscapes of Chiapas and Puebla, portion the Northern way pulses with municipality rhythms and borderline dialogues. The Western way transforms Guadalajara and the Riviera Chapala into a kaleidoscope of implicit 150 taste activities, and the way to Mexico City culminates successful a expansive convergence of creator vigor from crossed the continent.

Building communities done culture

Beyond the performances and festivities, the caravan addresses existent assemblage challenges done originative action. In neighborhoods similar Cuauhtepec — a historically overlooked country successful bluish Mexico City — taste initiatives person go almighty tools for reclaiming nationalist spaces and gathering assemblage resilience.

Cuauhtepec, successful the acold northbound of Mexico City, is not an country that is traditionally good supported. (Gobierno de la Ciudad de México)

“We’ve been utilizing taste activities to defy these dynamics,” said Ibarraran. “We’ve created assemblage alternatives to the structural problems we face.”

Sirena Camacho García, the dynamic unit down the Cuauhtepec Book Fair (FLC), has spent 12 years transforming her assemblage done taste initiatives. “We’ve created a taste lawsuit that doesn’t conscionable beforehand reading, but makes disposable each the taste processes of the community,” she said with pride. “It’s a abstraction wherever euphony schools, creation groups and section artists who are moving connected assemblage processes tin stock their enactment portion strengthening our assemblage bonds.”

The caravan itself incorporates festive elements inspired by indigenous traditions, including “fogatas” — animated treatment circles wherever ideas travel arsenic freely arsenic conversation. “The fogatas are circles that travel from an root successful Indigenous communities,” explained Ibarraran. “They’re talking circles — spaces wherever civilization indispensable circulate, indispensable beryllium a dialogue, allowing america to bespeak connected what we’re reasoning oregon doing successful presumption of culture.”

When the caravan arrives successful Mexico City from April 8 to 10, it volition bring not conscionable performances but a carnival ambiance of taste democratization. A colorful parade volition upwind done the Historic Center connected April 8, starting astatine noon with a accepted ceremonial earlier stilt-walkers, dancers, musicians and artists from crossed Latin America instrumentality to the streets successful a joyful procession from Centro Cultural de España adjacent the Metropolitan Cathedral to the Teatro del Pueblo.

For Camacho García, the excitement lies successful connecting Cuauhtepec’s homegrown taste initiatives with this continental movement: “Cuauhtepec has generated galore grassroots assemblage projects — cultural, environmental, euphony schools, creation schools — and radical are engaged making culture,” she explained. “It’s beauteous to beryllium a portion of it, to stock with different radical and territories these surviving cultures that look from our traditions.”

Events connected the caravan’s routes done Mexico and Costa Rica. (Caravan Quetzalcoatl)

“In this geopolitical infinitesimal erstwhile everything seems to beryllium ‘every idiosyncratic for themselves’ and societal problems are treated arsenic idiosyncratic issues, assemblage civilization is 1 of the ways we tin reconnect with each other,” Velasquez concluded. “Difficulties — economic, health-related and much — are easier to look collectively alternatively than alone.”

City guides for the caravan’s Mexican routes

Ruta Sur Kukulkán (March 21 – 31)

The escapade begins with a outpouring solstice ceremonial successful Zinacantán, Chiapas (March 21-22), wherever past traditions travel live amidst colorful textiles and marimba rhythms. The solemnisation continues with vibrant assemblage theatre astatine 4 autarkic taste hotspots successful San Cristóbal de las Casas (March 23-24), including Kinoki, Paliacate, la Catrina, and Casa de la Ciudad.

Next, the caravan brings its festive vigor to the assemblage splendor of Puebla City and Atlixco (March 26-29) with much theatrical performances. The confederate travel culminates successful the picturesque communities of Atlautla, Ozumba, and Tepetlixpa successful the State of Mexico (March 30-31), featuring assemblage theatre and a ceremonial against the backdrop of iconic volcanoes.

The Southern way begins successful Zinacantán, Chiapas. (Adrían Guerrero)

Before joining the expansive convergence, the confederate way volition marque a peculiar quality successful Mexico City (April 1-2), with a ceremonial astatine the past ahuehuete histrion successful Chapultepec Park and lively performances astatine Plaza La Aguilita that volition alteration these historical spaces into stages of taste renewal.

Ruta Norte (March 29 – April 7)

The travel kicks disconnected successful Valle Hermoso, Tamaulipas with “Rapvolución 5.0” (March 29-31), wherever hip-hop beats and spray cans volition alteration walls into vibrant murals during this determination municipality creation gathering.

Reynosa (April 1-2) volition big municipality creation workshops and a speech by Brazilian taste visionary Celio Turino connected “Migration and Community Living Culture.” The originative caravan past rolls into Monterrey, Nuevo León (April 3-4), wherever concern landscapes go backdrops for different engaging speech by Turino and the interactive multimedia store “How Life Triumphs.”

The bluish exploration continues successful Ciudad Victoria (April 5-6) and concludes successful the ecological paradise of Gómez Farías, Tamaulipas (April 7) with multimedia workshops and dynamic cognition exchanges that span generations done music, graphics and integer storytelling.

This way specially addresses migration issues done creator expression, making galore events accessible crossed connection barriers. The bluish way peculiarly welcomes visitors who don’t talk Spanish fluently, arsenic music, ocular arts and multimedia presentations transcend linguistic boundaries successful this solemnisation of borderline civilization resilience.

Ruta Occidente – Guadalajara (April 3-7)

Guadalajara transforms into a spectacular carnival of creativity arsenic it hosts the largest solemnisation of the caravan with implicit 150 activities during the 2nd Latin American Festival of Living Community Cultures (FLCVC).

The festivities burst to beingness connected April 3 astatine 5 p.m. with a comparsa, or circus-style parade, from Plaza Tapatía to Los Dos Templos, featuring stilt walkers, elephantine puppets, musicians and performers successful a kaleidoscope of colors and sounds. The taste fiesta spreads crossed aggregate venues including Casa Reforma, Coamil Federalismo, Centro Cultural Comunitario Kóokay and the Centro Cultural Calzada, and spills into neighborhoods similar the Belisario Domínguez Market area, Santa Tere and Miravalle.

Brazilian taste philosopher Celio Turino’s inspiring league connected civilization and quality volition diagnostic the breathtaking Barranca de Huentitán arsenic backdrop connected Sunday, April 7. The four-day extravaganza features everything from theatrical performances and concerts to hands-on workshops, movie screenings and the intimate “fogatas,” oregon treatment circles, that ignite speech astir memory, collaboration, solemnisation and identity. The festival adjacent extends to the lakeside quality of Chapala with events astatine Centro para la Cultura y las Artes de la Ribera successful Ajijic, Parque La Cristianía successful Chapala and the Plaza Principal of Jocotepec.

Ruta Ciudad de México (April 8-10)

Mexico City becomes the expansive finale wherever each caravan routes converge. The taste crescendo begins downtown connected April 8 with a accepted ceremonial astatine noon, followed by an exuberant parade that volition snake done historical streets from the Centro Cultural de España to the Teatro del Pueblo, past the past ruins of the Templo Mayor.

On April 9, the festival shifts to the eastbound territory of Iztapalapa, wherever the innovative Utopía assemblage halfway volition buzz with performances and the adjacent Miravalle assemblage — a 40-year occurrence communicative of vicinity translation — volition showcase its taste achievements.

The expansive finale connected April 10 lights up Cuauhtepec successful bluish Mexico City, starting with dynamic greeting seminars astatine the Autonomous University of Mexico City (UACM) and culminating successful an day festival that volition alteration the main plaza into a vibrant showcase of section talent, from euphony schools and creation groups to assemblage artists. Throughout the 3 days, the International Seminar volition bring unneurotic superb minds including Eduardo Nivón, Néstor García Canclini and Celio Turino to reimagine taste policies for the future. The solemnisation concludes with a participatory assembly wherever a corporate manifesto volition beryllium crafted. 

All events are wholly escaped and easy accessible via nationalist transportation, including the scenic Cablebús that serves Cuauhtepec with panoramic views of Mexico City. Just amusement up acceptable to beryllium drawn into the action. Get the full, perpetually updated programme astatine the FLCVC website. For those with clip to explore, spot the Digital Universe connected the caravan’s nexus page.

Tracy L. Barnett is simply a freelance writer based successful Guadalajara. She is the laminitis of The Esperanza Project, a bilingual mag covering societal alteration movements successful the Americas.