From the rebellious heart of the Mexican southeast, art comes to life Nearly 3 thousand people gathered at the Caracol VII Jacinto Canek in Winikton, convened not for the sake of fashion or spectacle, but for the word and dignity that they walk. Thirty-one years after the Zapatista uprising, the EZLN reminds us once again that rebellion has not been extinguished, that organized hope flourishes in the corners of rebel territory.
Since Sunday afternoon, the Zapatista support bases began to arrive, militiamen, militias, the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Clandestine Committee, along with artists and artisans from the countryside and the city. The collective effort of those who resist in silence and build in community made this meeting space possible: Rebel y Revel, a forum where art ceases to be merchandise and becomes, once again, a seed.
This meeting is not just an exhibition. It is a protest against art domesticated by capital, that which adorns showcases but does not bother the powers that be. As Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés said:
“We make art for life. For the countryside and for the city. We do not make capitalist art, which is one of death. This is a meeting where the woman from the city, the man from the countryside, the woman from the countryside and the man from the city come together. We come to share what we are. Because if we want to build a new world, we have to express our different lives.”
Wake up peoples of the world!
In this logic of reflection and resistance, the Zapatista call reached across borders. During the first day different languages were woven together, united by art and rebellion:
Poetry in Tojolabal from Caracol I, rap from the ghettos of Guanatos, combative hip hop with three compitas from Tulan Ka’u and insurgent with Break Dance from Patrulla Roja, acrobats and Clowns in rebellion, free painting by compas from Oventik, basketry that tells stories… all are expressions that build the common, that name the world we want, that challenge art seen as merchandise and give it back to the people in struggle.
Rebel and Revel continues…
You can follow the pulse of this event through the live transmissions by the free media and by the Tercios Compas on the Enlace Zapatista page. May the words and colors that sprout here reach all the corners where dignity still resists.
Coverage by #MediosLibres Radio Pozol, in collaboration with Armadilla del Sur and Compas Arriba.
The event is being live- streamed at Tejemedios, Desinformémonos and also at Frayba. The first day’s activities are available on Autonomous YouTube at at Wachapunks and at Enlace Zapatista.
Original article by RadioPozol.
Translated by Schools for Chiapas.