Visualizing Language: Oaxaca in LA

As William S. Smith wrote in Art in America Magazine, "The works hang in the library’s main atrium, directly below a series of murals completed in the 1920s by illustrator Dean Cornwell depicting the subjugation of Indigenous Californians by Spanish soldiers, missionaries, and white American settlers. This blunt refutation is not about celebrating difference and getting along: it’s about canceling the aesthetic force of white supremacist myths."

Located in the Grand Rotunda, a section found in the second floor to Central Library in Los Angeles, sit the infamous Dean Cornwell pastel paintings reflecting his perspective of California’s history. Since 1933, these collections of paintings partake a controversial presentation of life during the “Era of Discovery” and the “Founding of the city of Los Angeles”. Most of Cornwell’s work took part in London and was “later rolled up and finished in a scene painting studio in Los Angeles”. Although Cornwell’s visualizing about California’s history received many negative critiques, it serves as an understanding of why the stories of the indigenous communities have been overlooked.

American artist, Dean Cornwell’s exhibition paints the fallacious history that the Europeans constructed for the public and ignores the intellectuals that the indigenous people had. The set of murals project the biased history that the Europeans wrote about the indigenous by illustrating them as submissive and primitive, whilst the Europeans are upright and confident. The Oaxacalifornia murals, found below Cornwell’s pastel paintings, serve as a demonstration of resistance towards oppression, and the under- represented history of the indigenous. Both the Cornwell murals and the Oaxaca murals made by Dario Canul and Cosijoesa Cernas document how the victors (colonizers) wrote history, and how the indigenous later present us with an empowering visualization on the true insight of the founding of Los Angeles, California.

4.4 Wherever You May Go A mural held in the Los Angeles Central Public Library is on display by Oaxacan artists the Tlacolulokos from September 16, 2017 until August 31, 2018. The mural displays the dual identities that are present and celebrated in the Los Angeles community with roots tracing back to indigenous Zapotec communities. The artists incorporated life in Los Angeles with life from their indigenous backgrounds which creates a form of pride within their dual identity. The mural Wherever You May Go demonstrates the migration of Zapotec culture integrated with life in Los Angeles. The woman on the left is wearing clothing from the Isthmus Zapotec region while taking a selfie which a prime example of a cultural exchange between two identities that are met by migration and presented for the Los Angeles community. In the article, Coming Out as Indian: On Being an Indigenous Latina in the US by Lourdes Alberto, Alberto describes a relatively similar example when she brought a doll to school. In this case the doll was a Barbie, but she was dressed in Yalalteca traditional clothing. Alberto and the Tlacolulokos are stating a message that even though L.A is composed of a wide Latino/a population there are some that position themselves as Indigenous. Lourdes defines colonization as a “ongoing process through student’s affirmations of their own “Indianess” temporizing Indigenous identity to a contemporary moment” . According to Dr. Flores-Marcial, “historical erasure is the deliberate rejection of historical facts” and by publicly displaying murals of Indigenous identities, it is important to not forget about preexisting societies that are still present today that were erased from history. The mural Whatever You May Go considers the preservation of cultural traditions among Indigenous communities. Migration is the bridge that integrates Latino/a culture with Indigenous practices which is the basis for the formation of keeping indigenous practices and culture alive all while still being proud to be a Latino in L.A.

7.1 Historical Erasure

Historical erasure has been a prominent feature viewed through the Visualizing Language: Oaxaca in LA. exhibit in comparison to Dean Cornwell’s 1932 murals, that are painted right above the new exhibit. According to Dr. Flores-Marcial, from the California State University of Northridge, historical erasure is the deliberate exclusion or rejection of historical facts. According to an article from the LA Times Newspaper by Deborah Vankin, these murals are “an example of Latino and Latin American artists exploring the history and under-representation of the region’s indigenous peoples”. These murals are a way for Latinos to show the true history and stories of indigenous people. In comparison to the Cornwell murals above, these new murals are one way that Latinos are telling the true story and are accurately representing the Zapotec indigenous people. These murals are making audiences aware of the power that people like the Zapotec had and still have over their own intellectual lives. This exhibit depicts the true meaning of historical erasure because in comparison to the Dean Cornwell murals, the Zapotec are actually viewed as intellectuals and as achievers, not as inferiors like history depicts indigenous people to be. The Visualizing Language: Oaxaca in LA. exhibit is one of many ways for audiences to understand the meaning of historical erasure and to actually see it in front of them by comparing two very different murals.

References

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