CHAMULA DOLLS
The series Chamula Dolls operates as an open interrogation of Spanish colonial history using the object trouvé as graphic commentary on the spheres of power and race in the history of Mexico. Their sculptural arrangements documented through photography can be viewed just for their aesthetic value, colours, form, and composition; or analyzed for their origin within their historical, symbolic and anthropological significance. These Mexican dolls come from the indigenous community of San Juan Chamula, in the state of Chiapas. The crafting of these dolls and their church, one of the best examples of prehispanic and colonial syncretism, has made the community a tourist attraction. To enter the church you have to pay an entrance fee; inside, figures of saints are dressed in the traditional chamula costumes, which are extremely radical for Catholicism, with mirrors in their chests to reflect any curses thrown at them. Their altar is made of random offerings wrapped up with Christmas lights into a giant hanging ball, and Coke is considered sacred since burping is viewed as a cleanse that expels the evil spirits from the body. The rituals performed inside are a collage of catholic, prehispanic, and shamanic traditions. Photographing them is forbidden: in fact they will throw away and break your camera if they catch you. This might seem like a short story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, but far from magical realism, this community stands as an exception to the norm that they can only achieve because they are practically autonomous. The community is known for its insurgence, hermetic local rule, and their aggressiveness—not even the police dares to enter their township.
Ironically enough, their frightful reputation and craftsmanship has attracted the tourism that sustains the economy of the town. In a way, this community has been able to achieve the respect and independence that has reverted the oppression imposed to indigenous people for centuries. The series attempts to illustrate, in a symbolical manner, how hierarchies established in colonial times through race and class are still prevalent in modern Mexico. The Spanish brought the horses and the goats, the deer were endemic of the land, and the game started with four hundred years of Colonialism in La Nueva España, the New Spain. The goats represent a hierarchy below the horse, perchance mestizos, (mix of native and Spanish) or perhaps criollos (sons of Spanish colonizers, born in Mexico, who had less opportunities and rights than people born in Spain). The series is a “play” analysis and chronological attempt to record: who is on top of who? Who fucks who? Make your own conclusions.
Emilio Rojas
2010
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