protest art – Postcards from Barton Springs

Above: Detail of “Los Nadies,” or “The Nobodies,” woodblock print murals by the Colectivo Subterraneos in the Xochimilco barrio of Oaxaca

Existimos, porque resistimos. Por los oprimidos, por los invisibilizados, por aquellos que quisieron enterrar, los subterraneos, existimos.

We exist, because we resist. For the oppressed, for the invisible, for those who wanted to bury, the underground, we exist.

Artist Statement of Colectivo Subterraneos

The one-story building at the corner of Calle Jose Lopez Alavez and Calle Bolanos Cacho, Barrio de Xochimilco, was a deep burnt red color until a team of enthusiastic artists armed with rollers gave it a new coat of deep pink this fall. They quickly papered the rough stucco canvas with a series of large, exquisitely detailed woodblock prints the young artists created as part of Colectivo Subterraneos.

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Randomly combining more photos of street art encountered during our month in Oaxaca with signs of protesters. Sometimes the messages seem the same.

The pulse of everyday comings and goings downtown seem barely affected by the those encamped in the middle of the Zocalo round the clock. Garlands of holiday decorations encircled graffiti. Band concerts continued. El Dia de los Rabanos went on much as planned, artistic displays surrounding the tents in their midst. Radish carvings were replaced by the return of the authorized shoeshine stands, bearing their own messages of peace and tolerance preached by the city.