Oaxaca-The Year After: La Noche del Rabanos - Night of the Radishes

The here and now... and what and why

Complacency is a trap. At least that’s what I was thinking when I up and left the comfort of a Yankee prep school gig, where I taught music, amongst other things, for 28 years. There was also that life long career as a composer, musician and artist.

First, it was a year in St. Thomas, USVI, working as a reporter and shooting photography and then, a year in San Agustin Etla, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Time passed.
More time passed and a year back in the Athens of America followed by a hasty return to Oaxaca where it is all happening.
A couple of years in San Sebastian Etla and now, just down the road in San Pablo Etla. Life is good.

Click on an image to see it larger.
For additional photography please visit my flickr page.
You can find my music on Jango (World & latin - Worldbeat) and at iTunes and most online stores.
¡Soy consciente de todas las tradiciones del Internet!
If you are coming to Oaxaca, please contact me for tours or advice.

Friday, December 23, 2011

La Noche del Rabanos - Night of the Radishes - 2011

Whew. I'm just back from this year's Noche del Rabanos and it was better than ever. How could you have missed it? Where was your head??

This is the annual comeptition that takes place in the zocalo on December 23 and involves creating works using three different media: dried flowers.

corns husks

or radishes.

With Oaxaca's fame in the folk art world, the pieces are often amazing. Some of the dried flower pieces take months to assemble. The radishes are pretty much a one day thing. They start to smell by the end of the day. One has to get there early to watch the assembling and setting up. By afternoon it is way too crowded. And en la noche? No way! The place is packed.

There are so many shots to go through, but I thought I would throw a few up quickly, with more to come tomorrow or the next day, which is, I believe, Christmas.

Some beautiful work