Lecture and Art Event
International Women’s Day
Lena Bartula 
Sat, Mar 7, 3pm
Sala Quetzal
Bibloteca Pública
Insurgentes 25

“One in three women globally will be beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime, with rates reaching 70% in some countries. Violence against women takes many forms including rape, female genital cutting, domestic violence, acid burning, dowry deaths, honor killings and other harmful practices. It is a global health crisis, human rights violation, and moral outrage that contributes to instability and insecurity throughout our world.” –Amnesty International

Women’s blouses, women’s histories
By Beverley Ashe

From a collective desire to shed light on the issue of violence against women comes a small group of women with a big idea. March 7, the day before International Women’s Day, seems as good a time as any to begin a series of art events leading up to November 25, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

The public is invited to help launch the project at a presentation by San Miguel artist Lena Bartula, who is a firm believer that art has the power to transform, heal, and help manifest a better world, Bartula uses her contemporary huipiles as a metaphor for the cover-up and uncovering of women’s stories. A huipil is the traditional blouse of Mexican and Guatemalan women. International Women’s Day originated among workers in a shirtwaist (blouse) factory, so it seems appropriate that Bartula´s huipiles introduce the project. Created of recycled corn or bean bags, lottery posters, oilcloth, corn husks, market bags and bandanas, the huipiles illuminate the lives of women who have been silenced politically, emotionally or physically—whether because they demanded an education or to decide their own fate, or did not know they had any rights. Each huipil represents a woman’s body. Even the phonetic pronunciation, ‘we-peel,’ suggests how something hidden becomes changed when exposed. 

The idea for the group came when Bartula realized last November 24 that she had not yet worked on a huipil honoring the Mirabal sisters. Minerva, Patria and Maria Teresa Mirabal, part of an underground movement to overthrow the Dominican dictator Trujillo, were brutally murdered in 1960 and have since become symbols of courage, dignity, and strength. The Socialist Democratic Party in Puerto Vallarta was holding art events for the International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women, started in 1961 to honor the Mirabal sisters. When Bartula discovered many countries and cities around the world pay tribute with art events, she felt that it was time to include San Miguel de Allende in the global cause. 

Bartula´s presentation will include the people and places that inspired her to create this series. For example, spending time at the tianguis moved her to create La Vendadora, in honor of the women who sell pottery, textiles, toys or produce in the mercados. One of the ubiquitous market bags is fashioned into a huipil whose center features a gold-trimmed Virgin of Guadalupe, to whom las vendadoras give their gratitude after each sale. La Frijolera honors women whose labor in the fields puts food on the tables of the world, with a huipil made from a white plastic bag that Bartula found blowing down the street in Pozos.

For the increasing number of victims of femicide in Ciudad Juarez, the huipile titled Ni Una Mas! hangs ragged and dirty, like an old shirt left in the desert. Pink crosses on black cotton mimic the signs painted on telephone poles and walls each time another young woman’s body is found; along the border is the cry of the victim’s families: “Not One More!” 

A red Socialist star, a black mask with eyeholes, and bandanas in red, yellow and black embellish a huipil in honor of Comandanta Ramona, a Tzotzil peasant in Chiapas who fought with the Zapatistas until her death in 2006. Promoting equality and dignity for indigenous women, Ramona declared, “We are not gathered here today to change the world, we are here with a more modest proposal—to create a new world.” 

Other huipiles honor individual women like Anna Mae Aquash, Minerva Mirabal, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, Alaide Foppa and Nadia Anjuman recall not only their personal stories but also the epoch and society in which they lived. Mythical female characters are commemorated, as are deities like Corn Mother, whose huipil is made of corn husks. The material is a reminder that, because of companies like Monsanto, maize, the sacred food of the Mexican people is endangered. This is a problem in many other parts of the world as well, and there is known to be a strong connection between respect for the environment and respect for women and children. All the huipiles are virtually the same size and shape because Bartula believes that if we see ourselves as ‘everywoman’ we are more likely to empathize with other women’s situations and hear their plea for rights, justice and peace. 

The talk will include a question-and-answer period, and those interested in the elimination of violence against women can sign up to help to create a new world for all of us. For more information: lenabartula@gmail.com.  


Beverley Ashe, an artist and curator from Santa Fe, New Mexico, lives in the San Miguel area. Her work can be found at www.beverleyashe.com.