Oaxacan Folk Art: Response to Covid-19

Oaxacan Folk Art: Response to Covid-19

Editor and Designer: Alan Eliot Goldberg

Text: Gwen North Reiss

Forward: Marta Turok

Original Photographs: Judith Haden

Publisher: The Mexican Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate 

Oaxacan Folk Art: Response to Covid-19 grew out of a fundraising drive and competition to help the beleaguered folk artists in Oaxaca, Mexico when Covid-19 cut off the tourism on which their livelihoods depend. The book focuses on Covid-inspired creations by 25 folk artists from six villages surrounding the City of Oaxaca. Part One of the book explores the world of the indigenous Oaxacan people—their heritage, and culture, and the villages where their families have lived for generations. Part Two features the entries from the competition and interviews with the artists that open a window into the artists’ imagination and the sorrow and humor they express as they cope with the coronavirus. This richly illustrated and inspiring book reveals the experimental and innovative body of work as we search for solutions to today’s challenges and cope with the effects of the pandemic. Alan Goldberg has navigated pot-holed roads to remote, sleepy Mexican villages in pursuit of folk art for almost 60 years. What started out as a vacation trip resulted in a 1,000-piece Mexican folk art collection that he donated to the Mexican Museum in San Francisco.