How Oaxacan Expats in California Have Kept an Ancient Ball Game Alive
A longtime resident of Los Angeles, Leopoldo Peña makes photographic works that center on themes of immigration and the environment. The exhibition Pelotas Oaxaqueñas / Oaxacan Ball Games: Photographs by Leopoldo Peñna features black-and-white images of traditional ball games played by Oaxacan expatriates throughout Southern and Central California. THe exhibition is on view at the Fowler Museum through June 10, 2018.
"Los Angeles is home to the largest Oaxacan population outside of Mexico, including large numbers of indigenous Zapotec and Mixtec people. It’s no wonder then that you can find myriad examples of traditional Oaxacan cuisine, music, and culture throughout LA’s various Oaxacan enclaves. (Oaxacan influence is not limited to LA, however, as the term “Oaxacalifornia” illustrates.)One lesser-known tradition — at least to outsiders — that has flowed north, is pelota mixteca or Mixtec-style ball. Played on a long, narrow court with two teams of five players, it loosely resembles a net-less game of tennis. Instead of rackets, however, each player wears a padded, decoratively studded glove, with which they hit a large rubber ball towards the opposing team. Currently on view at the Fowler Museum, the exhibition Pelotas Oaxaqueñas / Oaxacan Ball Games features photographs by Leopoldo Peña, who has documented this phenomenon in Oaxacan expat communities across Southern and Central California.
In conjunction with the exhibition, the museum will be hosting a conversation this Saturday on “Oaxacan Ball Games and Mexican Indigenous Migration.” Joining Peña will be Dr. Gaspar Rivera-Salgado, UCLA Center for Labor Research; Fidel Salazar Rosales, president of AJDATEO (Asociación de Juegos y Deportes Autóctonos y Tradicionales del Estado de Oaxaca); and Chief Curator Matthew H. Robb to discuss the game’s origins and its role in maintaining cultural links across borders. Following the discussion, there will be a pelota mixteca demonstration on Wilson Plaza."— Matt Stromberg, Apr. 16, 2018
This post is an excerpt, read the full article on the Hyperallergic website.
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