Week 8 Post: Border Arte

 I chose to write on Gloria Anzaldua's essay "Border Arte" because I constantly feel what Anzaldua described as "passively consuming and appropriating indigenous culture" (341). As she explained her experience in the museum and how they tried to recreate the ancient city of Tenochtitlan, I could not help but remember the first time I visited Tenochtitlan. When I was there, I was passing by all the vendors and it did not occur to me that these were real and LIVING indigenous people selling their arte and culture. I, an Americanized tourist/visitor, was passively consuming their indigenous culture without a second thought. I think it has to do with the white-washed version of history that I was taught in American schools that made me think indigenous peoples were dead or dying. Yet, there they were approaching me on the dirt roads that led to the Sun pyramid selling jewelry and carved obsidian. Using that same logic,  indigenous people like indigenous art is still living in the present. Therefore, border arte in many ways is not so much an appropriation of indigenous art, but is inspired and mixes with other contemporary art. 

The most prominent example of border arte to me is Chicano Park. As seen in the picture the old mixes with the new because there are hints of indigeneity and the present.  Also, muralism is considered contemporary, but really our ancestors were painting and carving on the walls before colonization. If Gloria Anzaldua were to visit Chicano park, I do not think she would still feel the same sense of appropriation as she did when she walked the white man's museum exhibit. Border Arte like these murals are a way for the community to learn about their ancestors directly from members of their community and not white historians.