Article submitted by Milton Carlos Diaz
My inseparable companions, my notebook, pen and camera, tell me that we are about to arrive. In fact, we stopped at a house in the Monte Bello neighborhood in Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán.
Almost immediately, Genesis Átala Benítez Cruz opens the door, daughter of the creator of figures made from garbage – wrappings, paper, cardboard and plastics. Moments later, Ángela Cruz Carrasco appears, who brings us a chair and thus begins our talk.
Art in recycling
With two years barely dedicating herself to the craft of 'art in recycling', as she calls it, Angela shows us the different creations that emerge from her imagination and that of her daughter of only 13 years of age and student of the Secondary School 'Moisés Sáenz Garza'.
"My trade is born from the economic need, the season of the Dead and to see the large amount of garbage that we generate and that in the case of my Monte Bello neighborhood – which does not have the collection service – we see that the garbage is deposited in the streets and on the road.
"That prompted me to collect the one I generate daily in my home and the need to do something with the garbage, the economic need and why not, a source of self-employment," says Angela, who also works as a worker of the capital city council in the General Administration of Pantheons.
And it is that with a population of almost three million 506 thousand inhabitants, in Oaxaca – according to data from the State Institute of Ecology – two thousand 454 tons of waste are generated daily, of which 95 percent are deposited in clandestine dumps, in rivers or ravines, which undoubtedly generates a source of infection for the same population.
A woman with initiative
Ángela Cruz Carrasco and her creations.
The artisan tells us with some anger that Oaxacans do not practice the culture of recycling, which together with the lack of services in marginalized neighborhoods, causes waste to cause diseases that we ourselves seek with our actions.
This is how two years ago it was born in it to make beautiful and fun creations from the garbage such as witches, devils, catrinas and skeleton women dressed in tehuanas or with the costume of Oaxacan China.
Angela accompanied by her daughter visits the houses of friends and family to invite them to be born in them the culture of recycling and, at the same time, collects the materials that will serve for a new figure.
Imagination, your companion
For the creation of a catrina, he tells us, he puts already used paper, such as newspaper, sheets of magazines or notebooks, into a tub with water. Once the paper is undone, he drains it and applies glue to shape the image that is born in it or in the little Genesis, who despite her young age supports each of the ideas that her mother has, because she is aware that 'time is worth gold', advice that her mother repeats to her, which she claims to treasure in life.
The artists tell us that to create a devil, witch, devil or catrina they take up to 15 days, because once the figure is formed you have to let it dry in the sun for up to a week to finally begin the finishing of the image, which includes painting, clothing and accessories such as the devil's trench, the witch's broom, a flirtatious necklace for the catrinas or the costume of Oaxacan China.
A flirtatious Tehuana decked out Enfoque Oaxaca.
Among the materials they use are: paper of any kind, recycled or used, paint, scraps of fabric, beads, candy wrappers and "everything that people believe is no longer useful," they conclude.
Present in Todos Santos
Some of the creations of Ángela Cruz and her daughter will be presented in a small exhibition that will be mounted on October 31, and November 1 and 2 at the main entrance of the General Pantheon, as part of the festivities of 'All Saints and Faithful Departed', as well as to encourage among the population the culture of recycling from waste and, why not, someone interested in giving impetus to their talent.
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Authors: Val
