Thread: As youth leave Mexican town for U.S., artist 'repopulates'

The Rockefeller Foundation sure is global isn't it?
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As youth leave Mexican town for U.S., artist 'repopulates'

By José MarÃ*a Alvarez
ASSOCIATED PRESS

August 7, 2007

TEOCOCUILCO, Mexico – For decades, Alejandro Santiago's picturesque hometown in southern Mexico has said goodbye to its youth as they left to seek work in the United States. Now the Oaxacan artist is trying to repopulate his town – at least metaphorically.

With a $100,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, Santiago has undertaken an ambitious plan to create an army of life-size clay figures.


So far, he has created some 1,500 statues, each about 4 feet tall and 150 pounds, to represent the youth who have abandoned this hamlet in impoverished Oaxaca state.
No two sculptures are alike, he said, and many of the faces have been sculpted to reflect the hardship of migrants' lives in Mexico and the United States.

Santiago said the inspiration for the project came six years ago, when he returned home after a three-year stay in Paris and was struck by Teococuilco's empty streets.

Low wages and an inadequate number of jobs drive Mexicans to migrate, turning rural communities like Teococuilco into near-ghost towns.

“Where are my friends, my relatives?â€

The tresspassers are now honored in stone. The Rockefeller Foundation has much to gain from toying with the peasants.