Abraham Mauricio Salazar: Biography and Works

Abraham Mauricio Salazar is an Indian Nahuatl artist of painting, born in 1957 in San Agustín de Oapán, Mexico. Salazar has developed his artistic career with the use of ancestral techniques that were transmitted to him by his father and other relatives since he was a child.

These techniques are still used by several artists, not only to preserve this ancestral tradition, but to serve as a platform to transmit the story in a different way. The place where Salazar was born is a small rural town in the municipality of Tepecoahuilco del Trujano, Guerrero state, southwest of Mexico.

Currently the artist lives in the state of Oaxaca, in the southwest of the country. Salazar was born into a family of the community Nahuatl , which significantly influenced his personal development and even the techniques he used in his works.

Biography of Salazar

Descendant of the Nahuatl

Abraham Mauricio Salazar was born and grew up in a family belonging to a community composed mostly of aboriginal peasants descendants of the ancient Maya, specifically of the Nahuatl tribe.

Belonging to the Nahuatl lineage is decisive. The Nahuatl were heirs of a powerful group very advanced in economy and military arts: the ancient anahuacs. When the Nahuatl were subdued by the war power of the Europeans, they were called Aztecs or Mexica.

The Nahuatl used to transmit their most important knowledge (both in spiritual and earthly matters) through images. Proof of this are the Mayan codices made on sheets of vegetable fiber centuries before the arrival of the European invaders. Abraham takes this technique from his ancestors and paints on amate paper.

Use of amate paper

Amate paper is made with old methods from the bark of a tree called Jonote. Prior to the European invasion in American lands, this role was used by the natives to transmit certain information. In addition, it was used to record the data that they considered most important.

However, after the invasion the Europeans dismissed this technique and forced the settlers to use European paper.

The invaders not only sought to wipe out the material riches they found in the continent they had just arrived at, but also sought to eliminate the culture that characterized the original inhabitants and impose their own.

An example of this is the construction of large religious buildings on the ruins of ancient sites that were sacred to the original inhabitants.

Likewise, the invaders went so far as to prohibit the original inhabitants from using their own language and force them to"civilize"through learning Spanish. The invaders also forbade the practice of certain rites, which was even condemned with death.

Continuous tradition

The strategies of the natives for their culture to survive were many. Despite the European mandates to prohibit the production and use of amate paper, this continued. The production of amate paper never disappeared completely.

Locals continued with amate production as well as activities and rites related to it. This happened especially in the mountainous areas of Puebla and Veracruz, precisely in the neighboring states of Oaxaca, where Salazar currently lives.

Works

On this vegetal paper is that Abraham Mauricio Salazar realizes his pictorial work. With the use of this plant format the pride and tenacity to continue what centuries ago cost the lives of so many people is shown.

Theme

Salazar not only uses bark paper, or amate paper, as a way to preserve the traditions of the people of his ancestors, but the theme he develops in this format also transmits to the public facts related to the identity of the originals.

Whoever observes his works will be able to know part of the customs, habits, traditions and ways of seeing and relating to the world of his aboriginal brothers. Salazar also uses his artistic skills to denounce the conditions and abuses against his dignity, his customs, his spaces and nature.

Search for reflection

Salazar's artistic expression seeks not only to delight and surprise the public momentarily, but goes beyond. Through the stories told, Salazar tries to make the public reflect and get them to extend a bond of solidarity towards the reported case.

In order for his message to go further, Salazar sought to form alliances. He teamed up in a cooperative with his brother Roberto Mauricio Salazar and two painters friends: Felix Camilo Ayala and Juan Camilo Ayala. With them he did many jobs and participated in multiple exhibitions.

Exhibitions

One of the ways to make known his work, in alliance with his brother and his friends, was to exhibit it in national exhibitions for the delight and reflection of the visiting public. Some of these exhibitions are the following:

-"¡Provecho! A taste of the permanent collection", in the year 1999.

-"Multiplicity: impressions of the permanent collection", in the year 2001.

-"The African presence in Mexico: from Yanga to the present", in the year 2006.

Books and illustrations

According to worldcat.org, the books published by Salazar are:

• Magic windows: drawings . Princeton, NJ: The Squibb Gallery, 1985.
• The magic cycle of the days: testimony of a Mexican indigenous village . Antonio Saldívar; Abraham Mauricio Salazar; National Council for Educational Promotion (Mexico); Mexico. Secretary of Public Education. General Directorate of Publications.
• Girón, Nicole, and Abraham Mauricio Salazar, The neighborhood . Patria, Mexico, D.F. 1983.

References

1. Macías, P. (2015). The Algodones B.C. The CD More to the north of Mexico. Recovered from: cuervos.com.mx
2. Hersch, P. (2014). The painting on bark paper as an expression of sensitivity and struggle: the calendar of the fight against the San Juan Tetelcingo Dam in Guerrero. Magazine In the Insurgent Volcano. Retrieved from: enelvolcan.com
3. Monzón, M. (2009). The economic activities of migrants from indigenous peoples. World Village Magazine. Retrieved from: saber.ula.ve
4. Raby, D. (2014). Zopilote meals. Amérique Latine Histoire et Mémoire Magazine. Les Cahiers ALHIM. Retrieved from: journals.openedition.org
5. Papel Amate, pre-Hispanic legacy of Mexico. Travel By Mexico Magazine. Retrieved from: travelbymexico.com
6. My town is called San Agustín. Books Mexico.MX. Recovered from: librosmexico.mx