03.08.09: Mujeres de Maiz is an annual artistic production in Los Angeles for International Womyn’s Day, going on for twelve years strong. This year's performance was absolutely amazing! Mujeres de Maiz hosted their event, titled “La Sagrada/The Sacred Womyn,” at the Farmlab/Metabolic Studios in Downtown L.A. This was a great space for this production, which included Ceremonia, an art gallery, film screenings, Altares, 3 stages of music, poetry reading, teatro, comedy and dance. Outside you could find vendors selling food like tamales de piña (pineapple), and live art done by female graff artists. The 7th MdM Zine, which features the poetry and art of women in the collective, was available for sale and seemed to be quite popular.

Programming began at the park, which once was a cornfield. A beautiful ceremony honoring womyn and our ancestors began at sunset.

Everyone then followed the dancers to the FarmLab, a place to explore, promote and create projects of self sustainability combined with art. Like this car!

 

The Art gallery featured some of the most talented artists in Los Angeles. Here are a few pieces that were shown:

 

This is a picture of the film screening taking place:

This was a beutiful installation created by artist, Lilia Ramirez. Everything about it was wonderful, the dress was made out of corn husks, and the center piece on the floor included the 4 colors of maiz (corn) representing the 4 directions and the 4 races on earth.

 Outside there was good healthy food like the tasty mushroom and spinach quesadilla. There were many vendors such as jewelery designers, fashion designers, authors, health educators, and more. I was caught up in the moment and didn’t take a picture. But hey, you can’t blame me for all the wonderful distractions and beautiful energy that I had to take in.

The outside stage featured Hip-Hop artists such as Medussa and Australian Chicana Maya Jupitor. The first picture bellow is Josefina Lopez,  playwright and screenwriter for “Real Women Have Curves” (2002). She read several poems which included her “Ode to Boyle Heights”, “Journey to Los Angeles” and a reminder to us all that, “All Women are Beautiful”. I have to mention this piece dedicated to all her ex-boyfriends. The crowd could not stop laughing, it was titled, “My Low Self-Esteem Days” and it goes likes this:

Si te quise fue porque I had low self-esteem.

If I swore i’d always be by your side, was because I had nothing better to do.

Si te dije you were a great lover, was because I had nothing better to compare it to.

If I said you and me were meant to be, was because I thought I couldn’t find any better.

Si te Dije que te amaba con todo mi alma, was because I hadn’t found myself.

If you think that now that time has passed, and my low self-esteem days are gone, that I’m a bitch, a whore, a liar.

Well then go ahead!

Cause you ain’t my master, my father, my hero, my lover…

Shit! I ain’t even gonna bother… to address your remarks.

Time has proved me stronger, I don’d need your approval any longer.

So today I aint even gonna bother…

To let you know how good it’s been…

without you.

 

This might not be my best picture of Josefina but this picture demonstrates her power. She’s definitely one of my Sheros. She’s brilliant, intelligent, and savvy. Very intuitive and inspiring. I took a playwriting workshop with her, and although I did not finish my play, I found something even more important, i found my identity as a writer.

SKIM was also a featured performer this night. SKIM is another one of my Sheros. She is a Korean American Hip Hop artist fusing cultures and musical genres. She has a great voice, amazing lyrical wisdom, and radiant energy. She came out with 4 other artists holding Korean drums. SKIM sang a Korean ballad turned Hip Hop called, “sarang”, which means love. I can’t express how dope she is. She just is and if you haven’t seen her perform you need to track her down for her next performance.

 

So i have run out of synonyms for amazing and beautiful. But I can not describe this event any different. It was an amazingly beautiful event and it makes me proud to be a womyn from L.A. And it also makes me believe that …

 

The womyn in this city have already started the RE-CREATION! 

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