“Intervention: Indigo,” a performance that includes the work of UW-Madison’s Chris Walker, is being transformed into a multi-media exhibit this month at the Museo Textil de Oaxaca in Oaxaca, Mexico.
“Intervention: Indigo” was first performed by Laura Anderson Barbata in collaboration with the Brooklyn Jumbies, Jarana Beat, and Walker, an associate professor in the School of Education’s Dance Department.
Their original 2015 performance began at the Bushwick police precinct, meandered through the neighborhood, and ended in an area populated by artists. This project “is a call to action for the reoccupation of public spaces. It invites an acknowledgment of the violence that African American communities have experienced all over the world.”
This artistic reflection on contemporary culture touches on the importance of traditions. Their use of indigo recalls its purpose as a “natural dye used in rituals of protection, power, and spirituality.” This collective of artists also drew on dance customs from Oaxaca and the Afro-Mexican coast of Guerrero, the Danza de los Zancudos and the Dance of the Devils, respectively, which honor the patron saints of Zaachila and request protection and blessings.