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| Todos Santos Photography Exhibition by Peter Eversoll Curated by Georges Le Chevallier At the Orchestra Gallery, THE LoDi PROJECT, Raleigh NC October 2009 |
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TODOS SANTOS
Polaroid photos, 1998 / scanned, enlarged and printed, 2009
Polaroid photos, 1998 / scanned, enlarged and printed, 2009
| Opening Reception, October 9, 2009 |
| Peter Eversoll Bart |
| Peter Eversoll El Canastero |
| Peter Eversoll El Cura y La Puta |
| Peter Eversoll El Payaso |
| Peter Eversoll La Virgen de los Espejos |
| Peter Eversoll La Trinidad |
| Peter Eversoll Piolin |
In 1998 I was invited by a friend to visit San Agustin Etla, a small town tucked in the mountains of Oaxaca, for a comparsa, their way of celebrating
Todos Santos, All Saints’ Day. I set out equipped with my Polaroid 600 camera not sure what to expect. The comparsa starts before sundown on
November 1st in the town square with a theatric black comedy centered on el Difunto (dead man). The other protagonists include la Viuda
(widow), el Padre (priest), la Puta (whore), el Canastero (basket man), el Diablo (devil), la Banda (the band), los Chicoteros (lash men) and an
ample supply of Espiritos (spirits). This motley crew parade through the town acting out their parody of “death”. Los Espiritus, dressed in suits of
jingle bells and sequined Lucha Libre masks, dance in clangorous unison to contemporary pop and traditional songs played by a 20+ piece brass
band. The suits can weigh up to 60 pounds, testing the physical and mental limits of the dancers. The inner forces exuded through their dancing
attempt to raise the dead and maintain them “alive” during the night. The job of the Diablo is to prevent this by crashing into the banda and
interrupting the music, thus returning the dead to the hereafter. The banda rely on the protection of the chicoteros who dole out harsh punishment
to the Diablo, reverently taming his serious intentions soaked in mezcal laced bravado. The group, numbering around a hundred, stops at people’
s homes to view family altars, dance, eat tamales and drink atole, ponche or mezcal. The procession continues until seven or eight in the morning
when the comparsa returns crashing down on the town square in a chaotic, drunken fury of living and dead: Diablo and Espiritus vying for control of
spiritual existence, a battle that lasts well into the afternoon of November 2nd.
- Peter Eversoll, Photographer
Todos Santos, All Saints’ Day. I set out equipped with my Polaroid 600 camera not sure what to expect. The comparsa starts before sundown on
November 1st in the town square with a theatric black comedy centered on el Difunto (dead man). The other protagonists include la Viuda
(widow), el Padre (priest), la Puta (whore), el Canastero (basket man), el Diablo (devil), la Banda (the band), los Chicoteros (lash men) and an
ample supply of Espiritos (spirits). This motley crew parade through the town acting out their parody of “death”. Los Espiritus, dressed in suits of
jingle bells and sequined Lucha Libre masks, dance in clangorous unison to contemporary pop and traditional songs played by a 20+ piece brass
band. The suits can weigh up to 60 pounds, testing the physical and mental limits of the dancers. The inner forces exuded through their dancing
attempt to raise the dead and maintain them “alive” during the night. The job of the Diablo is to prevent this by crashing into the banda and
interrupting the music, thus returning the dead to the hereafter. The banda rely on the protection of the chicoteros who dole out harsh punishment
to the Diablo, reverently taming his serious intentions soaked in mezcal laced bravado. The group, numbering around a hundred, stops at people’
s homes to view family altars, dance, eat tamales and drink atole, ponche or mezcal. The procession continues until seven or eight in the morning
when the comparsa returns crashing down on the town square in a chaotic, drunken fury of living and dead: Diablo and Espiritus vying for control of
spiritual existence, a battle that lasts well into the afternoon of November 2nd.
- Peter Eversoll, Photographer