Huahtli Print
Fine art print, 21x29.7cm, £25
Profits raised from sales of this print will be split between Red de Amaranto de Valles Centrales in Oaxaca, Mexico and the artist, Ione Maria Rojas. Red de Amaranto is a community network of agroecological amaranth growers, producers, vendors and consumers, working to develop a solidarity economy and healthier food system. Money raised will go towards their 'verano de la nutrición', a space for young people to gather, cook and enjoy amaranth together.
(£12.50 to artist for printing and production, £12.50 to Puente)
Huahtli, meaning ‘the smallest life-giving particle’, is the name for amaranth in Náhuatl. Also featured are names in Hñähñu - dok'u/gink'ani - the language of my Abuelita's heritage, and Zapotec - ba-lla - the most widely spoken indigenous language in Oaxaca, along with Mixtec. When I asked about the Mixtec word for amaranth, I was told that, as with so many words, it has been replaced by the Spanish - amaranto.
Originally designed for the Cultivating Justice TransPlants zine, the image is of Don Cresencio (Chencho), a farmer from the Yukuxaco community in Oaxaca and member of the Red Amaranto Mixteca, a group of women and men developing solidarity economy at the regional level through the production, marketing and consumption of amaranth in Oaxaca. It also features a burst of amaranth grown and harvested in Devon soil, in honour of Mexican agroecology movements.
Find out more about Puente through their website here - www.puentemexico.org/en/
About the artist
Ione Maria Rojas is an artist and food grower who likes digging clay, making inks, sowing seeds and listening to birds. Currently based in Devon, she returns to Mexico when possible - a back and forth that was prompted by her first meeting of amaranth.
ALL ORDERS PLACED IN MAY WILL BE SHIPPED IN JUNE