A Taste of HAP in San Francisco is right around the corner, Saturday, October 1, 8-10pm. There are a few tickets left! Join us : atasteofhap.eventbrite.com. $40 in advance, $45 at the door.
And in Austin, we have our second fundraiser for the Huichol Herbarium Project: Wirikuta Weekend ATX! You may have heard us mention it in a previous post or on our Facebook…and now you can find all the juicy details for the series of events happening Saturday, October 15 – Sunday, October 16 in Austin, Texas. Wirikuta Weekend is the first public “launch” of our collaborative Huichol Herbarium Project and will be a crucial event for raising awareness and financial support so that this project can start to take motion! In addition, the event will serve as a multi-cultural celebration of Mexico’s rich bio-cultural diversity and the important contributions of the Austin, TX Mexican-American populations to local culture. And know what the most exciting part is? Tickets just went LIVE online!! Depending on which events are calling to you or what times you can attend, you can customize your Wirikuta Weekend. Here is an exclusive preview tour of what we have planned for this special weekend of events: Saturday, October 15th
★ Forum on the State of Indigenous Rights in Mexico (8:30 am – 11:30 am) Located at Parkside Restaurant on E. 6th Street, Austin, TX: doors will open at 8:30am for registration, continental breakfast, coffee, and art viewing and bidding.
Starting at 9 am, a Huichol Mara’akame (learn more about this in our last Blog post on the Huichol!) will lead attendees in a traditional cleansing and blessing ceremony, followed by academic talks to educate on the current status of indigenous rights in Mexico. These also provide a context for individual contributions to addressing and solving these problems. The talks will be followed by a brief refreshment break, and then 30-45 minutes of panel-style forum question and answer with the speakers.
Interested in Mexican cultural diversity, indigenous rights, and biocultural conservation? You won’t want to miss this event! Student ticket pricing is also available.
Some of the speakers include:
● Dr. Aída Hernández Castillo, senior resercher at the Center for Advanced Studies in Social Anthropology CIESAS in Mexico City, and currently a Tinker Visiting Professor at UT Austin, presenting “Indigenous Rights in Mexico: Promises and Betrayals”
● John Christian, documentary photographer, presenting “Viaje a Uxata”, a photographic journey to the Sierra Madre
● Susana Valadez, Co-Director of the Huichol Center and Anthropologist, presenting on the Huichol Center
Stay tuned for a more detailed post about all of our contributing speakers!
★ Cultural Celebration Lunch (12 pm – 2 pm)
Located at Parkside Restaurant, savor traditional Mexican and Huichol dishes while watching traditional art demonstrations. The lunch menu will offer a delicious sacred five-color corn posole, followed by blue corn chicken tamales, quelites (wild greens), and heirloom yellow beans (a traditional Huichol bean variety that was recently the subject of a controversial American patent lawsuit seeking to strip Huichol rights from the crop variety – learn more about this in our last blog post!).
During this time you can also view and bid on pieces of traditional Huichol art on display. Herbal Anthropology’s unique herbal Damiana and sotol cocktail will also be available for purchase!
★ Huichol Art Exhibition and Silent Auction (8:30 am – 3:30 pm) Set up throughout Parkside Restaurant for viewing and bidding until 2:30 pm for general public. Featuring approximately two dozen pieces of traditional Huichol yarn paintings and beadwork jewelry, crafted by the artisans-in- residence at the Huichol Center in Huejuquillo el Alto, this is a great opportunity to see firsthand the ancient traditions and symbols of the Huichol. And it is entirely FREE to view the gallery prior to 2:30 pm! From 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm, the exhibition will be available for VIP-level event ticket holders and event sponsors only, during the herbal cocktail hour with our visiting Huichol delegation. After the event, the exhibition will be transferred to the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar.
★ “Taste of HAP” Herbal Cocktail Hour with Huichol Delegation (2:30 pm – 3:30 pm). This exclusive event is located on the Parkside terrace and is limited to VIP-ticket holders and Wirikuta Weekend sponsors. “Taste of HAP” is designed to be a journey to 3 different communities, with 3 herbal cocktails, to offer a view into the world of the people that are fighting for their right to safeguard their traditional medicine. Each cocktail is constructed around traditional plants and spirits. The global regions of the evening are: Mexico, Western Europe, and India. Guests will enjoy a cocktail crafting presentation for each drink that highlights the unique ingredients and the botanical cultural relevance of the herbs and spirits of the peoples of each global region. This is the ideal place for guests to share their own cultural heritage and experiences too, in this intimate setting of only 30 people. Each cocktail is also paired with Parkside chef Shawn Cirkeil’s h’ors d’oeuvres followed by the opportunity for one full-size cocktail or a flight of 3 with additional bites.
★ Film Screening: “Huicholes: Los Últimos Guardianos de Peyote” (4 pm). This is the first of two screenings of the film “Huicholes: Los Últimos Guardianos de Peyote” (Huichol: The Last Peyote Guardians”) located at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar. This critically acclaimed film was independently produced by Huichol film makers highlighting the emblematic international struggle to protect their sacred desert lands from Canadian silver mining firms. (Our last blog post speaks more on this current threat). The film has garnered several accolades, including winning Best
Documentary at the Red Nation Film Festival celebrating indigenous contributions to film! The movie provides a multifaceted perspective to the problem of mining in the San Luis Potosí desert, including perspectives from mining executives, mine workers, non-indigenous local residents, and Huichol youth and elders. Juxtaposing scenes of traditional Huichol pilgrimage and rituals with international and modern settings provides a holistic perspective to the archetypal struggle between indigenous cultural conservation and international colonial financial interests. It wouldn’t be the movies without popcorn… Guests will enjoy a complimentary personal box of popcorn and beverage along with a selection from the Alamo Drafthouse appetizers. Weekend pass and VIP pass holders will receive dinner entrée selections and one alcoholic drink ticket for a specialty sotol margarita!
Sunday, October 16th
★ Huichol Art Exhibition and Silent Auction (11:30 am – 3pm)
Now re-located to the Alamo Drafthouse, general public can continue to view and bid on the Huichol Art Exhibition. This is your final chance to place bids on the art so don’t miss out! Bidding closes at 3 pm. Auction winners will be announced promptly at 3 pm and will have 24 hours to pick up and pay for their art before the next bidder is notified.
★ Film Screening: “Huicholes: Los Últimos Guardianos de Peyote” (12 pm)
This is the second of two screenings of “Huicholes: Los Últimos Guardianos de Peyote” (“Huichol: The Last Peyote Guardians”). Also located at the Alamo Drafthouse, read the above description for more details.
Last but not least, we would not be able to offer this incredible fundraiser without our generous sponsors. Tremendous thanks to the Mexican Consulate and Parkside Restaurant for their co- sponsorship, making Wirikuta Weekend into reality.
Still intrigued? Explore ticket options, registration, and more event details here. Keep up with all of the latest event updates on our Facebook Event Page. We are so excited to see you there!