Invitation: Have you ever made a Retablo or Ex-voto?

Would you like a good reason to make one?

(Translation:  I thank St. Pascual Bailon for giving me the best seasoning of all the cooks there have ever been in this ranch because now the boss comes home for lunch every day and the lady of the house loves me.)

You are invited to participate in a one-of-a-kind fundraising event to benefit Food is Arte, an organization launched by the non-for-profit Mexican Cultural Institute in 2010 to promote Mexican Culture though the medium of food.  Directed by board member Zarela Martinez and her daughter, Marissa Sanchez Bastien, the program was an immediate success but we need funds to continue presenting exciting events like the ones listed below.

This is no ordinary benefit.  We are asking famous artists, sculptors, graphic designers and artistic types with a yen to have their work exhibited to create  a Retablo or Ex-voto to thank or ask a favor from whatever deity they believe in and donate it to Food is Arte.

The exhibition will have a diverse and extremely  talented advisory committee: Carlton DeWoody, a very talented young artist and curator, Eduardo Peñaloza, from the Mexican Consulate who has a passion for Mexican popular art and a deep understanding of  retablos and Rene Maynez, a  multimedia artist from Juarez, Mexico.

Through the endless generosity of Ignacio Carballido and Guillermo Olguin, the art will be on display at Casa Mezcal, 86 Orchard Street (between Broome and Grand) beginning on October 19th and will be auctioned by a professional auctioneer on October 25th. There will be a cash bar and snacks.

We will have a press party before the opening so your work will be covered extensively.

We have extended the date for delivering the retablos to October 15 but deliver early and get press.

Please review the guidelines and send us your bio immediately, and if you have any personal press contacts please forward them to zarela@zarela.com

Submit works to: Zarela Martinez 312 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022

What exactly is a Retablo or Ex-voto?

This is what Wikipedia has to say:

An Ex-voto is a votive offering to a saint or divinity.  It is given in fulfillment of a vow (hence the Latin term, short for ex voto suscepto, “from the vow made”) or in gratitude or devotion.

Ex-votos can take a wide variety of forms. Traditional Retablos had religious overtones, like this one:

Translation: Miss Josefina Rivera gives infinite thanks to the Virgin of San Juan de los Lagos  for saving her life when she was hit by a truck in Brownsville, Texas

Or like this modern, naive one:

The left retablo is only part of a bigger story but evidently the Cardinal will be at a bell concert and they are praying that no bells fail. The Virgin makes a perfect concert and they are photographing her.

The retablo on the right recounts a mushroom hunting expedition and the man is afraid he might have picked a poisonous one  that will kill all his friends  but they turn out to be hallucinogenic and a good time is had by all.

Food is Arte Upcoming Events:

1.- In collaboration with Cinema Tropical and Carlos Gutierrez we will have a showing of the film “Vuelva a la Vida”, a name that refers to a cocktail often used as a hangover cure and that translates as Return to Life. We are hoping that the new and wonderful mezcal Pierde Almas will  be one of the sponsors.  In addition we will have a contest both for chefs and the general public as to who makes the best vuelve a la vida.  We are just waiting to confirm a theater  to show the film and we will be set to send out a press release.

2.- To celebrate the opening of Toloache east side in the third week of September, renowned entomologist, Mark Moffett, known as www.doctorbugs.com, will tell stories about eating insects all around the world and me or someone else will talk about the insect-eating  tradition in Mexico..  People will be able to sample grasshoppers and maguey worms

3.- We will take a whole pig and use every part  like we did at the ranch and make carne adobada,  carnitas, cueritos (pickled pork skins), chorizo, lard, chicharrones and pozole.

4.- I’ve been trying to find John Mooney to see if he woudl like to do a program relating to his hydroponic garden and relate it to las chinampas in Xochimilco that were some of the first fields of that kind.  Do you know anyone else who does that?  The fees we charge are low so that may detain some people.

5.-On December 3 we will have a celebration of the state of Chihuahua with the highlight being Jacobo Neuberg, a Mennonite from the Casas Grandes ares who will teach us how to make real Mennonite aka Chihuahua cheese!  We’ve picked that date because the Museum of the American Indian has their Xmas market (I will be catering the reception on the 2nd) and I am hoping the state will send me some tarahumara basket weavers and a friend will bring some of the pottery from Mata Ortiz.

We have other things planned but that’s enough to give you a taste, no?  We invite chefs, scholars and sponsors to submit proposals.  For information on guidelines and past programs, please visit our Food is Arte page on facebook over the weekend.

For more information, please contact:

Zarela Martinez

zarela@zarela.com | 718-724-4913

Marissa Sanchez Bastien

me.sanchez@earthlink.com | 917-545-6512