Born: 1977, Mexico
Died: NA
Country most active: Mexico
Also known as: NA
The following is republished from the Library of Congress. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
Maria Concepcion Bautista Vázquez is a Tsotsil writer and painter from the Tsotsil pueblo of Huixtan, Chiapas. From her youth, the creative arts were ingrained in Bautista Vázquez’s way of life; she has been painting, writing, and taking pictures for as long as she can remember. Art is her way of preserving the collective memory of her community, and she comments on indigenous cultural conservation and human rights protection throughout her work in all forms of media. She draws inspiration from the surrounding environment—cultures, worldviews, social themes, and views her work as a form of protest against the inequities faced by indigenous people in Chiapas. Bautista Vázquez’s most recent work is the 2017 collection, “Xch’olel osil balamil/Espirito de la naturaleza,” published by CELALI, Centro Estatal de Lenguas, Arte, y Literatura Indígena.