Many people visit Oaxaca and never realize that the ornate building at the south end of the Zocalo is home to a magnificent mural. This monumental work by muralist Arturo García Bustos, a student of Frida Kalho, portrays a visual history of Oaxaca from prehispanic to modern times. Becoming acquainted with the mural is a good place for visitors to expand their knowledge of this wonderful city. Learning about our hosts’ stories is also one way to say thank you for welcoming us into their homes.

The interactive presentation, “Oaxaca’s Stories portrayed in a hidden mural,” offers memorable explanations and a self-guided-tour handout to prepare you to visit the mural. Standing in front of the mural, one enjoys the brilliant portrayal of 20,000 years of life in Oaxaca, captured on 220 square meters of life-size images enveloping a marble stairwell. The mural highlights, for example, stories related to the origin of corn almost 10,000 years ago, human origin myths, Mixtec codices, and the dye cochineal that made some Oaxacans rich. It includes portrayals of individuals, such as the philanthropist Manuel Fernández Fiallo (1631-1708), and cultural developments including the music of the colonial period. The mural includes vivid images of the leaders of the War of Independence (1810-21) who are commemorated in Oaxaca’s street names. Of course, stories related to Benito Juárez are prominent. For those who want to take a deeper dive into Oaxaca’s past, a 50-page booklet will be for sale at the end of the session.

Presenter: Brook Broadbent 

After completing undergraduate programs in Canadian and American studies and teaching at the Canadian Junior College in Switzerland, Broadbent completed a graduate degree in adult education. He spent most of his career managing training programs for industry, labor unions and government. After taking early retirement, he consulted internationally, and published books about learning to use computers, elearning, family history and the Camino de Santiago. As well, he has penned over 100 articles on diverse topics. Ten years ago, Brooke started wintering in Oaxaca and began his quest to learn Spanish and the stories of this wonderful city. Through lectures at the OLL by Mary Randall and hikes organized by Larry Ginzkey and courses at UNAM-Canadá, he started to learn about Oaxaca’s stories. When Covid struck he researched full time and crafted a lengthy article in Wikipedia about García Bustos’ mural in the Palacio de Gobierno, called Oaxaca en el historia y el mito. He looks forward to sharing his discoveries with visitors to Oaxaca.