[HCCN] COA's Blum Gallery presents photos, info from Yucatan

[Donna Gold]

RELEASE
COLLEGE OF THE ATLANTIC PRESENTS ONE STATE, THREE PROJECTS
Blum exhibit features ethnographic research from Quintana Roo, Mexico
CONTACT: Donna Gold, Public Relations: 207-801-5623, 207-266-4470,
dgold at coa.edu 

BAR HARBOR, ME-Last winter, three College of the Atlantic students
travelled to the state of Quintana Roo on the Yucatan Peninsula of
Mexico to pursue field work into land management, government aid, and
politics. The three seniors, Zimmerman Cardona of Belize, Adelina Mkami
of Tanzania, and Neil Oculi of St. Lucia, will be showing portions of
their senior project in an exhibit called "One State, Three Projects:
Ethnographic research in the Yucatan peninsula" in the college’s Ethel
H. Blum Gallery from May 2 to 6. There will be an opening reception May
3 from 4 to 6 p.m.

Cardona’s project focused on understanding conservation in the
Yucatan Peninsula, examining how two government programs work within the
traditional communal land holdings of the Maya in Quintana Roo. To
investigate these questions, he interviewed community members, looking
into leadership, community organization, and how conservation fits into
the broad mosaic of farming and other resource-based activities. 

In addition to photos of the communities, Cardona will present excerpts
of interviews, such as one he recorded with a representative from the
Mexican Environmental Secretariat admonishing community members to
protect forests from fires: "You are the owners of the forest, you are
the inhabitants and what you do directly affects climate change-the
emission of carbon that goes to the ozone layer…it is worldwide. That is
why we need to be very careful with the use of fire because, apart that
it destroys our forests, you can be fined. … In the forest there are
many products we can use … in a forest fire, every thing is burnt, all
the benefits." 

Mkami looked into the form of welfare known as conditional cash
transfers that make welfare conditional upon specific criteria, such as
sending children to school and making visits to health centers. Her
research focused on how this money was spent in four communities. To
show her findings, Mkami will present graphs and tables as well as
photographs. 
 
Oculi looked into political discourse and ideology within the small
Maya community of Sabán, also in Quintana Roo. According to Oculi,
investigating local politics provides insights into "everyday state
formation, whereby the people have come together and agreed to be
governed on the basis that the government must meet certain
obligations." He found that shared political ideologies are rooted in
the population’s selective memory "to rationalize their actions," and
in the wider world experience of this population as militant and
rebellious, thus legitimizing them "as leaders and political actors in
the region."

The gallery is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more
information about "One State, Three Projects: Ethnographic research in
the Yucatan peninsula" contact cclinger at coa.edu, 288-5105 or
207-801-5733. Free.

CALENDAR ITEM
EXHIBIT May 2-6 with an opening May 3 from 4 to 6 p.m.: One State,
Three Projects: Ethnographic research in the Yucatan peninsula, photos,
excerpts and graphs by seniors Adelina Mkami, Neil Oculi, and Zimmerman
Cardona  Ethel H. Blum Gallery of College of the Atlantic. Gallery
hours, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 105 Eden St., Bar Harbor,
ME. For information contact cclinger at coa.edu, 207-288-5105 or
207-801-5733. Free.



Donna Gold
Director of Public Relations,
Editor, COA Magazine
College of the Atlantic
105 Eden Street
Bar Harbor, Maine 04609
207-801-5623, office
207-266-4470, cell
dgold at coa.edu
www.coa.edu