I’m from Yalalag by Citlali Fabian
Gallery Q
100 College Ave., #100
Sep 7, 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Citlali Fabian uses photography to explore and connect with her cultural and ancestral roots, the indigenous Yalaltec Zapotec people from Yalálag, an indigenous village in Oaxaca, Mexico. While Fabian grew up in Oaxaca City about ninety kilometers north of her ancestral home of Yalálag, she recounts that she was born and raised outside of, but in touch with, her indigenous culture. Her keen awareness and interest in her roots were heightened as a young adult in connecting with her grandmother who spoke no Spanish while Fabian spoke no Zapotec. Indeed, the title of the work is in three languages: Zapotec, Spanish, and English giving perspective to the complex relationship between language and culture. In this series, Fabian has collected photographs of her family and documented the Zapotec culture to connect and better understand her own identity and worldview. “I’m trying to weave a net in order to talk about my ancestral Zapotec history—from our family perspective. In order to appreciate cultures from a meaningful place, especially native cultures, we need to have the chance to talk about ourselves and be seen from our own human stories” states Fabian.