Anette Pier
Di Yiddisher Loteria
2013
"Di Yiddisher Lotteria" is the creative and artistic result of cultural syncretism incorporating in an original way two great cultures: The Jewish Ashkenazic and the Mexican cultures.
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PLAYING CARD
LOTERIA BOARD
The project "Di Yiddisher Lottery" seeks to maintain structural fidelity with the traditional mexican lottery game, having 54 characters in as many cards, and the peculiar verses/stanzas to announce the character. The characters have been carefully selected by the artist and will be presented in their natural environments. Large photographs, black and white, will be painted over with colorful and artistic processes, formatted with the uniform design of the lottery, but with Yiddish letters.
The traditional Mexican lottery is a game of chance (similar to the game of Bingo that is played nowadays in the USA), in which participants start placing bean seeds or chips on tablets or boards with 16 illustrations, as the images are drawn by the MC from a corresponding deck of 54 cards. The MC is a witty person that announces the cards drawn, in a loud voice and in a peculiar way, improvising verses or stanzas that allude to the character on each of the cards. The player that first completes his board or tablet announces his victory by being the first one to cry out loud the word "Lottery"!
Boards and lottery cards were originally hand painted by skilled artisans. The illustrations were "naive", and the characters were everyday figures of Mexican folk life (The rooster .... The dandy.... The tree.... The kettle). Printed on cardboard, the lottery games became very popular in the late nineteenth century, and are similar to the ones we know and continue playing nowadays. The most common lottery game is "El Gallo" from the state of Queretaro.
Yiddish developed around this extraordinary range of subtle observations about human behavior, rooted in human feelings, though peppered with sarcasm. Humor is a most effective way to connect with the inside, and Yiddish, in its narrative structure attempts to forcefully point out these subtle observations and insights, its strength enhanced by both the comic and surprising ingredient. Yiddish loves irony since this is the only way to retain sanity in a world filled with adversity. And because Jewish culture extols reason more than faith, its humor is based on logic, celebrating the illogical. Thus, the Jewish jokes have a force that can be likened to a dance of liberation.
Ashkenazi Jews (of European origin), speaking Yiddish as their mother tongue, came to Mexico mainly in the 20s and early 30s of the Twentieth Century. They fled the anti-Semitism that existed in Europe and the terrible conditions that prevailed in the postwar period. With them, they brought a complete cultural baggage, and an intense desire to find new opportunities. For many, Mexico was not only a country that opened its doors to freedom, but also an earthly paradise, and much more than they ever imagined. With its mild climate, lush vegetation and beautiful scenery and, mainly, with a warm and welcoming people, the fleeing, pained and humiliated Jew, managed to find in Mexico real solace. This way, learning a new language and a new culture, beginning a new adventure, flourished the new immigrant´s love for this land of opportunity and prosperity.