EXPO : VIERNES
“VIERNES. An imaginary town that really exists”
A photographic exhibition by Claudio Vandi on the centenary of Rodolfo Morales (1925–2025) Opening Friday, 9 May 2025. MUPO – Oaxaca
ONE-DAY CITY
Is there anything more imaginary than a city that only exists one day a week? That is what happens in street markets: people gather, trade goods, share their lives, and leave, and that place ceases to exist until the following week. The photographer Claudio Vandi understood this and visited, week after week, year after year, the markets of Oaxaca, Mexico, to tell us a story as human as it is unreal and even a bit surreal—including ghosts, not spirits, but the gazes of past painters like Rodolfo Morales, who years ago saw markets very similar, if not identical, to the ones Claudio saw. And it shouldn't surprise us; these Friday markets have been held for hundreds and thousands of years. So much so that, by chance, in my own town in Valencia, Spain, the market has been held on Fridays for centuries. Sometimes imaginary cities cross the barriers of space and, above all, time.
WE LISTEN TO CLAUDIO:
“Viernes” (Friday) is an immersive journey through Ocotlán Market, one of the most authentic markets in Oaxaca, Mexico. The market lights create a natural theatre where radiant roosters, ash-dyed turkeys, wrinkled hands and baroque draping become part of a collective visual narrative. Every Friday morning, hundreds of people converge in Ocotlán giving birth to a ritual celebrating the cultural richness and biological diversity of the Region. Every Friday for three years I have been visiting the market, becoming part of the ritual, blending in and trying to get closer to his animated and inanimate characters. An aging population, the arrival of giant malls taking over small markets and the threats of global warming (unprecedented water shortages were recorded in 2024) make me wonder how long this tradition can survive. Viernes is a book in the making that brings together pictures and texts I collected during my visits.
