Although the name conjures thoughts of a low-budget, grade-B horror film, for one night of the year in Oaxaca, Mexico, the lowly radish is elevated beyond its common destiny as a root vegetable or forgotten garnish, and becomes high art.
December 23 is perhaps the one night of the year when Raphanus sativus, (or radish as it is more commonly known), lives up to its exalted Latin name. It is the culmination of just five days of frantic and exhaustive collaboration between farmers, artists, and their vegetable muses. While Michelangelo chose Carrara marble to ensure the immortality of his piéta, the life expectancy of a radish does not allow the two years of work that he lavished on his creation. To this crowd of fawning admirers the radish version is no less impressive, but admittedly the sense of delighted whimsy exhibited here was probably not among the emotions Michelangelo intended to evoke.
These artists have but a few days to conceive, and complete, their short-lived masterpieces in brilliant red and white before the darkening sepia tones of rot and decay begin to tarnish the intricately wrought detail.
Many of the themes are religious, reflecting the deep influence of the Catholic Church and of course the fact that Christmas is only two days away. The entire life of Christ is presented in the display shown above, from the nativity through The Passion of Christ depicted in all the detail that accompanies the famous annual re-enactment of that event in Iztapalapa, Oaxaca's northern neighbor, and has attracted a similar amount of worldwide attention from the international media.
The festival has been going on now for more than 120 years. Officially begun in 1897 it is derived from the simple desire on the part of the farmers in the local market to make their displays of fruit and vegetable more attractive to the people shopping for the Fiesta de Noche Buena (Christmas Eve meal) that follows the traditional Misa de Gallo (Mass of the Rooster).
These are not your everyday radishes. They are specially grown just for this occasion and are left in the ground long after normal harvesting time. They can be up to 50cm (nearly 20") in length and weigh up to 3 kg (almost 7 pounds), and they are all harvested on the same day, December 18th. Once harvested, the artists will depend on their imagination and skills to decide what theme they will pursue that will be worthy of the 15,000 peso grand prize. Often the radishes themselves are the best inspiration; their unusual shapes and features are the rough draft of what the final creation will be.
The loving attention to detail is as impressive as the massive scale of some of the scenes, as is evident in the face of the baby, swaddled against it's mother in the detail above.
The table looks as if it's been rocked by an earthquake and the reaction of the apostles reveals the shock, surprise and turmoil at the Last Supper as Jesus reveals Judas as the one who will betray him. You can almost hear the dishes rattling and the crash of the fallen salt cellar amidst the agitation and dismay. And although the Holy Grail in the foreground looks more like a latte grande than a chalice, it is clearly the focus of everyone's attention.
The radish displays fill the entire zocalo, with hundreds more spilling over into the side streets, while thousands of people wait hours to witness this astonishing folk art festival. The Virgin of Guadalupe is a popular theme, as are the many ancient stories and legends of Oaxaca and early Mexico.
In one of the displays, Frida Kahlo sits in a radish wheelchair painting a radish Diego Rivera - perhaps a reaction to "La Noche de los Rábanos", a surrealistic take on the traditional still life (above), painted by Diego Rivera in 1947.
If an enormous radish replica of the Cathedral of Oaxaca complete with a bevy of radish saints aligned on the exterior alcoves hovering over a zocalo filled with dancers and celebrants replete in their radish regalia, is not enough to kindle your Yuletide fire, perhaps nothing will.
¡Feliz Noche de los Rábanos!
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Bill Sheehan
Oaxaca, Mexico - December 2020