The Centro Cultural Macario Matus is an important center for Zapotec culture in Mexico City. It’s become a recognized center for language learning too.
- Macario Matus (1943-2009) was a writer, bilingual poet, translator, journalist, and promoter and defender of Zapotec culture. He founded the Juchitán House of Culture in Oaxaca in the 1970s. From 1999 to 2007, he opened a similar venue in Mexico City’s Moctezuma neighborhood. The center offered monthly exhibitions of contemporary painting, and weekly workshops on poetry, writing, and embroidery.
- The Zapotec people are indigenous to the state of Oaxaca, although significant communities live in neighboring states. The population is estimated at between 400,000 and 650,000 people. The ancient Zapotec civilization was among the most highly developed Mesoamerican cultures with an advanced system of writing.
- Zapotec languages include some 60 closely related indigenous tongues recognized by the Mexican government. While most Zapotec-speaking communities are bilingual in Spanish, significant numbers of the people of southeastern Oaxaca speak only one Zapotec language.
The Centro Cultural Macario Matus opened upon the poet’s death and is dedicated to continuing his life’s work. Today, on the ground floor of the Edificio Guanajuato in Tlatelolco, the center holds ongoing celebrations of books and records, poetry recitals, and musical events. Food-related events are not uncommon and food often accompanies other un-related events.
The Center also welcomes representatives from other indigenous cultures, among them Maya, Mixtec, and Nahua.
