Biography
Dr. Xochitl Flores-Marcial is an interdisciplinary historian, she studies Indigenous Intellectual and Cultural History focusing on the Zapotec society of Oaxaca, Mexico. Her book project, A History of Guelaguetza in Zapotec Communities of the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, traces the evolution Guelaguetza as a Mesoamerican social network of collaboration and exchange from the pre-Columbian period to the present. Currently, she is a board member and contributor of the Ticha Project, an online Zapotec-language platform and digital text module (winner of an American Council for Learned Societies Digital Extension grant for 2019-2020). Dr. Flores-Marcial was also the principal consultant for production and development of the internationally acclaimed Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA exhibit Visualizing Language: Oaxaca in LA (Getty Foundation 2017-2018) which highlighted the transnational experience of Indigenous Oaxacans. As a member of the Zapotec community of Oaxacalifornia, she actively uses her scholarly work with indigenous languages to collaborate with community stakeholders, serving as a spokesperson and community leader both locally and abroad.
Recent Projects
- Participant (2019) KCET television series Artbound Episode title: Dia de Muertos/Day of the Dead, 2019.
- Grant/Exhibit Consultant (2015-2018) Library Foundation of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.
Project Title: “Visualizing Language: Oaxaca in LA” Exhibit part of the Getty Foundation’s Initiative Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA “A Celebration Beyond Borders”. - Participant (2018) Alabra Films cinematic essay title: The Other Mexicans “Indigenous Mexicans in the United States”, premiered at the Palm Springs Art Festival, Fall 2018.
- Participant (2017) Institute of Contemporary Art Los Angeles. “(81) ArtMetroPolis: Shizu Saldamando - YouTube.” Artwork: Artist Educators (2016) by Shizu Saldamando. Location: Metro Expo Line: Palms Station Featuring LA Metro Art with Xochitl Flores-Marcial, Giant Robot, Eric Nakamura, Los Angeles Unified School District and Katherine Rose Allen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70QOngEy__4.
- Participant (2016) KCET television series Artbound Episode title: Artesanos/Artisans “Bending Tradition: How Mexican Artisans Craft Los Angeles”.https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/artbound/episodes/artesanos-artisans.
Photo Credit: Professor Flores-Marcial (carrying her infant daughter on her back) delivering a lecture on Zapotec Intellectual History in Mitla, Oaxaca, Mexico. Photo by Dr. Brook Lillehauguen 2019