Tiliches 25.2.26

The carvings of Martin Melchor Angeles  include carnival figures, such as Zancudos and Tiliches, which have given his wife, Hermelinda Portega Ramirez, the opportunity to excel beyond her usual painting of the carvings by making costumes for them, as worn in festivals where they traditionally appear. So what are Zancudos and Tiliches? 

Zancudos, which translates to ‘stilt dancers’, are a speciality of Zaachila (south of Oaxaca City). Zancudos also means ‘mosquitoes’, which have long legs , so there is a double meaning that is not accidental. The ‘Zancudos de Zaachile’ are an official group that attends festivals and trains young stilt dancers to keep the tradition alive. They dress as traditional farm labourers and also wear the  local style of embroidered blouses. Hermelinda’s customs  are traditional or fashioned from the materials she has available, much as any stilt dancer might. Moreover, she adds the costumes of other carnival characters, such as Tiliches, retired farmers dressed in the tradition of the carnival of Putla Villa de Guerrero, made of torn stripes of rags, flamboyant rather than poor. 

Both the Zancudos and Tiliches performers wear masks, as in many carnivals, to hide identity and status, allowing people to freely mix. But with Martin’s and Hermelinda’s figures, this transformation of identity is taken further; the dancers become animals: dogs, ducks,crocodiles,bulls,frogs or zebras. They also carry masks - a bull hides behind the mask of the devil, and a cat carries a favourite of festivals, the Piñata. But is the performer meant to be a bull or dressed as a bull?