In July 2001, approximately 20 people gathered together for the first time in the offices of the Pan Valley Institute, in Fresno, California, to begin a dialogue and planning.
The process lasted nine months, during which we hosted monthly meetings that provided participants space to exercise collective imagination. This group, called the Planning Committee, consisted of artists, communicators, organizers, and educators.
In the course of these gatherings what began as a simple idea for a festival took another shape as new forms of artistic expression, forums, exhibits, and workshops were incorporated in the proposed program.
The idea to re-create a TA Laj Tshav Puam (Hmong), or MErcado (Spanish), or NunJAVI (Mixteco) --a marketplace--led to a cultural rapprochement without precedent, for we discovered that all of us shared the same longing for such a public space in which we could exchange goods, songs, food, ideas and news. This was a space in which we could gather together and dialogue about community issues and a space in which popular artistic creations could be displayed and enjoyed. With this vision, in April 2002 the First Tamejavi took place took place in the historic Tower District in Fresno, California.
Today, Tamejavi is not only a multi-media arts and cultural festival, but is also a year-round learning community comprised of youth and elders, artists and organizers, chiefs and healers, educators and students. Through workshops, forums, exhibits, and cultural tours, we come together to explore complex and changing perspectives as well as identities and the future of our democracy. We hope that our work can inspire others by being an example of how Valley communities can come together to exercise cultural and political rights through ongoing intercultural learning and collective action.
