[ 03.2015 | Los Angeles ]

in March 2015, I stayed near Mariachi Plaza in the Boyle Heights district, east of downtown Los Angeles. resembling Mexico’s Plaza Garibaldi in form and function, since the 1930s, mariachi musicians (full bands, trios, and solo singers) have gathered in and around the cobblestone kiosk, hoping to be hired by visitors coming by. the ceremonial structure was donated by the Mexican state of Jalisco, the birthplace of mariachi music.

whichever developments led the owner of this pair of yellow mariachi boots to leave them behind, will never be known. the story behind mariachi boots in general is the national sport of Mexico – one of those great traditions of Jalisco, the charreria (rodeo), popularized by prestigious charros (horsemen). their elegant and extravagant traditional suit, the ‘traje de charro’, was at one point in time adapted by the mariachi singers.

I am convinced that those lonely mariachi boots were not expression of their owner having turned his back on his nation’s pride and passion, on his respect for heritage and tradition – which is what this footwear sort of stands for. nobody being able to value their true worth – symbolized by the barcode, a machine-readable representation of data that provides unique information about a specific object.

Happy World Tourism Day! 🙂

sources:
mariachiplazalosangeles.com | web.nmsu | mariachi-plaza.com | merriam-webster.com