The Parrots

Personal memory by Minerva Méndez

1980Casona de Tita, Oaxaca, Mexico

"My experience with these animals is that my mother, who lives in a town in Oaxaca City, "Loma Bonita, Oax.," had a parrot that was green with yellow and it grew very big. It was a gift from one of her friends. My mom had it in the yard of the house and it was the only company she had when she was alone in the house. It yelled things or when someone arrived it got very nervous. It was named "Lolis" and it was always in its cage on the patio until one day when nobody was home some robbers came, and instead of stealing valuables, they stole the parrot and its cage. This was very sad for my mom, especially because they only stole it to sell it at a high price. This is the same reason that there are almost no such animals in Oaxaca and throughout the country."

Maya Lin, Global Residency Program

Creative Time / Rockefeller Foundation

Image: <i>Yellow-Naped Parrot </i>, Josh Hallett, 2007.