Mujer Arena

Mujer Arena draws on certain material from my most recent string quartet, Mujer Ángel, dedicated to the great Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide. From the very first time I encountered her photographic work, it became clear to me that the essence of her creativity is deeply connected to her roots, as well as to a unique way of absorbing her social and cultural surroundings.

I was particularly struck by one of her photographs titled “Mujer Ángel.” It is a deeply enigmatic and poetic image: a Seri woman walks with her back to the camera across the vast Sonoran Desert, holding a 1970s boombox in her hand.

The Seri are an Indigenous people who live in the Mexican state of Sonora. They refer to themselves as men and women of the sand. They are known for never having been conquered or evangelized, which has allowed them to preserve a strong cultural identity closely tied to the desert and the sea. Today, the Seri are a small community (approximately 800–1,000 people) facing significant challenges related to cultural, economic, and environmental preservation.

In Mujer Arena, I sought to evoke the immense strength and sensitivity of Seri women. The piece consists of two contrasting sections. The first unfolds within a musical atmosphere shaped by solitude and the imposing presence of the desert and the sea, which serve as its main sources of inspiration.

The second section takes as its starting point an a cappella chant by a Seri woman, used to welcome those who come from outside. Throughout this section, this material undergoes rhythmic transformation, becoming increasingly complex and faster, metaphorically representing the transition of the Seri between their traditional way of life and modernity.

It is also a tribute to this culture, which, despite its historical isolation, represents one of the most ancient and beautiful cultural expressions in the Americas.

My idea is for this piece, together with my work Kauyumari, to form part of a kind of Desert Suite. The piece is dedicated to the Los Angeles Philharmonic and its Music and Artistic Director, Gustavo Dudamel.

In a symbolic sense, I draw on the idea of the Seri welcoming chant—traditionally offered to those who come from outside—as a resonance with the warmth and generosity with which this great orchestra and its director received my musical work. This piece thus becomes, in turn, a gesture of gratitude: a welcoming song offered now from my own voice.

Gabriela Ortiz