Cultural Geography

Rancho Palencia, San Diego de la Unión,

Guanajuato. January 11, 1986. On this date I dedi-

cate the present retablo to the Virgin of San Juan for

the clear miracle she granted on the date of June 5,

1985. Re-emigrating to the United States with three
      friends, the water we were carrying ran out.
      Traveling in such great heat and with such thirst, and
      without hope of drinking even a little water, we
      invoked the Virgin of San Juan and were able to
      arrive at our destination and return to our homeland
      in health. In eternal gratitude to the Virgin of San
      Juan de los Lagos from the place where you find
      Braulio Barrientos.

Striking in their color and stark beauty, retablos

hold an important place in Mexican culture and

art. Retablos are small tin paintings left at

religious shrines to offer public thanks to a

divine image for a miracle or favor received. In

Miracles on the Border(1995), Durand and

Massey bring together a vivid collection of

retablos commissioned by Mexican migrants. In

doing so, they argue that the retablos ‘provide a

spiritual and cultural anchor for Mexicans in

the northern diaspora, giving them a familiar

cultural lens through which they can inter-

pret and assimilate the fragmented and often

disorienting experiences of life in an alien land’

(1995: 4).

In the retablo of Braulio Barrientos, the author

thanks the Virgin of San Juan for bringing him

and his friends safely to the United States. The

image brilliantly evokes the danger of the border.

The sun bears down on the men as one sits

dejectedly with his empty water jug among the

cacti and scrub brushes. The retablo is a graphic

reminder of the fact that a ‘borderless’ world is

only really borderless for a few, that the scale-

jumping that seems so easy for neoliberal boosters

and planners reflects an altogether much more

embodied and difficult movement for the sub-

altern migrant. The result is a landscape vision of

the area around the border as a transnational

space fraught by the violence of border policing

and the perils of border crossing. Yet, the retablo

also evokes the migrants’ agency in negotiating

that space. It is clear from the retablo’s words

that this is not the first time the men have made

the journey to el norte. The narrative is one of

re-emigration, and the supplications to the Virgin

are thanks not only for surviving the journey to

the United States, but also for returning them

safely to their homeland, Guanajuato, Mexico.

THE CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY OF SCALE 493

Figure 26.3 The retablo of Braulio Barrientos (from Durand and Massey, 1995 © The Arizona Board of

Regents 1995)

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