EDITORS NOTE:

What is utopia(s)? Where is it? What does it look like, smell like, sound like? For some, it resides in the bottom of old attic boxes, covered in dry dust and cucaracha legs. It is in the creases of ancient family fotos of our papas and mamas, of abuelitas and amiguitos. We ponder over our remaining archives, imagining the lives that were lived in order to create our own. Utopias can live in memories, harnessed in order to forge new ways of celebrating, remembering, and hoping. The past is only one possibility of utopia(s).

Utopia(s) can live in the present. It can exist in the rattle of beads and shells that dress the woman dancing next to us on the train. It shines on the skin of our sisters when we all come together to make carne asada in a tiny apartment. It rings in the barks of street dogs that have come from all different walks of life to share a moment in the sun on the sidewalk. This kind of utopia(s) is a rich blend of ephemeral spices and flavors and fills the room with its warm aroma, lingering until the next morning. 

Utopia(s) lives in the future, beckoning us to open our eyes to all of its entanglements. It questions cultural binaries and embraces diaspora. It allows us to create our own answers to inquiries that others have audaciously answered for us. It lets us bathe and splash in the enchantment of knowing ourselves or not knowing ourselves. It rebuilds what has been broken one shard at a time, never settling for the concept of erasure. Utopia(s) is where realities become malleable; “un mundo donde quepan muchos mundos”.

The collective of La Ofrenda is excited to present to you our understandings of utopia, in other words, our mundos. Additionally, we extend our immense gratitude to our mentors and loved ones Misty De Berry, Barbara Browning, Irvin Ibguaren, Andre Lepeki, César Rodriguez, Alexandra Vasquez and all of the utopia dreamers that have come before us.