Century collection: ZozoFest celebrates 100 years of Old Man Gloom

In June, the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe put out a call for art for this year’s ZozoFest.

According to the Kiwanis Club, it’s a way to get the community involved in celebrating Old Man Gloom.

“The community showed up in droves,” said Ray Sandoval, Zozobra event chair. “We have about 600 pieces of art ready for the show. We’re still figuring out where it will all go.”

Century collection: ZozoFest celebrates 100 years of Old Man Gloom

ZozoFest kicks off from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24, and continues from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 25 — less than a week before Will Shuster’s Burning of Zozobra, which takes place on Friday, Aug. 30. This year, the burning will celebrate the 100th burning.

ZozoFest was put in place to celebrate all things Zozobra.

The two-day event runs from Saturday, Aug. 24, through Sunday, Aug. 25, at the Santa Fe Place Mall.

Sandoval said ZozoFest gives the community a chance to come together and see the Zozobra-inspired art throughout the space.

Visitors will also get the opportunity to see Zozobra’s head on display before it burns on Aug. 30.

Attendees will also get an opportunity to place their glooms in the gloom box, which will then be stuffed into the giant marionette prior to the event.

“We’re very lucky to have the community support for this event,” Sandoval said. “It’s important that we continue to move the community event forward.”

Shuster created the first Zozobra in 1924 as the signature highlight of a private party for Los Cinco Pintores, a group of artists and writers who made their way to New Mexico in the 1920s.

He was inspired by Easter Holy Week traditions in the Yaqui Indian communities of Arizona and Mexico, in which an effigy of Judas is led around the village on a donkey and ultimately set alight.

Shuster and his friend, E. Dana Johnson, editor of the local newspaper, came up with the name Zozobra, which in Spanish means “anguish, anxiety or gloom.”

Shuster’s creation first burned in his backyard in 1924 as a 6-foot effigy, and over the years, has grown to a towering 50-foot high marionette.

Made of wood, wire and cotton cloth and stuffed with bushels of shredded paper, which traditionally includes obsolete police reports, paid-off mortgages and even divorce papers, Zozobra is a dark and eerie character, part ghost and part monster.

The Zozobra Art Exhibit recognizes the importance of Zozobra as an icon for the city of Santa Fe, and ZozoFest brings inspired depictions of Santa Fe’s favorite monster together in one place.

Sandoval said artwork in the ZozoFest Art Show will be primarily of Zozobra, but other characters from the Zozobra tradition, including the Fire Spirit, Gloomies and Torchbearers will also be on display.

“The community has played a big part in supporting this Santa Fe tradition,” Sandoval said. “We burn Zozobra once a year. The art that is available for purchase is to keep the tradition alive at home. We want to share the amazing artwork with the community. It’s a special year with the centennial and the interest is growing.”