Out of the past, speaking volumes
Anyone out there on the information highway heard of an American photographer named North? Worked in Mexico, made dozens of daguerreotypes of the cities, churches and countryside circa mid-1800s? Gina ...
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Star Snake - stories for a culture of peace
"Star Snake" is a short story about a young Aztec warrior and a short history of the rise of the Aztec Empire. It was written by the Austrian writer Martin Auer as part of his collection of "stories of peace" and dedicated to the UNESCO's "Manifesto 2000 for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence."
read moreMythology and legends of the Nahua people: part 3
Mythology and Legends of the Nahua People:
Essays on Ancient Mexico
Part 3: "Creation of the Fifth Sun at Teotihuacan"
>By Julie Black © 2000 All Rights Reserved.
In the mytho...
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Mythology and legends of the Nahua people - part 2
Mythology and Legends of the Nahua People:
Essays on Ancient Mexico
Part 2: "Legend of the Fifth Sun"
>By Julie Black © 2000 All Rights Reserved.
In the mythology of the Nahua...
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Mythology and legends of the Nahua people: part 1
As the future unfolds, history is tucked away into the past. We see this past because our ancestors recorded the events of their lives by writing them down in some form or another, be it with chisel, quill or pen. What we know about history, or rather what we think we know is dependent on who wrote those histories and what they chose to include. Going further and further back in time there is less and less information, until one reaches a period of time before the written word, approximately 5000 years ago.
read moreFamous Mexicans on their stamps - Jesus Garcia
There are all kinds of heroes, from the international arena to the local, and in one's own neighborhood or family. Most heroes are defined by courageous or exemplary behavior while facing extreme adver...
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The Orange Tree by Carlos Fuentes
Here's Fuentes at it again, publishing short stories and novellas under a single title and trying to interlink them into a cohesive whole as he tried to do in The Crystal Frontier. The connection here is the orange tree, the symbol of Spain.
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Rain of Gold by Victor Villasenor
This novel is a kind of Mexican "Roots" - a big family survival saga covering three generations of two families, complete with a large cast of characters. Author Villaseñor has based his complex, sprawling tale on the experiences of his own family members and his interviews with them. In fact, even though this is a novel, the author has included several actual family photos of the people he's writing about. It certainly lends a measure of authenticity to the narrative. Historically, the novel covers the period from the Mexican Revolution, around 1910, to the Prohibition era in California. The action takes place in many parts of Mexico and in many states in the U.S.
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Bilimbique: A Story From Mexico by Peggy Brown Balderrama
One of the problems with reviewing this short but interesting novel is that the plot is based on a couple of surprises. To say too much about it would spoil the story. Once the action gets well underway the reader is presented with a surprising development involving one of the main characters. At that point the reader can even be forgiven for believing the story is essentially over. Read on however, and you'll find that Sra. Balderrama has another trick up her sleeve for the last chapter, a ploy that makes the experience of reading Bilimbique even more satisfying.
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Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
"Like Water for Chocolate" is a sort of combined novel and cookbook. Food plays a very prominent part in the narrative. The heroine, Tita, is a wonderful cook and we are even provided with her recipes along with the action. The story is set at the time of the Mexican Revolution - 1910-1920 - in Piedras Negras in Northern Mexico. And, like so many Mexican stories, it concerns a family. The story mainly concerns Tita, the youngest daughter, the remarkable cook and originator of all those recipes.
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Once upon a time... The historical overview: Part 2
The influence of Mexican design on Christian work has been the subject of much controversy. Bernard Bevan in the “History of Spanish Architecture” claimed that the influence of Mexican designs was practically negligible in Mexico and whatever seemed that way was due to “poor Indian workmanship”.
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Once Upon A Time . . . - The Historical Overview Part 1
Once upon a time... The historical overview: Part 2
Mexico is a country of marked contrast – raw and vital in its energy, still and timeless in its majesty. The non-hurried pace of its people ...
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A Legend In His Time - Composer Agustín Lara
Music is the universal language that crosses all barriers and penetrates the heart. There was no composer who understood the emotional draw of music better than Agustín Lara, and no song writer who ha...
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Printmaking - From Revolution To Establishment
The 1920s should not have been a flourishing period for Mexican art. The revolution had just ended. The cruelties of war and constant political upheavals had fragmented the country. And illiteracy was rampant.
read moreMexican muralists: the big three - Orozco, Rivera, Siqueiros.
Mexico in 1910 was a country in despair. Foreign domination had been replaced by the tyranny of President Porfirio Diaz. Two-thirds of the people lived in abject poverty and slavery was growing at a fa...
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Modern Mexican Sculpture (A Blending of Old World and New World Sensibility)
Between 1920 and 1940 Mexico went through a period of radical transformation. The revolution had ended and in its wake an energy for transformation was unleashed that was unparalleled anywhere. For the...
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Francisco Goitia - A Product Of His Times
When we talk of Mexico's great painters, Francisco Goitia isn't the first name that comes to mind. Yet, without a doubt, he is one of last century's great painters. He the spirit of his times and refle...
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A feast for the eye: A painterly view of Mexican food
When Cortes and his small band of bounty hunters first set foot on the shores of pre-Hispanic America, little did they know what real treasures they would take back to the Old World. The precious metal...
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The photography of Manual Alvarez Bravo (1902 - 2002)
Manuel Alvarez Bravo is not as well known for his portraits of artists and intellectuals, but many are dazzling. One of his finest portraits is that of Frida Kahlo, dressed in necklaces and flowing clothes, leaning against a table with a curious glass ball. He probably met Kahlo through her father, Wilhelm Kahlo, to whom he was introduced by Hugo Brehme, his teacher at the start of his career. He and Frida were to become friends.
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Maria Izquierdo - Monumento Artistico De La Nación
On October 25, 2002, one hundred years after her birth , the Mexican painter Maria Izquierdo was declared a Monumento Artistico de la Nación by Mexico City's National Commission for Arts and Culture. ...
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Rufino Tamayo
I've just recently seen the " Tamayo Illustrador" exhibition at the Museo del Periodismo y las Artes Graficas in downtown Guadalajara. Rufino Tamayo is a Mexican icon, and this was one show I did...
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From A Mexican Perspective - The Vision of Adolfo Best Maugard
During the heady days that followed the Mexican revolution, the air was filled with fervent nationalism. The euphoria of new beginnings brought out the best in creative vision from talent that fed on t...
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Amate Art of Mexico - (Where the Secular Meets the Sacred)
Nowhere was the cord between man and spirit more tightly bound than in the making of amatl, the sacred paper of the pre-Hispanic peoples. This paper was so important to the spiritual needs of ...
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The Masks Of Mexico (Part 1)
"While we are alive, we cannot escape from
masks or names. We are inseparable from
our fictions - our features."
Octavio Paz
A Bridge Across Cultures
The well-known American poet Margaret Randall talks about the documentary
"El Corno Emplumado: Una historia de los sesenta"
(El Corno Emplumado: A story of the sixties"). read more
"El Corno Emplumado: Una historia de los sesenta"
(El Corno Emplumado: A story of the sixties"). read more
