Evoking the ancient Maya: murals by Otoniel Baruck Sala
Maya-themed murals, which fuse shards of this ancient culture with elements of fantasy, are Sala's current focus.
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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 moreOnce 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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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 moreA 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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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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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
The Masks Of Mexico (Part 2)
The coming of the Spaniards in 1519 drastically altered the political and religious life of pre-Hispanic America. Cortes, with the help of his mercenaries and priests, decimated the ruling elite and wiped out the existing theocracy, but try as they might, they could not destroy the people's love and need for ritual.
read moreJose Clemente Orozco and Diego Rivera - The Murals
The art and attitudes of the two great Mexican muralists, Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco could not be more different. Rivera was a classicist, Orozco an expressionist. Rivera was optimistic, Or...
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Mexican lithographer Jose Guadalupe Posada: Past and present
In one month, on November 2, it will be "El Dia de los Muertos" (the Day of the Dead), and Jose Guadalupe Posada, or Don Lupe as he was known to his friends, a poor but prolific printm...
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Pulp Fiction - Mexico's Historieta
Moralistic, prejudiced, racist, misogynist, manipulative, sexist, daring, exciting, critical, sarcastic and passionate - these are just a few adjectives that commonly describe Mexico's most widely-read...
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Mexico's Pyramid Power - Chichen Itza, El Tajin and Teotihuacan
Consider El Tajin's famous pyramid of the Niches, built by inheritors of the Olmec culture. Thousands of small stone blocks came together just so, like a Chinese block puzzle, to produce a structure th...
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Arteplumaria - the Mexican art of feather painting
Did you know that one of the highest, most elegant and sumptuous arts of pre-Conquest Mexico was arteplumaria, the art of feather painting? Used to decorate headdresses, standards, staffs, lances,...
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Did You Know? The centenary of the birth of artist Juan O'Gorman
Juan O'Gorman was born on July 6, 1905, in Coyoacán, Mexico City. His father, Cecil Crawford O'Gorman, was a mining engineer and artist of Irish origin; his mother was Mexican. Juan was educated at th...
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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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The legacy of Agustin Victor Casasola (Photographer 1874 - 1938)
Agustín Victor Casasola was not a painter or a poet or one of the many intellectuals or revolutionaries during the early decades of the twentieth century who consciously strove to forge a Mexican identity. Yet, as witness and recorder of those tumultuous years, his influence was as great and may prove to be more lasting.
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A legend in his time: composer Agustin 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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Mexico's comparative arts through the ages
The following comparative time line provides an orientation to the roots, elements and development of the rich artistic heritage of Mexico.
The time line presentation allows for a sense of movement a...
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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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Like Water for Chocolate
"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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Rain of Gold
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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Mythology and legends of the Nahua people: Creation of the Fifth Sun at Teotihuacan
Mythology and Legends of the Nahua People:
Essays on Ancient Mexico
Part 1: "The Creation of the Universe"
Part 2: "Legend of the Fifth Sun"
Part 3: "Creation of the Fifth Sun at Teotihuaca...
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Mythology and legends of the Nahua people: Legend of the Fifth Sun
Mythology and Legends of the Nahua People:
Essays on Ancient Mexico
Part 1: "The Creation of the Universe"
Part 2:"Legend of the Fifth Sun"
Part 3: "Creation of the Fifth Sun at Teotihuacan"...
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