Category: Art and Culture

Color and Beauty For Your Home :: Muebles Finos Artesanales–Classy Painted Furniture and Accessories from UNEAMICH

The unprepossessing doorway to UNEAMICH mfa/eronga, the Erongarícuaro, Michoacán artists' cooperative originally founded in 1981 by Steven and Marina Rosenthal. "Go to the corner where the primary school is, turn right, and go halfway down," read Marina's directions. 'Halfway down to what,' wondered Mexico Cooks!, but the building was easy to find. All photos by Mexico Cooks! except as noted.

Pátzcuaro, the original capital of Michoacán, is a well-known destination for tourists, whether they are interested in pre-Hispanic religious sites, centuries-old architecture, modern working artisans, or regional Purhépecha cuisine. Just a few minutes' drive away, another side of Michoacán exists: small-town, little-visited, and still very much oriented toward Mexico's traditional way of life. In Erongarícuaro, the day bustles gently around the small plaza. The pace is slower even than that of Pátzcuaro.

In the Erongarícuaro, Michoacán taller (workshop) of Muebles Finos Artesanales Erongarícuaro–the UNEAMICH wholesale entity branded as mfa/eronga–Marina Rosenthal stands before a custom-painted panorama of canvas nudes. You can put your own face in one of the vacant spots.

Erongarícuaro, attractive in a well-worn, frayed-cuff style, is home to about 13,000 people, including a few souls from 'away'. Europe, Canada, and the United States are equally represented. Long a bohemian outpost (according to local legend, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera and their international cohorts were frequent visitors), Erongarícuaro still attracts the slightly eccentric foreigner: a handful of people setting up a sustainable community, another handful interested in communal housing, and one or two long-time residents working in town.

The sales and reception room at UNEAMICH mfa/eronga, where we talked with Marina. Photo courtesy Bernie Frankl, Tucson, AZ.

Steve and Maureen Rosenthal, originally from Arizona, have lived and worked in Erongarícuaro for nearly 50 years. Their commitment to the town and its people runs deep; they've put their lifework into training artists, producing incredibly beautiful furniture and home decoration over the course of the years. Their business, UNEAMICH mfa/eronga, has evolved from its 1980s-era origins as an Escuela Taller (Workshop School) to the worker-owned cooperative that it is today. Along the way, the Rosenthals and the artist owners have created a living heritage for Erongarícuaro.

One of the artists' workrooms at UNEAMICH mfa/eronga. Most of the 40-plus artist members of the cooperative were attending a community funeral on the day that Mexico Cooks! visited the UNEAMICH/mfa/eronga taller.

Mfa/eronga (the name of the UNEAMICH store that Steve runs in Tucson) has talleres (workshops) on both sides of its quiet Erongarícuaro street. One is the carpentry workshop for building and carving the wooden furniture; the other is filled with artists' cubicles where the fine decoration work takes place. Mexico Cooks! greeted Marina (Maureen's name loosely translated into Spanish) Rosenthal with a happy, "Finally! We've wanted to visit you for years!" We hugged and laughed that our meeting had been delayed for so long.

The carved and painted backrest of a UNEAMICH mfa/eronga chair. Click on any photo for a larger view.

While giving us a running history of the business, Marina took us on a tour of the two talleres. "Steve and I came here in 1970 to finish writing a screenplay, but the option to make the movie just never panned out. By then, we were so in love with this part of Michoacán that we didn't want to leave. We started making painted furniture, and little by little, customers started seeking us out.

The exterior and interior of one of mfa/eronga's fabulous painted pieces. Photo courtesy mfa/eronga.

"When Cuahutémoc Cárdenas was governor of Michoacán (1980-86), he was a huge supporter of the state's regional arts. You know that he was the son of Lázaro Cárdenas del Río, Mexico's forward-thinking president from 1934-1940, and he had a lot of his father's sensibilities. One of his projects was to open Escuelas Talleres–workshop schools–where artisans could receive training that would enhance the quality of their work and make it more easily sold. That's where we came in: our workshop began to receive state support for training artists. Literally dozens of artists have trained with us; some continue to work with us now, and some of our current workers are the children of those men and women who initially trained here.

Work facilities at UNEAMICH mfa/eronga are primitive, but the cooperative of artists creates glorious work in spite of the harsh conditions.

"Most of the artists we've trained knew some carving or painting techniques before they came to us. Their level of general knowledge of art was practically nil, though: none knew of the great European classical or modern painters and none had heard of any artists north of the Mexican border. Few knew of Mexico's great artists: Rivera, Kahlo, Tamayo, the Coronel brothers, and Juan O'Gorman, just to name several. One of my greatest joys has been taking our extremely talented artists to Morelia, to Guadalajara, and to Mexico City to show them art's possibilities outside their limited frame of reference.

UNEAMICH mfa/eronga artists hand-paint and hand-finish bateas (hand-carved shallow wooden bowls) from their own designs–or from your special-order design.

"We've made furniture using classic Michoacán designs, in bohemian designs, in our own designs, and with every painted decoration you can imagine. You'll find anything from a still life of hybrid roses to a caricatured cat on our furniture and home decor. Our artists, wonderfully inventive talents, can take the simplest thing and bring it to a level of beauty that attracts the most discriminating client.

Another artist's workspace at UNEAMICH mfa/eronga.

"The work that comes from our talleres has spread all over the world. Right now, we're working on furnishing a hotel–not the first one, and we surely hope not the last! Disney commissioned pieces for a restaurant, we have other long-time restaurant clients who decked out their restaurant with our pieces and need frequent replacements, and we have years of background making custom pieces for private customers.

The man carving intricate hand-drawn orchids into this chair back said, "Solo soy carpintero." ('I'm just a carpenter.')

"Our stories range from the sublime to the truly ridiculous. We've gone through times of terrible famine, when we couldn't make our payroll–think of the horrors of the 1994 devaluation of the peso! But our artist workers stayed with us, even when we couldn't pay regularly. Really, it's the workers who have always made our business a success. You don't measure success just by looking at your bank balance. Loyalty to one another: that's a huge measure of success, in my mind.

For your home, mfa/eronga sells cinema seating made in the old-fashioned style, but of new materials–and in this case, painted with artists' stylized portraits. Other styles are available. Photo courtesy mfa/eronga.

"Right now, because economic times are really challenging, Steve is staying across the border in Tucson, running our retail operation. I'm here with our youngest daughter, running the talleres. Our staff here in Erongarícuaro currently numbers about 43, down from a high of 160 working artists. But we keep on going; our loyalty is to our cooperative artists, and their loyalty is to the cooperative and to us.

Nothing is wasted, everything is recycled. Out of this chaos of wood trimmings come works of art.

Flowers in a vase, hand-painted on an artist's workspace wall. Making art is more than a job; art is a way of life.

If you're planning to be in the Morelia/Pátzcuaro region, please contact Mexico Cooks! for a guided tour of Erongarícuaro, the mfa/eronga workshop, and more entrancingly beautiful villages in Michoacán.

Cactus in bloom on mfa/eronga chair backrests.

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30 de November de 2019
Day and Night of the Dead, Mexico :: More Cultural Aspects

Night of the Dead (Noche de Muertos) grave decoration for a young man who died in a bicycle accident. The bicycle is life-size. Seen in the Panteón Municipal (town cemetery), Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán.

Several weeks ago Paco (a friend from Michoacán) and I were talking about differences in cultural attitudes among citizens of Canada, the United States, and Mexico. We ended by discussing the Noche de Muertos (Night of the Dead) customs here in Mexico.

Paco told me that before the Spanish conquerors, Mesoamerican natives considered death to just be a simple step toward a new life. Life was a circle: time before birth, time here on earth, time after death constituted a continuum with no end, like a golden ring on a finger. Communication between the spirit life of the living and the dead was an ordinary experience.

With the arrival of the Spanish and their Christian beliefs, the indigenous people were taught new ideas. Thoughts of death produced terror: in the final judgment, the just would receive their reward, and sinners would receive their punishment. The difficulty lay in not being counted among the sinners.

The original pre-Hispanic remembrance celebration of the dead took place during the Aztec calendar month dedicated to Mictecacihuatl, the goddess of the dead. That month of the Aztec calendar corresponds to present-day July and the beginning of August. Post-conquest Spanish priests moved the celebration to coincide with the eve of All Souls Day, which falls on November 2. It was a useless attempt to change what the Spaniards regarded as a profane New World festivity of mumbo-jumbo into a Christian solemn occasion. The modern day result is a festival characterized by a mix of pre-hispanic and Catholic rituals—a purely Mexican event.

In the late 1800's, José Guadalupe Posada popularized the notion of death partying through life.

Today in Mexico, death is played with, made fun of, and partied with. We throw our arms around it in a wickedly sardonic embrace and escape its return embrace with a side-step, a wink, and a joke.

Noche de Muertos (Night of the Dead) is celebrated during the chilly night of November 1, ending in the misty dawn hours of November 2. For Mexicans, the celebration represents something more than maudlin veneration of their dead relatives. The celebrations of Memorial Day in the United States or Remembrance Day in Canada are all too frequently devoted to a fleeting moment's thought of those who have gone before, with the rest of the day passed in picnicking and the anticipation of the soon-to-arrive summer holidays. In many parts of Mexico, the living spend the entire night in communion with the faithful departed, telling stories, swapping jokes, wiping away a tear or two.

Sugar hatchling chicks and funny spotted cows, ready for use on your ofrenda (altar) commemorating a deceased loved one.

The idea that death is found in the midst of life (and life in the midst of death) has given rise to different manifestations of extraordinary and original expressions of popular art in Mexico. Among those are the custom of making and decorating sugar skulls (often with the name of a friend or relative written across the forehead), pan de muertos (bread of the dead), drawings in which much fun is poked at death, and calaveras, verses in which living and dead personalities—usually celebrities in the arts, sciences and especially in politics—are skewered by their own most glaring traits and defects. We wait impatiently for the newspapers to give us the most hilarious of the annual poems.

Traditionally, ofrendas (personalized altars) are prepared in the home in honor of one or more deceased family members. The altar is prepared with the deceased person's favorite foods, photographs, and symbolic flowers. Traditions vary from community to community.

In Michoacán, the altar may be decorated with special breads and bananas. In Oaxaca, other foods and fruits are used. It's most common to decorate an altar with hot pink and deep purple papel picado (cut tissue paper) as well as with foods, flowers, and personal objects important to the deceased.

In many places, public ofrendas are set up in the town square, the local Casa de la Cultura, or in shops. Many public altars honor national heroes, personalities from the arts, and little-known friends or well-known public figures.

We use bottles of beer or tequila or another of the dead person's favorite drinks, a packet of cigarettes or a cigar, a prayer card featuring the deceased's name-saint and another of the apparition of the Virgin to whom the deceased was particularly devoted.

Foods on the altar can include a dish filled with mole poblano or other festive food that the deceased enjoyed in life, a pot of frijoles de la olla (freshly cooked beans), platters of tamales, pan dulce (sweet bread), and piles of newly harvested corn, pears, oranges, limes, and any other bounty from the family's fields or garden. The purpose of the offerings is not to flatter and honor to the dead, but rather to share the joy and power of the year's abundance with him or her.

Dolls made of cartón (cardboard) are usually sold at special markets specifically devoted to Day of the Dead items. The cempasúchil (gold flowers) and the flower known by several names: cordón del obispo or pata de león or even terciopelo (bishop's belt, lion's paw, or velveteen, the magenta flowers) adorn most graves and ofrendas (altars honoring the deceased).

In Michoacán, wild orchids are in season and blooming; these too are often used to decorate graves. Photo courtesy El Mural.

Approximately 75% of the literally millions of Mexican cempasúchil flowers used for Day of the Dead are grown in the state of Puebla.

The fresh flower most commonly used everywhere in Mexico to decorate both home altars and at the cemetery is the cempasúchil, a type of marigold. According to my friend Francisco, the cempasúchil represents reverence for the dead. Wild mountain orchids, in abundant bloom at this time of year and cut especially for the Noche de Muertos, signify reverence toward God. Dahlias, the floral symbol of Mexico, are also used profusely on both home altars and in cemeteries. In addition, huge standing coronas (wreaths) of colorful ribbons and artificial flowers adorned with lithographs of saints, various manifestations of the Virgin Mary, or Jesus are used more and more frequently in Mexican cemeteries.

Because the social atmosphere of this celebration is so warm and so colorful—and due to the abundance of food, drink, and good company—the commemoration of Noche de Muertos is much loved by the majority of those who observe it. In spite of the openly fatalistic attitude exhibited by all participants, the celebration is filled with life and is a social ritual of the highest importance. Recognition of the cycle of life and death reminds everyone of his or her mortality.

Catrines, in this case clay figures of well-dressed skeletons, represent the vanity of life and the inescapable reality of death.

On the day of November 1 (and frequently for several days before) families all over Mexico go to the cemetery to clean and decorate the graves of their loved ones. With machetes, brooms, shears, hoes, buckets, metal scrapers and paint, the living set to work to do what needs to be done to leave the grave site spotless.

Is the iron fence around the plot rusty? Scrape it and paint it till it looks brand new. Are there overgrown weeds or bushes? Chop them out, cut them back. Have dead leaves and grass collected at the headstone? Now is the time to sweep them all out. There is usually much lamenting that the grave site has been allowed to deteriorate so much throughout the year—this year we won't let that happen again, will we?

Sugar skulls are a Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) tradition in Mexico. Buy one and have the name of your friend written on the forehead with stiff sugary icing. Your friend will be delighted with the gift.

In many places, November 1 is celebrated as the Day of los Inocentes or Angelitos (the Innocents, or Little Angels)—the little children who have died. In Michoacán on the Day of the Little Angels, the baptismal godparents are responsible for bringing a wooden frame for the flowers, for bringing the cempasúchil and the wild orchids. The godparents bring sugar angels or animals similar to the sugar skulls. They may also bring new clothing for the dead child, and a new toy or two. At the parents' home, preparation of food and drink is underway so that family and friends may be served. Cohetes (booming sky rockets) announce that the procession, singing and praying, is proceeding to the cemetery.

In the late evening of November 1, girls and women arrive at the graves of adults with baskets and bundles and huge clay casseroles filled with the favorite foods of the deceased. A bottle or two of brandy or tequila shows up under someone's arm. Someone else brings a radio and wires it up to play.

Watch a bit of the tradition: Day of the Dead in Mexico

A tiny sugar skeleton band, made in Michoacán for the Noche de Muertos.

In another part of the cemetery, a band appears to help make the moments spent in the cemetery more joyful and to play the dead relatives' favorite songs. Sometimes families and friends adjourn to a nearby home to continue the party. There's even a celebrated dicho (saying) that addresses the need for this fiesta: "El muerto al cajón y el vivo al fiestón." (The dead to the coffin and the living to the big blowout.")

The shimmering lake is made of flower petals!

Although the traditional observance of Noche de Muertos calls for a banquet either at the cemetery or at home during the pre-dawn hours of November 2, families in the large urban areas of Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara, and others, families may simply observe the Day of the Dead rather than spend the night in a cemetery.

Their observance is frequently limited to a special family dinner which includes pan de muertos (bread of the dead). In some areas of the country, it's considered good luck to be the person who bites down on the toy plastic skeleton hidden by the bakery in each round loaf.

A small nicho (shadow box) by artisan Miguel Paredes, representing a Day of the Dead taco stand. An excellent place to buy this kind of nicho is Bazar Sábado in the San Ángel neighborhood of Mexico City. The outdoor and indoor market there is open every Saturday, and these little boxes are available year 'round.

Friends and members of the family give one another little gifts which can include tiny clay skeletons dressed in clothing or set in scenes which represent the occupations or personality characteristics of the receiver. The gift that's most appreciated is a calavera (sugar skull), decorated with sugar flowers, sparkling sequins, and the name of the recipient written in frosting across the cranium.

The pre-Hispanic concept of death as an energy link, as a germ of life, may very well explain how the skull came to be a symbol of death. That symbol has been recreated and assimilated in all aspects of Mexican life. The word calavera can also refer to a person whose existence is dedicated to pleasure—someone who does not take life seriously. The mocking poems of this season, the caricatures drawn with piercingly funny accuracy, the sugar skulls joyfully eaten by the person whose name they carry: all of these are an echo of pre-Hispanic thought, inherited by present-day Mexico.

From Guanajato: skeletal figures made of cartón (cardboard).

This tradition which recognizes that death is a part of the circle of life brings ease and rest to the living. Hearts heal, souls reaffirm their connections. Though beyond our view, the dead are never beyond our memories. Every November 1, the dead come home, if only for the night.

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

26 de October de 2019
Celebrating Mexico’s Independence :: History, Parades, and an All-Night Party

Street vendors hawk la bandera nacional (the Mexican flag) in dozens of forms for several weeks during August and right up to September 16, Mexico's Independence Day. It's always fun to see what's the latest item for sale in patriotic tchotchkes. In this photo, you see a vendor near the zócalo (Plaza de la Constitución) in Mexico City. Photo courtesy Starmedia.

Although the entire month of September is dedicated to Mexican independence from Spain, Mexico's official struggle for freedom from Spanish colonization began sometime between midnight and dawn on September 16, 1810, when Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla gave the Grito de Dolores (Cry of Dolores) from the parish bell tower in the town known today as Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato. Mexico celebrates its day of Fiestas Patrias (Patriotic Holidays) on September 16 with parades of school children and military battalions, politicians proclaiming speeches, and general festivity.

Another flag vendor, this time in Morelia, Michoacán. This man was already out selling flags and other Independence-related items just before the end of August 2019. All photos copyright Mexico Cooks! unless otherwise noted.

Hundreds of books have been written about Mexico's break from Spain, millions of words have been dedicated to exploring the lives of the daring men and women who knew, more than 200 years ago, that the time had come for freedom. You can read some of the history on the Internet. Another excellent source for Mexican history is The Life and Times of Mexico, by Earl Shorris. You'll find that book available to order through Amazon.com, on the left-hand side of this page.

Jalisco town kiosko (bandstand) decorated for the Fiestas Patrias.

For years I've attended the September 15 celebrations in a variety of towns and cities. In Mexico City, the country's president leads hundreds of thousands of citizens in late-night celebrations in the zócalo, the enormous square surrounded by government buildings and the Metropolitan Cathedral. Every Mexican town big enough to have a mayor holds a reenactment of the Grito de Dolores, Hidalgo's cry for independence. The town square is decorated with flags, bunting, and ribbons. Cohetes (sky rockets) flare and bang. Sometime around eleven o'clock at night, the folks, assembled in the town plaza since nine or so, are restless for the celebration to begin. The mayor's secretary peeks out from the doorway of the government offices, the folkloric dancers file off the stage in the plaza, the band tunes up for the Himno Nacional (the national anthem), the crowd waves its flags and hushes its jostling. The president or the mayor steps out onto the balcony of the government building or onto the stage built just outside the building's front door to lead the singing of the Himno's emotional verses.

The bandera monumental (gigantic national flag) and celebratory fireworks in front of Mexico's Palacio Nacional, on the zócalo, Mexico City, September 15, 2015. Photo courtesy press.

Dressed in his finest and backed up by a military or police guard, the mayor clears his throat and loudly begins an Independence Day proclamation. He pulls a heavy rope to ring the Independence bell, then he waves a huge Mexican flag. Back and forth, back and forth! In every Mexican town, the proclamation ends with Hidalgo's 209-year-old exhortations: "Long live religion! Long live Our Lady of Guadalupe! Long live the Americas and death to the corrupt government! Long live the heroes of our Independence! Viva México! Qué viva!"

Father Hidalgo's 1810 banner, with an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the words, "Viva la Santísma de Guadalupe!". He carried this banner as his standard as a leader in the fight for Mexico's independence from Spain. Photo courtesy Pinterest.

The mayor and the crowd shout as one voice: "Viva México! Qué viva! Qué viva!" The mayor grins and waves as the fireworks begin, bursting huge green, white, and red chrysanthemums over the heads of the attendees.

Later there will be dancing and more music, and food, including traditional pozole, tostadas, mezcal, tequila and beer, and, in larger towns and cities, all-night revelry in the plaza, in private homes, and in hotels, restaurants, and events halls.

The best-kept secret in Mexico is the Independence Day party. No, the biggest deal is not on September 16th. Held every year on the night of September 15, the Gran Noche Mexicana (the Great Mexican Night), the real celebration of the revolutionary events in 1810, is a combination of New Year's Eve, your birthday, and your country's independence festivities.

Wouldn't you really rather hear about the party? I knew you would!

A number of years ago my friend, música ranchera singer Lupita Jiménez from Guadalajara, invited me to a Gran Noche Mexicana where she was performing. The event was scheduled to start at 9:30, but Mexican custom normally dictates late arrival. By ten o'clock I was on my way to the party. At the salón de eventos (events hall), the parking lot was already full, but a man was parking cars on the street just a block away. As I left my car, he said, "Could you pay me now for watching your car? It's 20 pesos. I'll be leaving a little early, probably before the event is over."

"How long will you be here?" I asked, a bit anxious about leaving the car unattended on this night of prodigious revelry.

Lupita Jiménez in performance at a Gran Noche Mexicana in Guadalajara.

"Till six o'clock." My jaw dropped and I handed him the 20 pesos. Six in the morning! Surely we wouldn't party quite so long as that!

The sad truth is that I didn't. I couldn't. My stamina flagged at about 3:00 AM, after dinner had been served at 10:30, a city politician had proclaimed the Grito, the Himno Nacional (national anthem) had been sung, and big noisy fireworks had been set off on the indoor stage (I swear to you, indoors) of the salón de eventos. Then the show started, a brief recapitulation in song and dance of Mexican history, starting with concheros (loincloth-and-feather-clad Aztec dancers) whirling around a fire-belching volcano, and ending with the glorious jarabe tapatía, the regional dance of Guadalajara that most English-speakers call the Mexican hat dance.

Danzante conchero (concha dancer). The dancers are called concheros because the lead dancer blows a conch (a large mollusk shell) to call spirits to the dance. Photo courtesy Dreamstime.com.

After innumerable trios, duets, and solo singers, the show paused for intermission at close to two in the morning. Several of my table-mates slipped away, but I thought I could make it to the end. The first half of the Gran Noche Mexicana had been invigorating and exciting and I loved it. During intermission, a wonderful Mexican comedian poked fun at politics, functionaries, and Mexican life in general. We were all roaring with laughter. When the comic left the stage, I realized that I was exhausted and needed to go home to bed. Just as the performers stepped onto the stage to begin the next round of song, I sneaked away.

When I called Lupita the next afternoon to congratulate her on the success of the event, she asked if I'd stayed for the last few costume changes. "Mija, I had to go home early. I lasted till three, but then I just couldn't stay awake. I'm so sorry I missed the end."

Lupita laughed. "I'm glad you lasted that long, but next time you have to stay for the whole night! You missed the best part!"

The Palacio Nacional (national office building complex, including the president's offices) on the Zócalo (Plaza de la Constitución) in Mexico City, all dressed up for the Fiestas Patrias.

Viva México! Qué viva!

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14 de September de 2019
Preserving Purépecha Life and Culture: Finding the Joy of Native Language Part 2

Adolescent boys walk the length of Santa Fe de la Laguna's Purépecha vocabulary-teaching wall. See the sombrero (hat) to their right? In Purépecha, it's kájtsikua. Just as in Spanish, a written accent of the type over the 'a' in kájtsikua means that the stress of pronunciation falls on that letter. KAJ-tsi-kua.

Last week, Mexico Cooks! taught you the Purépecha names of various animals and insects. Today, we're going into the home and its garden to learn a few more words for common household items. All photos by my travel companion, Pamela Gordon, unless otherwise noted.

Native Mexican comestibles from the milpa (family food-growing parcel of land) include the calabaza (squash). In Purépecha, it's purhu.

Purépecha cooking includes the use of several varieties of yellow, red, white, or blue corn, all native to Michoacán and all grown in the milpa for family use. Each portion of the corn plant from tassel to stalk has a specific name; this elote (fresh ear of corn) is tíriapu.

Many species of wild mushrooms appear during Michoacán's summer rainy season. Here's an hongo silvestre (wild mushroom)–terekua—a common ingredient in soups and Purépecha guisados (stew-like dishes).

Handmade cucharas de madera (wooden spoons)–yurhesï–are some of the most-used utensils in a Purépecha cook's battery of equipment. Remember that the umlaut over the letter 'i' changes the pronunciation of the letter 's' to 'sh'. Yurhe-shi.

Here's a hand-carved bastón (cane). Now you know that in Purépecha, it's a t'óndasï. This type cane is commonly used by people who need aid for their balance or gait, and by dancers who use canes as part of their costumes.

Michoacán's iconic dancers, complete with t'óndasï: la Danza de los Viejitos (the Dance of the Little Old Men). Photo courtesy Google Images.

A rendering of the Purépecha woman's typical rebozo (rectangular fringed shawl): in Purépecha, atache. The atache has multiple uses: wrap yourself in it for warmth, fold it and put it on top of your head for shade, use it as a scarf, and wrap it around yourself in different ways to carry firewood, purchases from the market, large and bulky items, and most especially, a baby. Babies are wrapped close to their mothers' bodies from the time they're born until they are mid-toddler age. The legend of this rebozo tells us that the blue is the blue of the Spanish eye, the black is the black of the Spanish hair, and the white is the ray of the sun.

You know the old adage: a new escoba (broom) sweeps clean. In Purépecha, it's a p'ankua. This charming painting lets you believe that the brand-new broomstick still has a leaf attached!

Ah, kawikua (hard liquor)! In Michoacán, we make and drink charanda (a very strong sugar cane liquor), mezcal (made from maguey cactus), and to a lesser degree, tequila. Here's an old Mexican toast to repeat as you raise and lower your glass, and before you sip your kawikua: Arriba! Abajo! Al centro! Adentro! (Up! Down! In the middle! And down the hatch!) Today, we're toasting the Purépecha language.

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31 de August de 2019
Preserving Purepecha Life and Culture: Finding the Joy of Native Language Part 1

A portion of the language-teaching wall in Santa Fe de la Laguna, Michoacán.

About four years ago, Mexico Cooks! and a friend spent a glorious day in Santa Fe de la Laguna, Michoacán. We walked in the village, basking like lizards in the warm sun, slipping into one tiny shop and then another searching for the best rebozo (a type of shawl) for her. We stepped into the welcome shady patio of an artisan friend, a potter. When we finished at the potter's home, we took our time ambling to the car. Turning a corner, we found ourselves face to face with a vocabulary lesson!

In the Purépecha language, misitu means gato, or cat, if you speak English.

I am always surprised by the number of well-educated people, both native Mexican Spanish-speakers and people whose native language is English, who believe that Mexico's indigenous people speak dialects of Spanish. Consider that the indigenous groups of what is now Mexico lived on this land for thousands of years before the arrival of the Spanish. Until the 16th century, no one in what is now Mexico spoke Spanish. Each indigenous group spoke its own language and each group continues, to one degree or another, to use that language today. Here's a link to a list of the indigenous languages spoken in today's Mexico: Mexico's indigenous languages.

Tindi is the mosca–the common house fly.

In the state of Michoacán, four indigenous languages are spoken. The most common is Purépecha, with approximately 100,000 native speakers. Next is Mazahua, with nearly 4,000 speakers, followed by 2700 coastal region speakers of Nahúatl. Approximately 600 people in the easternmost part of the state speak Otomí.

Purépecha is considered to be an isolate language, with no connection to any other language spoken in the region, in the country, or in any other country. Linguists have found only remote ties to the Quechua language in Perú.

Xanchaki: the burro, or donkey.

Kuanasï is the rana–the frog. Note the umlaut over the letter ï. Because of the umlaut, the pronunciation of the preceding 's' becomes 'sh'. Kuanashi!

Axuni, or venado–the deer.

Most Purépecha children learn their parents' native language as a first language, often learning Spanish only after they are well on the way through primary school. Although Purépecha has been a written language since the 16th century, standard written Purépecha only began to come into existence in 1939. Even now there is no consensus as to how the language should be written.

Uakasï, the vaca–the cow. Note that uakasï is pronounced with the 'sh' sound.

Utuksï, the caracol–snail! Now you know how to pronounce that sï at the end of the word.

Like all of the languages native to what is now Mexico, Purépecha is in danger of becoming extinct. Fortunately, both the state government as well as the native speakers understand the cultural and historic importance of keeping the language alive. It's taught in primary schools for the first three years. Once a child starts fourth grade, classes are bilingual Purépecha and Spanish.

K'útu is the tortuga–the turtle.

Puki is the jaguar–the big native cat. Its scientific name is Panthera onca, and it is the only big cat native to the Americas. In this painting, you see a person dressed in the jaguar dance costume, rather than the actual animal.

Here's my very own house-Puki! I named him after the Purépecha tiger, of course.

Come back next week for Part 2! See you here.

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24 de August de 2019
Michoacán-Based Sculptor Ana Pellicer: 2010 Premio Estatal de las Artes Eréndira :: 2010 State Eréndira Award for the Arts

A look back in time to this important and emotional event, when my beloved friend, the sculptor Ana Pellicer, was awarded the highest artistic honor given by the state of Michoacán. All photos by Mexico Cooks! unless otherwise noted.

On October 25, 2010, the Michoacán state government awarded renowned copper sculptor Ana Pellicer the coveted Premio Estatal de las Artes Eréndira for 2010. The important prize is given annually to a living artist who best represents–at the international level–the arts of Michoacán. Ana Pellicer is the first woman to receive the award.

The Premio Estatal de las Artes Eréndira 2010.

Grupo Erendi, regional P'urhépecha musicians, played at the award ceremony. Celebratory well-wishers filled Morelia's newly renovated Teatro Ocampo for the event.

Leonel Godoy Rangel, Michoacán's then-governor, personally awarded the 2010 prizes to Ana Pellicer, to Purhépecha painter Jerónimo Mateo, and to the Morelia vocal group Coral Moreliana Ignacio Mier Arriaga.

James Metcalf and Ana Pellicer celebrate on October 25, 2010. Photo courtesy Casandra Rubio.

On April 10, 2010, Mexico Cooks! published the following article about Ana Pellicer's 40-year history as an artist in Santa Clara del Cobre, Michoacán. An earlier article discussed her life and work and that of her equally highly acclaimed husband, James Metcalf.

La Tehuana (1996). Silver-plated copper, resin, and electroformed lace fabric. Click on all of the photographs for a larger view of each sculpture.

In September 2009, Mexico Cooks! met and interviewed James Metcalf and Ana Pellicer, internationally acclaimed artists who are long-time residents of Santa Clara del Cobre, Michoacán. Privileged to photograph a number of their sculptures at their home in September, I was nevertheless unprepared for the visual and emotional impact of Poemas Forjados (Hand-hammered Poems), a lifetime retrospective of Ana Pellicer's work that opened on March 27, 2010 at the Palacio Clavijero in Morelia.

La Libertad P'urépecha (1987). Mixed media: fiberglass, wood, plaster of Paris, textiles, copper, and brass. In honor of Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, the French sculptor who created the original Statue of Liberty, the pleated skirt which represents the traditional guari (P'urhépecha woman) garment is the colors of the French flag. I asked Ana Pellicer why she chose to create the body of the sculpture in purple. The simple answer: "She is in mourning."

The 75-sculpture exhibit, which fills several huge rooms at the Clavijero, is divided into themes: Secretos, Mujer, Luz, Poder, Libertad, and Juego (Secrets, Woman, Light, Power, and Sport).

Caja, Jugadores de Pelota (Box, Ball Players), Serie Secretos 2003. Hammered copper, repoussé and silver plate, approximately 20cm long, 12cm wide, and 3cm deep. The sculptured box top represents the pre-Hispanic P'urhépecha ball game that may have been the forerunner of both baseball and basketball. The 'Secrets' portion of the exhibit includes boxes, books, clouds, and other sculptures.

Ana Pellicer sculpts predominately in copper, hand-forging and hammering every piece. She works directly on the metal in the traditional pre-Hispanic "technique of fire" that is still practiced by Santa Clara del Cobre's artisans. She begins her labor directly on the tejo (round ingot) of copper. Her sculptures also may include bronce (bronze), hule (hand-harvested rubber), chuspata (lake reed), resina (resin), latón (brass), and plata (silver).

Libro 1 (Book 1), 1970. Hammered repoussé brass, plastic, and paper, approximately 20cm square. Ana Pellicer produced this and other mixed-media sculptured books to record her creative process.

La Medusa, Serie Mujeres, 2010. Cast bronze, repoussé copper, marble and wood. Ana Pellicer points out details of the sculpture; the Medusa's head opens on a hinge, revealing her brain.

For more than two years, Ana Pellicer worked to gather the pieces in this current exhibit. Dispersed in public and private collections around the world, the owners have loaned the sculptures to Michoacán, where they were originally made. "It gives me so much pride to exhibit my sculptures in the enormous rooms of the Palacio Clavijero, where the proportions of the building suit the proportions of the work," said Pellicer.

Querubines, Serie Luz, 1998. Repoussé copper, resin, and iron. Many of the pieces in the series Light include resin, which collects and concentrates the light in each of the sculptures.

The recurrent themes of Pellicer's work–light, power, women, secrets, sport–develop in strength and beauty as the viewer passes from gallery room to gallery room in the Palacio Clavijero. Quotations from philosophers as diverse as Greece's 700 BC poet Sappho and Mexico's 15th century AD poet Netzahuacóyotl dot the exhibit's walls, both taking from and giving depth and comprehension to the works. From Netzahuacóyotl, for example:

    "Percibo lo secreto, lo oculto:
    Así somos,
    somos mortales.
    de cuatro en cuatro nosotros los hombres,
    Todos habremos de irnos,
    todos habremos de morir en la tierra…"

    "I perceive the secret, this hidden thing:
    we are this way,
    we are mortals.
    Four at a time we men,
    All of us must leave,
    All of us must die to this earth…"

Arracada Monumental de la Libertad (Monumental Earring for the Statue of Liberty), 1986. The hand-forged hollow copper earring weighs approximately 45 pounds. Ana Pellicer sculpted the single earring and several other pieces of jewelry to fit the Statue of Liberty on the occasion of the statue's 100th birthday.

Anillo de la Libertad (Ring for the Statue of Liberty), 1986. The repoussé copper and resin ring, made to the same scale as the earring above, fits the ring finger of the Statue of Liberty. The statue measures 305 feet from its base to the tip of her torch.

Objeto Encontrado en la Tumba de una Reina (Object Found in the Tomb of a Queen), Serie Poder, 1996. Hammered copper, glass, and tempered mica. The axe is the pre-Hispanic Purhépecha power symbol. Ana Pellicer described this piece as el hacha santificada (the sanctified ax) because of its halo.

Beisbol (Baseball), Serie Juego 1999. The baseball sculpture measures approximately 70cm in diameter. Pellicer laughingly said, "I signed this huge baseball as if I were a sports star!"

Ana Pellicer herself embodies the five themes of this magnificent retrospective exhibit. A strong, intelligent woman, filled with light, with power, with humor, with deep love, and with her own creative secrets, Pellicer's life work offers us a penetrating look into her world and our own.

Poemas Forjados de Ana Pellicer
Palacio Clavijero
Nigromante No. 79, between Av. Madero Poniente y Santiago Tapia
Colonia Centro
Morelia, Michoacán
March 27-June 30, 2010

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4 de May de 2019
Get Out Your New Undies, Your Old Suitcase: Mexico’s New Year’s Rituals Explained

In Mexico and other Latin American countries, women wear yellow underwear on New Year's Eve to bring good luck and wealth in the year to come. Red underwear (this vendor has a lot on her tables for sale) indicates a New Year's wish for an exciting love interest! Just remember that the underwear has to be NEW.

Superstition or not, many people here in Mexico have the custom of ritos del Año Nuevo (New Year's rituals). Some rituals include foods, others prescribe certain clothing, and still others warrant attention for religious interest.

As the clock strikes midnight, it's common to eat twelve grapes–one at each ding, one at each dong of the bell. While eating the grapes, you make a personal wish for each grape you consume, welcoming the new year that's beginning. Mexico Cooks! finds that it's helpful to write down the twelve wishes so as not to forget one or choke in the rush to swallow the grapes before the clock finishes striking the New Year's earliest hour! Even the most elegant restaurants promise that along with your late-night New Year's eve meal, they will provide the grapes and champagne.

Eating a tablespoonful of cooked lentils on New Year's Eve is said to bring prosperity and fortune. You can also give raw lentils–just a handful, with the same wish for abundance, to family and friends.

Mexico Cooks! has often received a New Year's detallito (a little gift) of a tiny bottle like this, filled with layers of different kinds of seeds and grains. This gift represents the giver's wish for your New Year: abundance.

Sweep all the rooms of your house, your front steps, and the street in front of your house to remove all traces of the old year. Some people put 12 golden coins outside–to be swept into the house after the house is swept clean. The coins are to invite money and other abundance to come into the home. Photo courtesy Jeff Trotter.

Give someone a little woolly toy sheep as a New Year's gift–it too is a symbol of abundance! Why? In Mexico, a slang word for "money" is lana–wool, in English. And what's a sheep covered with? Lana–for an abundance of money in the New Year. Photo courtesy Etsy.

On a small piece of paper, write down the undesirable habits and customs you'd like to let go of in the New Year that's just starting. Burn the paper, then follow through with the changes!

Choose three stones that symbolize health, love, and money. Put them in a place where you will see them every day.

Light candles: blue for peace, yellow for abundance, red for love, green for health, white for spirituality, and orange for intelligence.

Spill clean water on the sidewalk in front of your house as the clock rings in the New Year. Your house will be purified and all tears will be washed away.

To have money for your needs all year, have some bills in your hand or in your pocket to welcome the arrival of the New Year. Some people fold up the money and put it in their shoes!

Take your suitcase for a walk. Legend is that the farther you walk with your suitcase, the farther you'll travel. Several New Year's Eves ago, Mexico Cooks! and a few friends celebrated by walking our suitcases around the block. We all traveled far and wide during the new year that followed.

Mexico Cooks! wishes all of you a muy próspero Año Nuevo–and especially wishes that your red underwear brings you (or keeps you) the love of family, friends, and that special someone.

We'll see you right here in 2019!

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29 de December de 2018
Day and Night of the Dead in Indigenous Mexico :: Oh Death, Where Is Thy Sting?

Remember me as you pass by,
As you are now, so once was I.
As I am now, so you will be,
Prepare for death and follow me.
…from a tombstone

What is death? We know its first symptoms: the heart stops pumping, breath and brain activity stop. We know death's look and feel: a still, cold body from which the spirit has fled. The orphan and widow know death's sorrow, the priest knows the liturgy of the departed and the prayers to assuage the pain of those left to mourn. But in most English-speaking countries, death and the living are not friends. We the living look away from our mortality, we talk of the terminally ill in terms of 'if anything happens', not 'when she dies'. We hang the crepe, we cover the mirrors, we say the beads, and some of us fling ourselves sobbing upon the carefully disguised casket as it is lowered into the Astroturf-lined grave.

Octavio Paz, Mexico City's Nobel Laureate poet and essayist who died in 1998, is famously quoted as saying, "In New York, Paris, and London, the word death is never mentioned, because it burns the lips."

Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán panteón (cemetery), Mexico Cooks! photo. These fellows sing to la Descarnada (the fleshless woman) on November 2, 2009.

In Mexico, on the contrary, every day is a dance with death. Death is a woman who has a numerous affectionate and humorous nicknames: la Huesuda (the bony woman), la Seria (the serious woman), la Novia Fiel (the faithful bride), la Igualadora (the equalizer), la Dientona (the toothy woman), la Pelona (the bald woman), la Patrona (the boss lady), and a hundred more. She's always here, just around the next corner or maybe right over there, behind that pillar. She waits with patience, until later today or until twelve o'clock next Thursday, or until sometime next year–but when it's your time to go, she's right there, ready to dance away with you at her side.

November 2013 altar to La Santa Muerte (Holy Death), Sta. Ana Chapirito (near Pátzcuaro), Michoacán. Devotees of this deathly apparition say that her cult has existed since before the Spanish arrived in Mexico.

In Mexico, death is also in the midst of life. We see our dead, alive as you and me, each November, when we wait at our cemeteries for those who have gone before to come home, if only for a night. That, in a nutshell, is Noche de Muertos: the Night of the Dead.

In the lower center portion of this photograph, you can see the Quiroga, Michoacán, panteón municipal (town cemetery). Late in the afternoon of November 1, 2013, most townspeople had not yet gone to the cemetery with candles and flowers for their loved ones' graves. Click on any photograph for a larger view.

Over the course of the last 35-plus years, Mexico Cooks! has been to countless Noche de Muertos events, but none as mystical, as magical, or as profoundly spiritual as that of 2013. Invited to accompany a very small group on a private tour in Michoacán, I looked forward to spending three days enjoying the company of old and new friends. I did all that, plus I came away with an extraordinarily privileged view of life and death.

A magnificent Purépecha ofrenda (in this case, a home altar) in the village of Santa Fe de la Laguna, Michoacán. This detailed and lovely ofrenda was created to the memory of the family's maiden aunt, who died at 74. Because she had never married, even at her advanced age she was considered to be an angelito (little angel)–like an innocent child–and her spirit was called back home to the family on November 1, the day of the angelitos. Be sure to click on the photo to see the details of the altar. Fruits, breads, incense, salt, flowers, colors, and candles have particular symbolism and are necessary parts of the ofrenda.

Detail of the ofrenda casera (home altar) shown above. Several local people told Mexico Cooks! that the fruit piled on the altar tasted different from fruit from the same source that had not been used for the ofrenda. "Compramos por ejemplo plátanos y pusimos unos en el altar y otros en la cocina para comer. Ya para el día siguiente, los de la cocina tenían sabor normal, pero los del altar no tenían nada de sabor, no supieron a nada," they said. 'We bought bananas, for example, and we put some on the altar and the rest in the kitchen to eat. The next day, the ones in the kitchen were fine, but the ones from the altar had no taste at all.'

Preparing a family member's ofrenda (altar) in the camposanto in the village of Arócutin, Michoacán. The camposanto–literally, holy ground–is a cemetery contained within the walls of a churchyard. The beautiful beeswax candles used in this area of Michoacán are hand made in Ihuatzio and Santa Fé de la Laguna.

Come with me along the unlit road that skirts the Lago de Pátzcuaro: Lake Pátzcuaro. It's chilly and the roadside weeds are damp with rain that fell earlier in the evening, but for the moment the sky has cleared and is filled with stars. Up the hill on the right and down the slope leading left toward the lake are tiny villages, dark but for the glow of tall candles lit one by one in the cemeteries. Tonight is November 1, the night silent souls wend their way home from Mictlán, the land beyond life.

At the grave: candlelight to illuminate the soul's way, cempazúchitl (deeply orange marigolds) for their distinctive fragrance required to open the path back home, smoldering copal (frankincense) to cleanse the earth and air of any remnants of evil, covered baskets of the deceased's favorite foods. And a low painted chair, where the living can rest through the night.

Watching through the night. This tumba (grave) refused to be photographed head-on. From an oblique angle, the tumba allowed its likeness to be made.

"Oh grave, where is thy victory? Oh death, where is thy sting?"

Noche de Muertos is not a costume party, although you may see it portrayed as such in the press. It is not a drunken brawl, although certain towns appear to welcome that sort of blast-of-banda-music reventón (big blow-out). It is not a tourist event, though respectful strangers are certainly welcomed to these cemeteries. Noche de Muertos is a celebration of the spirit's life over the body's death, a festival of remembrance, a solemn passover. Years ago, in an interview published in the New York Times, Mexico Cooks! said, "Noche de Muertos is about mutual nostalgia. The living remember the dead, and the dead remember the taste of home."

One by one, grave by grave, golden cempazúchitles give shape to rock-bound tombs and long candles give light to what was a dark and lonely place, transforming the cemetery into a glowing garden. How could a soul resist this setting in its honor?

"Our hearts remember…" we promise the dead. Church bells toll slowly throughout the night, calling souls home with their distinctive clamor (death knell). Come…come home. Come…come home.

Waiting. Prayers. No se me olvido de tí, mi viejo amado. (I haven't forgotten you, my dear old man.)

Next year, come with me.

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3 de November de 2018
Dancing with Death :: José Guadalupe Posada and the History of the Catrina

José Guadalupe Posada, born in the state of Aguascalientes, Mexico, in early 1852, developed his skill as an artist into a career as the foremost political cartoonist of his era, regularly skewering the high and mighty of late 19th century Mexico with his engravings. His portrait (above), engraved by mid-20th century engraver Leopoldo Méndez, is a classic.

Posada's satirical efforts started when he worked as a teenage apprentice in Aguascalientes. His boss, José Trinidad Pedroza, assigned him the job of creating a finger-pointing cartoon depicting the misdeeds of a local politician. His characterization was so successful that it created a tremendous hullabaloo in Aguascalientes; both Posada and Pedroza had to leave town in a hurry to avoid the politico's wrath. When the tumult calmed down, the two printers returned to their work of exposing nefarious political goings-on.

Posada, photographed around the turn of the 20th century, standing in the doorway of his Mexico City taller de grabado (engraving workshop).

When Pedroza's Aguascalientes workplace was destroyed by a flood in 1888, Posada moved to Mexico City to open his own workshop. After the move to the capital, Posada began publishing and distributing frequent volantes (flyers). He used the medium to continue to puncture the egos and expose the foibles and serious crimes of government and social figures of the day. During a time when many in Mexico were illiterate, the message of political cartoons could be easily understood even without reading the articles. Many credit Posada with raising the political and social consciousness of the peón (common laborer), exposing social injustice at a time when most at that level were blind to it.

Posada's first published fashionably-hatted calavera (skull). The cartoon is titled, "Big Sale of Grinning Skulls". Over the course of the rest of his career, it is estimated that the prolific Posada published as many as 20,000 political volantes, at a penny apiece, including many thousands that were illustrated by calaveras.

What was Posada's purpose in utilizing a skeleton–albeit a well-dressed skeleton–to illustrate his articles? Mexico's president/dictator at the time, Porfirio Díaz, idealized and aped all things French. During his 30-year rule (1876-1910, known as the Porfiriato), Mexican government officials and high society alike dressed in the French mode, expressing what was known then and is known now as malinchismo: over-valuing foreign imports over Mexico's national products. The Frenchified calavera engraved by Posada is offered as a satirical portrait of those Mexican natives who, Posada felt, were aspiring to adopt European aristocratic traditions in Mexico's pre-revolutionary era. The irony of Posada’s drawing—a fabulously over-dressed skeleton—is that no matter what we’re wearing, we all end as bones.

El Jarabe en Ultratumba (Dancing Beyond the Grave).

In Mexico, we play with, make fun of, and party with death. We throw our arms around her in a wickedly sardonic embrace and escape her return embrace with a zippy side-step, a wink, and a joke. Every day is a dance with death. Death is a woman who has a numerous affectionate and humorous nicknames: la Huesuda (the bony woman), la Seria (the serious woman), la Novia Fiel (the faithful bride), la Igualadora (the equalizer), la Dientona (the toothy woman), la Pelona (the bald woman), la Patrona (the boss lady), and a hundred more. She's always here, just around the next corner or right over there, behind that pillar. She waits with patience, until later today or until twelve o'clock next Thursday, or till sometime next year–but when it's time, she's right there to dance away with you at her side.

In the fairly recent past, Posada's pointed and politicized calavera became known as la catrina, a figure now closely related to Mexico's celebration of Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Renowned Michoacán-based painter and sculptor Juan Torres Calderón, Mexico Cooks! good friend, was the first to present Posada's catrina vision in clay. In 1982, his wife, Velia Canals, began production of Maestro Torres' three-dimensional catrina designs. Their workshop in Capula, Michoacán, is open for sales to the public.

The Mexican word catrina–the word now used for any representation of Posada's original French-attired calavera–simply means a woman who is dressed to the nines. Her male counterpart is known as a catrín—a handsome man, usually dressed in elegant male attire. Together, the couple are catrines. Even today, if you go out to a formal event, your neighbor (seeing you leave the house) might well say, “Uff, qué catrina!” Unless you’re a man, of course, in which case the neighbor would say, “Qué catrín!”.

These catrines are made of paper maché. On the far right, you see a bride and groom. Mexico Cooks!' kitchen shows off this same artisan's chef figure, in a green chef's jacket and a high white toque. Click on any photo to enlarge it for a better view.

Some of the many Día de los Muertos figures displayed at the fabulous bakery Hornos de Los Ortíz, in Morelia, Michoacán. The owner makes these gorgeous figures out of bread dough! If you happen to be in Morelia in the next few weeks, DO NOT MISS this bakery and its annual display. The owners, in a typical Mexican play on words, call the diorama a pan-teón: bread cemetery.

During the 2015 Noche de los Muertos events in Morelia's historic center, this young woman dressed in a skirt and hat made of totomoxtle (dried corn husks)–the husks normally used for making tamales. Her mother made her outfit and painted her face.

During the last few years, many Mexican children and adults have begun to paint their faces for Día (and Noche) de Muertos. The little girl in the chair lives in Opopeo, Michoacán, a small town not far from Morelia. In the town square's bandstand, young people were designing a special face for each child who wanted one.

Posada's century-old political calavera has evolved into one of Mexico's most beloved icons, the catrina. When your friends ask you about her, be sure that they know the history behind this beautiful creature. She's more than just a pretty face.

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27 de October de 2018
GIANT ALEBRIJES In Mexico City’s Streets :: The Stuff of Dreams

This article, originally published in 2011, is well worth repeating today. The 12th annual Desfile de Alebrijes Monumentales (Giant Alebrijes Parade) will take place on October 20, 2018, starting at 12:00 noon. This year's parade expects more than 200 entries; it will kick off at the Zócalo in Mexico City's Centro Histórico and wend its way through downtown until it arrives on Paseo de la Reforma, ending at the Ángel de la Independencia. If you'll be in Mexico City, don't miss it!

Mexico City's iconic Ángel de la Independencia, nearly 43 meters high (that's 140 feet, for you who are metrically-challenged) is known all over the Distrito Federal simply as 'El Ángel'. Need a place to meet your friends to head for the Zona Rosa? "Nos vemos en el Ángel a las once…" ('see you at the Angel at eleven o'clock…'). For a good idea of the size of just the Ángel, look at the man standing near the right-hand corner of the railing–and consider that the platform is very, very high up on the column!

The fifth annual exhibit of alebrijes monumentales (monumentally-sized alebrijes) started just at the Ángel, in October 2011. This one is called Hipnóptera.

Very much in the style of Pedro Linares, this giant and quite happy alebrije exhibited along Paseo de la Reforma is called Pedrito (little Pedro). No fear–in spite of his sharp teeth, he won't bite!

The alebrije, created originally by 20th century Mexico City papel maché (paper maché) artisan don Pedro Linares, has become part of Mexico's mythology. If the creatures appear to be the stuff of nightmares, they in fact are just that: in the mid-1930s, sick and hallucinating with a high fever, Linares dreamed that these fantastical creatures surrounded him and heard them calling out their hitherto nonsense-syllable name: alebrijes, alebrijes, alebrijes. When his health improved, he began making the figures in his media, paper maché and cardboard.

This towering two-headed, four-armed creature with wings is called Pescando Soles. I spoke to the man standing at the right of the photo; he is close to six feet tall. That should give you an idea of the size of this giant.

Artist Mireya Carrera Bolaños smiles for the camera in front of her creation called Pescando Soles, which won an honorable mention in the competition.

Even though Sr. Linares originated the genre of alebrijes based on his fevered dreams, and even though his family continues to produce them in Mexico City, the alebrije name has passed into common usage for any fantastical creature made in the Linares style or a style that is similar. In Mexico City and the surrounding area, most alebrijes are made of paper maché and cardboard; this work is called cartonería. However, in the state of Oaxaca (and most famously by the artisan workshop headed by Jacobo and María Ángeles in the town of San Martín Tilcajete), alebrijes are carved from copal wood and are made in the shape of animals, both realistic and mythical. Each genre is very different from the other.

Ponte Almeja, a horned devil figure, sports a green tail covered with pre-Hispanic symbols.

The alebrijes exhibit started on a Sunday, which is always family day on Paseo de la Reforma. Every Sunday the divided wide boulevard is closed to all motorized traffic and is taken over by throngs of bicycles, tricycles, scooters, runners, walkers, children, and stroller-pushing parents. Vendors–of everything from food, toys, lucha libre masks (Mexican-style wrestling), bubble machines, pink and lavender cotton candy, and other non-essentials–line the sidewalks on both sides of Reforma.

Lucha libre mask vendor. You only wish it were Mexico Cooks! behind that marvelous mask!

This artist crafted a stack of monumentally-sized paper maché books between the feet of his giant alebrije. The title of the blue book in the middle of the stack is "Como Hacer Un Alebrije Monumental en Dos Semanas" ("How to Make a Monumental Alebrije in Two Weeks").

A toothy paper maché smile. This one looks much fiercer than Pedrito!

This wildly colorful dragon called Michtic (Gracioso) has its tail in its mouth, ready to go for a spin.

The head of the Ecofloon–part giraffe, part reindeer, part bird-beak, and 100% alebrije.

P-ezme Pezcadilla. The invented names of the creatures are as fanciful as their paint jobs.

Detail of paper maché bolitas (little balls) and wonderful design.

I've got my eye on you…

The end of the three-block exhibition of alebrijes: the fountain and glorieta (traffic circle) of Diana la Cazadora (Diana the Huntress). Click to enlarge the photo for a better view of her with her bow and arrow. In the background, the Hotel St. Regis.

After the weekend-long alebrijes exhibition along Paseo de la Reforma, the figures were trundled over to Mexico City's Centro Hístorico for a week in the Zócalo (central plaza), a fittingly monumental site for the 2011 crop of monumental alebrijes. We can hardly wait till the 2012 exhibit–come join us!

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6 de October de 2018