By Jan Chaiken and Marcia Chaiken
Music and Mexico are essentially synonymous. Mexico’s ardent affection for music is demonstrated by the melodies emanating from radios and CD-players in passing cars, and in work places, homes, and streets. Live music can be heard in restaurants, bars, parks, churches, school yards and special events. Continue reading Mexico’s Orchestras and Bands
By Alvin Starkman
As a consequence of the innovative thinking of Kurt Schwitters, Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Robert Rauschenberg and others, the 20th century bore witness to the concept of found object as visual art becoming a mainstream European and American medium of artistic expression. In Oaxaca, itself known for cutting edge art, found object has received attention over the past 20 years. Take for example the masterful works of Damién Flores, the collages produced by Rodolfo Morales during the final years of his life, and young Mixteco artist Manuel Reyes’ use of archaeological pieces as well as local sands and soils as aids in expressing the strong sense of indigeneity he seeks to impart through art. Continue reading Found Objects as Visual Art: Observations & Application in Oaxaca
By Marcia Chaiken and Jan Chaiken
Mexico City is one of the most stimulating cities in the world for exploring architecture and design — readily accessible to the visitor, in every meaning of the word. While many cities are famed for their magnificent monuments and buildings, many impose numerous hands-off limitations. Mexico City landmarks are much more likely to invite residents and visitors to use every sense, including tactile discovery, to become familiar with design and architecture. The recently renovated Museo Tamayo, in Chapultepec Park, is one sterling example. Continue reading Accessible Architecture and Design
By Kary Vannice
Origami, the ancient art of paper folding, is simplistic because it requires only a single sheet of paper, and ornate because the complex figures one can produce through the simple action of folding. Continue reading Origami, the Ultimate in Simplistic, Yet Ornate Design
By Mary Spicka
The 3rd Annual “Huatulco Being” benefit art exhibition and sale will be held on February 21, 2014, from 5:00 to 8:00 PM in Commercial Local 1 at Sueno del Mar Condominiums, just west of the Xquenda Spa on Playa Chahue. The exhibit will be followed by an open studio the following day (Saturday, February 22) from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Continue reading Benefit Art Exhibition Returns to Huatulco for Third Year; With Opening Gala Reception
By Deborah Van Hoewyk
Some folks come to Huatulco because they’ve seen it, few leave without hearing about it, boatloads of snorkelers explore its cinematic beach without knowing a thing about it. “It” is Y Tu Mamá También, the 2001 Alfonso Cuarón film that made northerners sit up and take real notice of the Mexican film industry. Cuarón went global in short order, making Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Children of Men (2006), and his latest Gravity (2013). He owns Esperanto Filmoj, a film production and distribution company that put out Guillermo del Toro’s film El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth) in 2006, and co-owns another production house, Producciones Anhelo. Continue reading From Dolores Hidalgo to Cacaluta: The Ups, Downs, and Ups of Mexico’s Film Industry
By Julie Etra
Mario Fortino Alfonso Moreno Reyes aka Cantinflas, was born in Mexico City on August 12, 1911. Although he took on the name Cantinflas early in his career he is best remembered for playing the part of an impoverished peasant or pelado, a derogatory term used to describe a type of city bum in the 1920s. Visually he is remembered by his distinctive mustache, and in character as a campesino with his loose fitting pants held up with a rope. He was the best-known Latin American comedian at the time but earned notoriety north of the border in for his co-staring role in the 1956 film ‘Around the World in 80 days’ and is recognized as a major figure during the mid-century Golden Age of Mexican cinema. Continue reading Cantinflas
By Jan Chaiken
Just as the Oscars are awarded annually in the US by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Mexico has its own Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas which makes annual awards called the Ariels. The Mexican Academy was established in 1946 at the height of the Golden Age of film in Mexico but did not have annual awards including ceremonies until 1977. Not only is the name very similar to the corresponding academy in the US, but also the categories of Ariel awards closely parallel those for the Oscars – best picture, best director, best actor and actress, best supporting actor and actress, screenplay, editing, music, cinematography, and so on through the various technical awards. Continue reading The Mexican Academy of Film
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