Museo Nacional de las Culturas Populares (National Museum of Popular Cultures) is a museum in Mexico City dedicated to Mexico's ethnic and cultural diversity. This diversity not only includes that of its indigenous peoples, but also those of its regions and socioeconomic strata. It was founded in 1982 by anthropologist Guillermo Bonfil Batalla at a time when the country was accepting and promoting its cultural diversity. The museum does not have a large permanent collection but rather focuses on temporary exhibits, concerts, workshops and other cultural and educational events as well as promoting the creation of museums in Mexico to promote local cultures. The museum is also home to the Centro de Información y Documentación Alberto Beltrán, founded in 1971 to promote research and knowledge about Mexican handcrafts and folk art and indigenous ethnicities.
The museum was established as part of the acknowledgement in the latter 20th century that Mexico consists of various ethnicities and cultures. The term “culturas populares” (popular cultures) refers to indigenous peoples as well as those of different regions, and different socioeconomic levels.[1] Its primary function is to document, promote and foment creative activities in the various subcultures of Mexico in both rural and urban areas through exhibitions and other activities.[2] These activities include collections of art and other objects, photography, film, sound and documentation. The elements of these popular cultures are to be promoted as part of Mexico's national heritage. The main goal of the museum is not to form a large permanent collection but rather to stimulate the formation of museums and other institutions related to various topics.[1][3] The museum is a part of the Dirección General de Culturas Populares which is a subsidiary of the Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes .[4] The museum receives about 1.1 million visitors each year, who come to see its frequent temporary exhibitions and other events.[5]
The museum site is on Avenida Hidalgo, in the historic center of the Mexico City borough of Coyoacán. It has five main exhibition areas: The chapel, the Quinta Margarita, the Moctezuma Annex, the patio areas and the Guillermo Bonfil Batalla Hall. The chapel is the main exhibition area, a building that dates to the mid 19th century. It has two floors with exhibition space, the Educal bookstore, restoration and storage facilities. On the second level there are areas for conferences and other events. The Quinta Margarita is a square covered patio space which can hold 300 people, used for conferences, workshops, shows and concerts. The Moctezuma Annex is a small building which houses the museum's educational services and host educational events. There are a number of patio areas called Jacarandas, Central and Moctezuma which are used for auditions, dances, book presentations, conferences and exhibitions. The Guillermo Bonfil Batalla Hall was built in 1981 for large scale exhibitions.[6]
Alberto Beltrán Center of Information and Documentation, housed by the Museum of Popular Cultures
The Centro de Información y Documentación Alberto Beltrán (Alberto Beltrán Information and Documentation Center) has over 152,000 titles divided into six permanent collections related to Mexico's various cultures: documents, sound library, periodical library, video library and books and is open to the public.[6] It was originally established in 1971, predating the museum, by the Dirección General de Arte Popular and the Secretaría de Educación Pública along with graphic artist Alberto Beltrán to promote research into Mexican handcrafts and folk art along with its indigenous ethnicities. The name of Albert Beltrán was added in his honor in 2005.[7]
Tree of Life sculpture at the museum
Other important installations on the site are the Cuezcomate, the Arbol de la Vida and the Tejedores de Suenos mural. The Cuezcomate is a Nahuatl word that means “guard bread or grain.” It is a replica of a Mesoamerican construction made of clay and palm fronds used to store corn. The structure here is modeled on those of the state of Morelos. It was created for the museum's first major exhibition in 1982 and remains in the patio areas. The Arbol de la Vida, or Tree of Life, is a fired clay sculpture mostly associated with Metepec, State of Mexico. This five meter tall tree was created by José Alfonso Soteno Fernández in 1992 to commemorate the 500 anniversary of Columbus's discovery of the Americas. It contains allusions to indigenous culture when Columbus arrived, Spanish culture and that of African slaves brought over which have combined to create the various manifestations of Mexican culture. The Tejedores de Sueños” mural is a graffiti mural. The iconography is eclectic with images of nopal cactus, masked persons, robotic insects and crosses in a style which combines Mexican folk art and that of comic books.[8]
The museum offers workshops and other classes for museum professionals interested in promoted Mexico's popular cultures. It also offers guided tours which are generally associated with workshops.[6] The museum maintains a full schedule of academic, cultural and recreational activities, including concerts, dances, conferences, seminars, workshops, videos, book and music presentations, sales of Mexican handcrafts and Mexican food.[6] The museum has been the site of an annual Tamale Festival since 1993, with examples of tamales from all over Mexico.[9]
Most of its major events are temporary exhibits related to some aspect of Mexico's cultures. In 1997 it had an exhibition called La Ruta de la Esclavo tracing the history of African slavery in Mexico during the colonial period.[10] For Day of the Dead 2011, the museum held an event called Tzompantli Gráfico where twenty artists including Fupete from Italy and Lucas Varela from Argentina, created modern skull images to arrange similar to that of a Mesoamerican tzompantli or skull-rack.[11] For the same holiday, it held Ofrendas con la boca y el pie: lienzos llenos de tradición with Day of the Dead altars from an artists’ group called Asociación de Pintores con la Boca y con el Pie founded in 1963 who paint with their mouths or feet because of a disability.[12]
In 2012 the museum held a temporary exhibition called “Favores insólitos. Exvoto contemporáneo", which features votive paintings that have nontraditional themes such as prostitution, table dance, sexual diversity, infidelity, figures from popular culture, problems with family members and witchcraft.[13][14] That same year it held an exhibition called “Tápame con tu rebozo” demonstrating and selling rebozos from various parts of central and southern Mexico, dating from 1860 to 2012.[15] It also exhibited 3,500 pieces of jewelry and other adornment in an exhibition called Las perlas de la Virgen y tus labios de coral. El adorno popular, which included Purépecha silver, Huichol beads, and silverwork and jewelry from Puebla, Chiapas, Yucatán and Veracruz .[16] In 2012 it had an exhibition of fine art such as painting and photography done by indigenous people, with the aim of combating the notion that such is only done by those of European heritage. It also included more traditional artwork, evaluating its artistic properties.[17] The museum has also had major exhibitions related to the working class, fishermen, the maguey plant, Mexican coffee and Mexican folk dance.[3]
History
It was inaugurated on September 24, 1982, by José López Portillo .[1] Its founder and first director was anthropologist Guillermo Bonfil Batalla.[2] Its first major program was called “El maíz, fundamento de la cultura popular mexicana” with an exhibition at the museum site as well as posters related to the topic, a monograph competition and various publications including a cookbook.[1][3]
From 2005 to 2009, the site underwent two stages of renovation work, mostly on the chapel, building, which dates from the 19th century. The work included roof sealant, drainage, tools for workshops, and expanding its museum storage and exhibition facilities.[5][18][19]
A rebozo is a long flat garment, very similar to a shawl, worn mostly by women in Mexico. It can be worn in various ways, usually folded or wrapped around the head and/or upper body to shade from the sun, provide warmth and as an accessory to an outfit. It is also used to carry babies and large bundles, especially among indigenous women. The origin of the garment is unclear, but Indigenous women of Mesoamerica were the primary weavers of the first rebozos, often crafted with body-tensioned or back-strap "otate" looms. Spaniards used it in religious situations to conceal the bare bodies of indigenous women. Rebozos were quickly influenced by the fringed shawls of the Philippines and Spanish mantillas as a result of colonization. Traditional versions of the garment show indigenous, European and Asian influences. Traditional rebozos are handwoven from cotton, wool, silk and rayon in various lengths but all have some kind of pattern and have fringe, which can be fingerwoven into complicated designs. The garment is considered to be part of Mexican identity. It has been prominently worn by women such as Frida Kahlo, actress María Félix and former Mexican first lady Margarita Zavala and still popular in rural areas of the country. However, its use has diminished in urban areas.
Luis Nishizawa Flores was a Mexican artist known for his landscape work and murals, which often show Japanese and Mexican influence. He began formal training as an artist in 1942 at the height of the Mexican muralism movement but studied other painting styles as well as Japanese art.
The Secretariat of Culture, formerly known as the National Council for Culture and Arts, is a Mexican government agency in charge of the nation's museums and monuments, promoting and protecting the arts, and managing the national archives.
Gabriel Bernal Vargas was a Mexican cartoonist, whose comic strip La Familia Burrón was created in 1937. This cartoon has been described as one of the most important in Mexican popular culture. Vargas won Mexico's "Premio Nacional de Periodismo" in 1983 and the "Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes en el área de Tradiciones Populares" in 2003.
Roxana del Consuelo Sáizar Guerrero, is an editor and publisher, former CEO of Fondo de Cultura Económica (2002-2009), President of the National Council for Culture and the Arts (CONACULTA) (2009-2012) and President of the Regional Center for the Promotion of Books in Latin America and the Caribbean (Cerlalc) (2010-2012). She began her career working in the family printing business at her home state of Nayarit. After graduating with a degree in Communications in 1983, she began to manage editorial departments and publishing houses until 2002, when she was appointed director of government-owned Fondo de Cultura Económica, which is considered the largest publishing house in Latin America. She restructured the organization and started its electronic publishing program. In 2009, she was named President of CONACULTA, an institution devoted to promoting Mexican culture both domestically and abroad, that has since been transformed into the National Ministry of Culture.
Jorge Wilmot was one of the most distinguished artisans of Mexico, and has been credited with the introduction of stoneware and other high fire techniques to the country. His work is also known for its more austere, Oriental-inspired designs blended with Mexican motifs. His work has been widely sold and exhibited both in Mexico and abroad and he has trained and influenced generations of ceramicists at the school he established in Tonalá, Jalisco.
The Vochol is a Volkswagen (VW) Beetle that has been decorated with traditional Huichol (Wirrárika) beadwork from the center-west of Mexico. The name created by José Jaime Volochinsky is a combination of "vocho", a popular term for VW Beetles in Mexico, and "Huichol", the common name of the Wirrárika indigenous group. The project was sponsored by agencies associated with the Museo de Arte Popular, Mexico City, the states of Jalisco and Nayarit and other public and private organizations. The Volkswagen was covered in 2,277,000 beads applied by eight artisans from two Huichol families in an exclusive design based on Huichol culture.
The Museo Regional de la Cerámica in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco, Mexico is located on Independencia Street in the center of the city. The museum is one of two main ceramics museums in the city, with the other being the Pantaleon Panduro Museum. It was established in 1954 to preserve and promote indigenous handcrafts of Jalisco, especially the state’s ceramic tradition. The emphasis is still on ceramics but the museum also has a room dedicated to Huichol art and holds events related to various types of indigenous crafts and culture.
Miss Lupita is a project based in Mexico City with the aim of reviving the traditional craft of Lupita dolls. The dolls originated in the late 18th and early 19th century as a way to cheaply copy more expensive imported dolls for poorer families. The dolls are made from a very hard form of papier-mâché called “cartonería” which is also used to create alebrijes and skeletal figures for Day of the Dead. However, the craft has waned with the only workshops making and selling them located in Celaya in the state of Guanajuato, mostly as collector’s items. The project’s aim was to create more contemporary designs through a series of free workshops to the public. The resulting dolls have been displayed in Mexico City, Japan and Portugal and featured in a number of Mexican publications.
Alberto Beltrán García was a Mexican graphic artist and painter known principally for his work with publications such as illustrations and political cartoons but he created a number of murals as well. He was born in the rough neighborhood of Tepito and began drawing for local publishers when he was a teenager. He attended the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas where one of his teachers introduced him to the Taller de Gráfica Popular where he began his career in earnest. From the late 1940s until his death, he work with various publications, mostly newspapers, but he also did book illustrations as well. In his later career, he worked on a number of murals, especially in the state of Veracruz, which he had an affinity for. Despite winning a number of important awards for his work, he is relatively unknown even in Mexico, with collections of his work scattered among a number of institutions.
Mauricio García Vega is a Mexican painter whose work has been recognized by various awards and membership in the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana. His work is mostly focused on urban landscapes, often with dark themes and a chaotic feel. He works both alone and with his brother Antonio García Vega. He lives and works in the Mexico City suburb of Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl.
Erasto Cortés Juárez was a Mexican artist and a founding member of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana.
Andrea Gómez y Mendoza was a Mexican graphic artist and muralist, a member of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana.
Nefero was a Mexican painter and founding member of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana. He was part of the Mexican muralism movement, whose work was particularly influenced by Manuel Rodríguez Lozano.
Rocio Caballero is a Mexican figurative painter, whose works often depict mythical worlds and are noted for her use of symbolism. Her work has been exhibited individually and collectively in Mexico, the United States, South America and Europe and can be found in collections such as that of the National Museum of Mexican Art. Her work has been recognized with membership in the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana.
Myriam de la Riva is a Mexican artist known for her small scale works as well as portable murals. She was born in Mexico City to a European family in exile. She studied art in both Mexico and the United States as well as with a number of notable Mexican artists. The artist has had over fifty individual exhibitions and her work has been shown in over 500 collective shows. Her work has been recognized with membership in the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana, among other awards.
Marisol Ceh Moo is a Mexican Maya writer and professor, born in Calotmul, Yucatán, Mexico. She writes in Yucatec and in Spanish, and is known for her efforts to revitalize and protect the Yucatec Maya language. Her novel, X-Teya, u puksi 'ik'al ko'olel, is the first written by a woman in the Yukatek language.
Guillermo Bonfil Batalla was a Mexican writer who was also trained as an ethnologist and anthropologist. He was director of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), General Director of Popular Cultures. He founded the National Museum of Popular Cultures. At the time of his death, he served as national coordinator of the Seminar for Cultural Studies of the National Council for Culture and the Arts (Conaculta).
María Teresa Rojas Rabiela is an ethnologist, ethnohistorian, Emeritus National Researcher and Mexican academic, specializing in Chinampas of Mexico's Basin, history of agriculture, hydraulics, technology, and labor organization in Mesoamerica during pre-Columbian and colonial eras, as well as historical photography of Mexico's peasants and indigenous people. She is recognized as a pioneer in historical studies on earthquakes in Mexico. From 2018 to 2021, Rojas Rabiela was involved in the restoration of the section of the pre-Hispanic aqueduct of Tetzcotzinco, Texcoco, known as El caño quebrado.
1 2 "Acerca del Museo"[About the Museum] (in Spanish). Mexico City: Museo Nacional de Culturas Populares. 2011. Archived from the original on December 7, 2011. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
↑ "Directorio"[Directory] (in Spanish). Mexico: CONACULTA. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
1 2 Dora Luz Haw (December 4, 2004). "Contemplan reflejar la diversidad del Pais" [Contemplate and reflect on the cultural diversity of the country]. Reforma (in Spanish). Mexico City. p.3.
1 2 3 4 "Información al visitante"[Information for the visitor] (in Spanish). Mexico City: Museo Nacional de Culturas Populares. 2011. Archived from the original on December 7, 2011. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
↑ "Colecciones"[Collections] (in Spanish). Mexico City: Museo Nacional de Culturas Populares. 2011. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
↑ Dora Luz Haw (December 16, 1997). "Revaloran aportacion de Africa a America" [Revalue the African contribution to America]. Reforma (in Spanish). Mexico City. p.4.
↑ Dora Luz Haw (August 6, 2012). "Combaten desdén al arte indígena" [Combat disdain for indigenous art]. Reforma (in Spanish). Mexico City. p.19.
↑ "Remodelación del Museo Nacional de Culturas Populares"[Remodeling of the Museo Nacional de Culturas Populares] (Press release) (in Spanish). Direccion de Culturas Populares e Indigenas. June 9, 2009. Archived from the original on February 21, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
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