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 most likely derived in the early colonial period, as 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 finger weaved into complicated designs. The garment is considered to be part of Mexican identity and nearly all Mexican women own at least one. 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.
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.
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.
Guillermo Marín Ruiz is an independent writer, cultural promoter, and researcher of multiple works, mainly related to Toltecayotl which refers to the cultural and philosophical roots of Indigenous civilization and history in what is now known as Mexico.
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 focus on urban landscapes often with dark themes and a chaotic feel. He works 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.
Guillermo Ceniceros is a Mexican painter and muralist, best known for his mural work in Mexico City, as well as his figurative easel work. He began his mural painting career as an assistant to mural painters such as Federico Cantú, Luis Covarrubias and then David Alfaro Siqueiros who was a mentor and a key influence. Ceniceros is the most notable of Siqueiros' assistants. While he has experimented with abstract expression, his easel work mostly classifies as figurativism and is influenced by the geometrical construct of Mexican muralism. He has had over 300 individual and collective exhibitions in Mexico and the International stage. His work has been recognized by the Mexican Ministry of Culture and several of its institutions. He has painted over 20 large scale Mural Paintings with some of the most notable being the large scale work for the Legislative Palace of San Lazaro as well as his murals in the Metro Subway System. He is a member of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana. In 1995, the State of Durango, Ceniceros' native state, opened to the public the Guillermo Ceniceros Art Museum within the oversight of the Ministry of Culture. Ceniceros has been reviewed by notable critics such as Berta Taracena, Raquel Tibol, Alaide Foppa, Graciela Kartofel, José Angel Leyva and Eduardo Blackaller among others. There are several publications about his work including a vast review of his art life endeavors developed by the Ministries of Culture of Durango and Nuevo León. He is married to the artist Esther González and lives in his studio house in the Colonia Roma of Mexico City.
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.
Tomás Parrá is a Mexican artist, cultural promoter and museum curator. His work has been noted with membership into Mexico Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte.
Beatriz Zamora is a Mexican artist who is best known for her monochrome works in black. Although she has struggled commercially, her work has been recognized at various points in her career such as with membership in the Legion of Honor of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in France and the Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte in Mexico.
Teresa del Conde Pontones was a Mexican art critic and art historian.
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 show in over 500 collective shows. Her work has been recognized with membership in the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana, among other awards.
Guillermo Bonfil Batalla was a Mexican writer who was also trained as an ethnologist and anthropologist. He graduated from Mexico's National School of Anthropology and History. From 1971-1976, he worked as the director of the National Institute of Anthropology and History, in Mexico. From 1982-1985, he founded the National Museum of Popular Culture, in Mexico City. He was also the co-founder of the Center for Research and Higher Studies in Social Anthropology. In the last two years of his life, he worked as the coordinator of the Seminars on the Study of Culture, and assumed a position as the director of the Directorate General of Popular Cultures in the National Council for Culture and the Arts.
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.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
