Mexico 2018 - Museo de Arte Popular 3

These skeleton figures have become associated with Day of the Dead in Mexico but their origin was political.  Created by Mexican printmaker, cartoon illustrator and lithographer, José Guadalupe Posada in 1910-1913, they were originally called La Calavera Garbancera.  Calavera means skull, garbancera was a name given to Mexican natives who adopted pretentious aristocratic European styles during the pre-revolution era.  The name later changed to La Calavera Catrina after one of the figures in Diego Rivera's famous Dream of a Sunday afternoon along Central Alameda mural. For more info:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Calavera_Catrina

 A bunch of nasty little devils

Mexico 2018 - Museo de Arte Popular 2

More images from the museum:

 This Virgin of Guadalupe is done entirely of mother of pearl.

 Beautiful mother of pearl inlay in these guitars

 

Mexico 2018 - Museo de Arte Popular 1

Another of the happy surprises in store for me as I explored the city was the Museum of Popular Art.  The Museo de Arte Popular opened in March 2006. Its purpose is to serve as a reference for Mexican crafts as well as promoting them through workshops, and other events to both Mexico and foreign tourism and dignify Mexican crafts though restoration of older works and the promotion of their creation both inside and outside the museum itself. The museum has a collection which includes textiles, pottery, glass, piñatas, alebrijes, furniture and much more.^[2] However, the museum is best known as the sponsor of the yearly Noche de Alebrijes (Night of the Alebrijes) parade in which the fantastical creatures are constructed on a monumental scale and then paraded through town.  I'd always thought that they originated in Oaxaca but, in fact, they are the creation of an artisan Pedro Linares in Mexico City in the 1930s who saw these fantastical creatures in his dreams when he was ill.  They were shouting "Alebrijes" and when he recovered, he started making the creations out of papier-mâché. I'd seen these giant alebrijes on display near where I stay in Mexico City several years ago and was happy to see them again at this museum.  

 

At the entrance to the museum is what I call the Huicholsvagen.  The Huicholes are a group of indigenous people from Central Mexico also known as the peyote people and famous for their psychedelic art in the form of beaded objects and coloured yarn paintings.  This Volkswagen is completely covered in tiny coloured beads using traditional Huichol patterns.    

Here are some more traditional Huichol art pieces:

 
This will be an introduction to the museum.  I spent two days at this museum and took a lot of pictures so I will post them gradually.  This is the first installment. 

Mexico 2018 - Return to CDMX - a teaser

I was very happy to get back to Mexico City after my sojourn to Puebla.  The weather was getting warmer.  I no longer had to wear long johns and multiple layers at night and I could get around by bike.  There were surprises around every corner, art and architecture, the unending layers of the onion that is CDMX.  

 

Mexico 2018 - Random Puebla

For the most part I enjoyed my stay in Puebla.  It's one of the finest examples of Mexican colonial architecture that I've seen, at least outside of Mexico City.  I could have done with a shorter stay and I think that, had my accommodations been better, I would have enjoyed it more.  Still, there's only so much to see and do there and by the end, I was looking forward to getting back to Mexico City.

Damage from the earthquake in Mexico last Sept was evident

 

Capilla del Rosario

 

Loreto Fort Museum

Do not attempt this at home

 

St

Some folks in the park doing something ceremonial one morning.

 

Sears is alive and well in Mexico (now defunct in Canada)

 Stay tuned for a return to Mexico City