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.
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