A Wearable Tribute to Mexico’s Cultural Diversity
Huipiles, Mexico’s festive native blouses, look good on anyone, from indigenous women to gringas. They come in colors and patterns to suit all personalities and body types, but all share a basic boxy shape. Mexican artisans elevate this simplest of garments to an art form by decorating them with embroidery, ribbons, lace, beadwork, inlay and...
Magic Carpets, Oaxaca’s Master Weaver Preserves a Zapotec Tradition
When you enter The-Bug-in-the-Rug store in Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca, you are greeted by the master weaver himself, Isaac Vasquez, a friendly, soft-spoken man with salt and pepper hair. He invites you into his workshop, housed in the sunny courtyard of his family compound. Your eyes are immediately drawn to the carpets on the adobe...
Wearable Art, Neckpieces by Arthur Koby
For those of us lucky enough to be on La Ropa beach at sunset on December 30, we were treated to models dressed like classic Hellenic statues. Each wore one spectacular neckpiece by New York jewellery artist, Arthur Koby. What better setting than sand, sea and last light of day to see this exquisite new...
4th Annual Guitar Festival announces lineup
4th Annual Zihuatanejo International Guitar Festival March 11 – 18, 2007 Announces line-up of Musicians With funds generated from past festivals, ZI-Guitar Fest AC, the governing body of the Zihuatanejo International Guitar Festival was able to buy instruments, textbooks, furniture and pay the annual rent for a school building in central Zihuatanejo for the EMEC....
Emilia Castillo & Gigi Mizrahi at GALArt
Rocio Madrazo promotes the art of jewellery as well as traditional art in her gallery Galart. With enthusiasm she talks about the work of two women she represents. Emilia Castillo is one example of a multimedia artist. Her line of silver jewellery is Mayan- influenced as well as her tableware (hand-hammered salad tossers with copper...
Fashion Week Mexico City
Over 10,000 persons, press, celebrities, designers, models, buyers and ordinary folk – descended on Mexico City’s Hotel Camino Real during the last week of October to witness close to 40 fashion shows. The event, Fashion Week Mexico, has been occurring twice yearly (in October the Spring-Summer collections are presented, in April the Fall-Winter) for the...
Quetzalcoatl – The Feathered Serpent God of the Aztecs
When you think of Mexican mythology, you might not think of flying dragons, but nevertheless in Mexico’s pre-Hispanic recollections there exists a mythical god who was symbolized as a flying dragon, or also called, a feathered serpent, or the Quetzal-like flying snake. In the native Nahuatl Aztec tongue, the name was Quetzalcoatl, also known in...
The Popol Vuh and the Mayan Creation Myth
The Popol Vuh is the name given to one of the Sacred Books of the Ancient Maya. Originally written in Quiché by one or several indigenous people shortly after the Spanish Conquest (sometime in the middle of the 16th century), it was later found by the Spanish priest Francisco Ximénez who translated it into Spanish....
Prehispanic Art at the Rufino Tamayo Museum in Oaxaca
You don’t have to be an anthropologist or an art expert to appreciate pre-Hispanic art, all you need is an eye for beauty, according to Alicia Pesqueira de Esesarte, Director of the Rufino Tamayo Museum of Pre-Hispanic Art in Oaxaca. “It’s about the expression of beauty made by humans for humans,” she says. But pre-Hispanic...
The Bookstores of Donceles Street, Mexico City
Step into any one of the dozen or so bookstores on Donceles Street in Mexico City´s historic center and you might find yourself in a predicament similar to the following: Do you stick to the game plan, zeroing in on that novel about the Mexican Revolution that you haven’t been able to find anywhere else,...
La Sombra del Sabino Bookstore & Cafe hosts Diana Kennedy
Oprah’s best efforts notwithstanding, books have taken a serious hit at the hands of competing media. It’s easier to watch a movie, listen to a CD or turn on cable than it is to read a book, and unfortunately, most people do prefer easy. Additionally, buying books in México can be an expensive undertaking, assuming...
Buddhism – Suffering is Optional
“One of humanities largest cognitive errors is thinking that pleasure is the same as happiness. Trying to extract happiness from pleasure is like trying to milk a crocodile.” – Israel Lifshitz Israel Lifshitz discovered Buddhism 13 and-a-half years ago when he attended a lecture that opened his eyes and changed the path of his life....
