Deities that express freedom, tigers and tecuanes, colorful demons, faces with long beards, fish and calacas. Faces that look with empty eyes and dance to the sound of tradition are exhibited in the exhibition Mascareros de Guerrero, of the traditional and the fantastic.
Two hundred masks hang motionless in the National Museum of Popular Cultures to allow us to appreciate not only the ritual object, but the hands of women and men artisans, the process of elaboration, the materials and tools that preserve ancestral techniques, and at the same time, with creativity, innovate in the fantastic carvings that enrich Mexican popular art.
The dances of the peoples of Guerrero have remained resilient and in continuous reinvention: it is estimated that there are more than 300 in this entity in the southwest of the country. From the great universe of narratives, José Luis Correa, one of the curators of the exhibition, highlights the themes of the agricultural cycle, the Conquest, evangelization, military history, the parody of colonial power and transhumance.
The purpose of the exhibition is to make visible the faces of the mask makers of Guerrero who contribute to the preservation of artisan traditions, their community role in festivities, as well as the innovations of Mexican popular art with the creation of fantastic carvings, reports the venue.
Multiple materials
The art of the mask maker ranges from knowing the characters of the dance, giving free rein to their creativity and using a wide variety of materials that show the biological and cultural richness of the environment. Among these are the quiote (or flower stem) of the maguey, wood, lacquers, animal skin, clay, cardboard and sheets, along with other elements such as horsehair and animal horns.
Three collections (the National Museum of Popular Cultures, the El Calehual Traditional Masks of Guerrero collection, and the Víctor Sandoval collection) make up the exhibition of the work of some 50 mask makers from Guerrero, the Costa Chica, the Lower Mountains, the upper Balsas, the Mountains, the Sierra, and towns in the center.
The pieces are accompanied by a selection of photographs of artisans, some with tools in hand carving the pieces, others proudly displaying their creations.
One of the cores into which the exhibition is divided highlights the point from which the whirlwind of interest in buying and collecting these faces of popular art radiated.
The ethnographer Donald Cordry marked a world reference in the knowledge of Mexican masks and the posthumous publication of the book Mexican masks, in 1980, which had an impact on the imaginary of traditional and ornamental carvings. Some pieces from Cordry’s collection are shown in the Cristina Payán room, and “reveal the collage of fantastic and ritual works.”
Another great collector, Ruth Lechuga, discovered in the 1970s the appearance of spectacular masks that were different from those used in dances, offered as old ones. This production was to satisfy the new demand of tourists and for decorative purposes.
In this regard, curator Marta Turok emphasized the wisdom of the mask maker, who makes both the masks for the dancers, as well as the decorative ones. In this way, tradition is not in danger and at the same time new and original forms are invented, while the buyer who looks for the dance mask falls into a type of fetishism when he does not know the dances firsthand in the localities.
The exhibition Mask Makers of Guerrero, of the traditional and the fantastic can be visited at the museum located at 289 Hidalgo Avenue, Del Carmen neighborhood, Coyoacán. It will be open until March 25, 2025.
Source: jornada
