Exhibition | Folk Art | Flora and Fauna by Mexican Hands

Description

Exhibition | Folk Art | Flora and Fauna by Mexican Hands
From February 3 to May 18, 2025
Fundación Casa de México in Spain presents the Mexican folk art exhibition Flora and Fauna by Mexican Hands, an exhibition composed of 52 pieces in various artisanal techniques from different regions of Mexico.

Learn more about the exhibition during free guided tours, every Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.

Nature has been an inexhaustible source of inspiration for Mexico's great master artisans. In this exhibition, we explore the representation of diverse animals and flowers through various artisanal techniques and traditions. The exhibition takes us on a journey to discover the richness of Mexican biodiversity and the profound connection between humans and it. The works are a testament to the talent, creativity, and deep connection with the environment that characterizes Mexico's communities. Each piece represents the cultural identity and expresses the worldview of each community. The animals represent protection, strength, or cunning, while the flowers evoke beauty, fertility, and life.

Some works you can enjoy during your tour include:

Nahuales decorated with copal wood, hand-painted by Oaxacan artisans.
Wixárika art: yarn animals glued with wax and figures decorated with beads.
Clay pieces from Chiapas, Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacán, Oaxaca, and Veracruz.
Lacquered wooden trunks and basins from Olinalá, Guerrero.
Copper from Michoacán.
Textiles from Oaxaca, Puebla, Chiapas, and Hidalgo.
Some artisan techniques on display:

Olinalá

Olinalá lacquerware is one of Mexico's most famous artisan traditions, known for its historical popularity and international presence in collections and museums. A notable example is found in the convent of Las Descalzas Reales in Madrid, which houses two lacquered chests from Olinalá. This town, along with Temalacatzingo, in the mountainous region of Guerrero, is a center for the production of these handicrafts, made with lacquer or maque. The wood used comes from the aromatic linaloe tree, common in the region, and the production of these pieces is complex and laborious.

The lacquering process involves applying layers of chia oil and mineral pigments, known in Nahuatl as tóctetl, tesicaltetl, and tecoxtle, to the surface of the wooden pieces. The artisans create the "drawing" by hand-scraping the ornamental motifs, without using stencils, which reveals the inner layers of color. This meticulous work results in beautiful relief effects. The designs of Olinalá lacquerware, influenced by the New Spanish Baroque, owe their origin to the exchange of goods along the Manila galleon route in the 18th century.

Nahuales

The word "nahual" comes from the Nahuatl "nahualli," which means "hidden," and is associated with concepts such as disguise, deception, and metamorphosis. In Mesoamerican culture, a nahual can be a sorcerer who transforms into an animal or an animal alter ego that we all possess. The tradition of alebrijes, metamorphic figures carved in wood, embodies this concept. These alebrijes are produced in Oaxacan towns such as San Martín Tilcajete and Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán, where master craftsman Angélico Jiménez has his workshop.

The history of alebrijes dates back to 1936, when Pedro Linares López, a cartonero artisan, hallucinated strange figures during an illness. Upon recovering, he began creating these figures, calling them "alebrijes." The tradition came to Oaxaca through Manuel Jiménez Ramírez, who met Linares in 1978 and brought the idea to his town, San Antonio Arrazola. The Jiménez family's nahuales are chimerical figures combining animal bodies and human heads, carved from copal wood and considered works of art for their detail and originality.

Tenango

The word "Tenango" refers to a type of embroidery performed in the municipality of Tenango de Doria and other nearby towns in the state of Hidalgo, Mexico. These embroideries, characterized by their bright colors and animal and plant motifs, are a tradition of the Otomi people of the region. Although the Otomi are known for various crafts, the "tenangos" have gained international fame since the 1960s, thanks to the work of Josefina José Tavera, who pioneered this practice in San Nicolás.

Today, Tenangos are not only found in textiles such as tablecloths and clothing, but also in decorative objects and amate paper canvases. The proximity of Tenango de Doria and San Nicolás to the state of Puebla, especially San Pablito-Pahuatlán, has allowed for the fusion of these traditions, revitalizing both and achieving great commercial success.

Modeled Clay with Pastillaje

San José de Gracia in Michoacán is known for its pottery. A town rich in clay, the raw material used to make its decorative pieces, is excavated from the nearby mountains and even carried down by donkey.

A particularly beautiful and distinctive technique used by the town's master artisans is pastillaje, a process in which small amounts of clay are molded between the fingertips to create ornamental figures. These figures are added to the piece while the clay is still moist and are fully incorporated when fired. This particular technique is used in San José to create the nature-inspired decorations of its iconic pineapples.