In celebration of an NFL league game in the City of Mexico, “American game Mexican Art”

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Indigenous interventions in footballs

The exhibition consists of 40 original pieces of indigenous art, based on the figure of the official football ball of the NFL, worked with the techniques and traditional designs of 26 indigenous peoples of Mexico: Chatino, Chiapaneca, Chontal de Oaxaca, Chontal de Tabasco , huasteco, huichol, kikapú, maya, mazahua, mazateco, mixe, mixteco, nahua, otomí, pa ipai, pima, popoloca, purépecha, seri, tarahumara, south tepehuan, totonaco, triqui, tseltal, yaqui and zapoteco.

These people live in the states of Baja California, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Mexico City, Coahuila, Durango, State of Mexico, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Michoacán, Morelos, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Sonora, Tabasco, Tlaxcala, and Veracruz. Their cultures represent the legacy of Mesoamerican and northern Mexican civilizations, which is one of the countries with the greatest wealth and cultural diversity in the world.
Based on their experience of direct work in indigenous localities, the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples (CDI) established contact with talented artisans who, in the company of the curators, developed each of the pieces, with strict adherence to the aesthetic and technological traditions of the native peoples. For this, a team of potters, cabinetmakers, and textile technicians developed molds, structures, and patterns based on which the craftsmen made the pieces according to the technique and specific designs of their community.

This exhibition, coordinated by the CDI in 2017, under the auspices of the Tourism Secretariat and the Tourism Promotion Council of Mexico, to be exhibited as part of the cultural program prior to the celebration of an NFL league game in the City of Mexico, reopened at the Indigenous Museum as part of the Super Bowl LII.
The 40 pieces that make up the exhibition, inspired by objects of sporting origin, represent the arts of the indigenous peoples of Mexico. Through these interventions, in addition to tradition, an innovative aesthetic contribution is presented under the appearance of the iconic football ball. With this exhibition, the CDI makes indigenous peoples more visible, through the exhibition of a representative selection of their cultural expressions. In this way, the recognition and appreciation of indigenous peoples are promoted and tourism, fair trade, and productivity are encouraged and, with it, the integral and sustainable development of families and indigenous communities.

It was added in a statement that seeks to demonstrate the wealth of artisan techniques of 26 of the most representative indigenous peoples of Mexico. This unique art exhibition was inaugurated by Roberto Serrano Altamirano, in charge of the Office of the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples. Serrano Altamirano recognized the great culture that our country has: “it is something that we should feel proud of, in the CDI we have tried to promote the culture of our country, there is a great diversity that we have to make known to the world, and what better than now in the sport more important for the Americans, “he said. The art that can be found in these pieces illustrates the cultural heritage of the Chatino, Chiapaneco, Chontal of Oaxaca, Chontal de Tabasco, Huasteco, Huichol, Kikapú, Mayan, Mazahua, Mazatec, Mixe, Mixtec, Nahua, Otomí, Pa ipai, pima, popoloca, purépecha, seri, tarahumara, south tepehuan, totonaco, triqui, tseltal, yaqui and zapoteco, covering a wide diversity of regions. The artisan Hakaima of Rosa Hernández explained the Huichol symbolism that is represented in the piece that she elaborated based on yarn over 19 days. The contribution of these artisans is linked to the Agreement signed in 2017 by the CDI with the Tourist Promotion Council of the Tourism Secretariat (Sectur), which aims to promote and disseminate the indigenous cultural heritage of our country, within the framework of the NFL game held at the Estadio Azteca between Oakland and New England, the works were seen in the Mexican Pavilion on the esplanade of the building.

 

This exhibition has been really exciting and photographs of it an honor because the hands behind each work are those privileged to transmit the sacred legacy of our ancestors. The exhibition was mounted as a framework for the celebration of the Tourism Tianguis held in Mazatlan Sinaloa within the Convention Center of Mazatlan.

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Fotógrafo Profesional dedicado al Patrimonio Natural, Cultural, Turismo & Medio Ambiente.

Director General proyecto Alas & Raíces de México