Imagenes del Mexicano

As the cornerstone exhibition at Bozar’s massive Mexico Festival, Imágenes del Mexicano has the daunting task of depicting Mexico’s complicated history and vibrant culture in 150 works from native as well as international artists.

Mexico’s rich heritage and perpetual quest for its own identity creates a fascinating and diverse experience that incorporates paintings, photography, movies and sculpture. The emphasis, however, lies on portraits: the many faces of Mexico’s population collectively create both a realistic and soulful interpretation of the country’s social and cultural voyage.

You start with its pre-Columbian past, illustrated by a unique collection of Aztec sculptures and Olmec heads. These symbolic representations of important themes of religious worship and day-to-day life lead us to the next stage, race and class in one of Spain’s new colonies.

The caste or castas system was a very important part of society, resulting in opposing portraits of 16th-century aristocrats and Mexico’s indigenous peoples.As more immigrants started coming to the blossoming country, certain stereotypes, such as the image of the rural, working-class peasant, were created. These stereotypes would become an important part of Mexican folklore, and of Imágenes del Mexicano, as they also promote the cultural nationalism that led this ever-changing country further down the road towards independence.

Besides highlighting several historical changes, the exhibition also has a keen eye for the social. An entire room is dedicated to death (La Calaca) and another to the funeral portrait, which is a specific genre in 19th-century Mexican art. Death is an important part of life in Mexican culture and should be celebrated, not mourned.

As we get closer to the images of contemporary Mexico, photographs and film are scattered across the exhibition, mixing a 3,000 year-old heritage and a continuously evolving future. One of the most engaging installations is master Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein’s ¡Que Viva Mexico!, an allegorical evocation of the Mexican Revolution. Another highlight is Tina Modotti’s photo series of the women from the Tehuantepec isthmus, which gives a raw yet elegant depiction of every-day life.

Finally, the modern gallery of Mexican portraits offers a multifaceted view of the present-day Mexican identity. These portraits, which are vibrant yet often dark and brooding, shed light on Mexico’s psychological and cultural development. Occasionally adding surreal sentiment to the equation, these works by Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros, to name a few, are engaging and enlightening.

Flanders Today March 3 2011