PARA ALÉM DA TRADIÇÃO: SINCRETISMO, GÊNERO E ARTE POPULAR NO MÉXICO

Abstract

Abstract: This text was originally published in Spanish in the journal Estudios Interdisciplinarios de América Latina y el Caribe in 1998. In the revised Portuguese version by the author, Eli Bartra discusses the syncretisms between elite and popular art, describing the processes of re-elaboration and updating carried out by popular artists of "models" of high art. For this purpose, we are introduced to three experiences: the first deals with reproductions of Frida Kahlo's paintings in clay sculptures, developed by Josefina Aguilar Alcántara, from the town of Ocotlán de Morelos, Oaxaca; the second describes the "sarapes" of Teotitlán del Valle, which reproduce works or elements present in paintings by Picasso, Miró, Kandinsky, Vasarely, Matisse, Escher, and Diego Rivera; the third analyzes the polychrome clay figures created by women from the community of Ocumicho, in the state of Michoacán, reinterpretations of historical events seen in European or Mexican works from the 16th, to the 20th centuries. Based on these cases, the author articulates how gender social divisions influence the craft and practices of these individuals and collectives, and also reflects on how the re-elaborations are intertwined with the usual ways of life and work techniques of the communities where the flows between high and popular culture occur.