Tag Archives: alebrijes

Alebrijes in Mazatlán!

Fernando Barraza with one of the group’s colibries or hummingbirds

Before the callejoneada (alley crawl or parade) on Wednesday night at 8, be sure to visit the Art Museum to see a beautiful display of cartonería — papier maché catrinas, hummingbirds (messengers between the spirit world and humanity) and alebrijes—those magical, fantastical, enormously colorful and detailed animal creatures from Oaxaca. These gorgeously bright creations will be hanging from that huge tree in the central courtyard of the Art Museum, as well as adorning an altar to departed artists, starting at 7pm Wednesday November 1, 2023. Then on Thursday, November 2, they will move into one of the museum’s galleries, with an inauguration at 4pm.

Adrián Carvajal with his alebrije
María José Rivera with her alebrije
Georgina Rodriguez with her alebrije

These beautiful handmade works are the product of a class taught by Maestro José Guzmán. He had 10-12 students over two months in his workshop at the Art Museum, and each student created at least three works and some people up to five or six. I can’t wait to see them illuminated and displayed!

Also at the Art Museum October 30 – November 1, 2023 is the Festival of Horror in the Arts. It is part of the Sinaloa Cultural Festival.

Festival of Horror in the Arts organizers invite you to join them!

The Art Museum, its altar and alebrije display is #7 on the Callejoneada for Day of the Dead map.

Giant Alebrije Parade

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I was most fortunate to have to work in Mexico City on Friday October 18th. The reason? Because the following day was the Desfile de Alebrijes Monumentales, a parade of gigantic, whimsical and fantastical wooden folk art pieces made from papier maché.

This year at the commencement of the parade the giant alebrijes were named a Mexican cultural heritage—the only form of folk art unique to the old Federal District. Since they came to life from the imagination of Pedro Linares in the 1930s, a couple of pueblos in Oaxaca have made names for themselves by carving alebrijes out of copal wood. Click on any photo to enlarge it or view a slideshow.

The parade included more than TWO HUNDRED handmade, monumentally sized alebrijes in fantastical shapes and colors. I was psyched to be able to photograph them in front of the cathedral and with the Palace of Fine Arts as a backdrop. After the several hour parade they “parked” the alebrijes along Reforma Avenue, and thousands more people were able to admire their beauty.

Many of the artists marched in the parade together with their works, as did many of the “hands” that helped build the incredible pieces. They honest to God took my breath away! What a great way to spend a weekend with girlfriends!

On the other side of La Reforma was a huge exhibition of skulls, called “MexiCráneos,” also very cool. The cempasúchil flowers were all out. I was excited to take photos of them with the Angel de la Independencia, but she is covered with scaffolding and under rehabilitation, and the flowers were full of thousands of people. So much for those gorgeous, quiet, no-people photos with the Angel in her glory!