Alebrije 17

“Tú, pájaro, vivirás en los árboles y volarás por los aires, alcanzarás la región de las nubes, rozarás la transparencia del cielo 

y no tendrás miedo de caer.”
― Popol Vuh

“When we lose our myths we lose our place in the universe.”
― Madeleine L'Engle

“Myth must be kept alive. The people who can keep it alive are the artists of one kind or another.”
― Joseph Campbell

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Tlacaelel

Alebrije (colored Mexican folk art sculptures) by Alejandro Zamudio R. (The Night of The Alebrijes exhibition)

Tlacaelel I (1397 – 1487) was the principal architect of the Aztec Triple Alliance and hence the Mexica (Aztec) empire. He was the son of Emperor Huitzilihuitl and Queen Cacamacihuatl, nephew of Emperor Itzcoatl, and brother of Emperors Chimalpopoca and Moctezuma I.

Tlacaelel recast or strengthened the concept of the Aztecs as a chosen people, elevated the tribal god/hero Huitzilopochtli to top of the pantheon of gods, and increased militarism. 

To strengthen the Aztec nobility, he helped create and enforce sumptuary laws, prohibiting commoners from wearing certain adornments such as lip plugs, gold armbands, and cotton cloaks. He also instigated a policy of burning the books of conquered peoples with the aim of erasing all memories of a pre-Aztec past.

When he dedicated the seventh reconstruction of the Templo Mayor in Tenochtitlan, Tlacaelel had brought his nation to the height of its power. The dedication took place in 1484 and was celebrated with the sacrifice of many war captives. After Tlacaelel's death in 1487, the Mexica Empire continued to expand north into the Gran Chichimeca and south toward the Maya lands.

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The Portal Keeper / El Guardian del Portal

The Portal Keeper / El Guardian del Portal by Israel Alcala

 Alebrijes (Spanish pronunciation: [aleˈβɾixes]) are brightly colored Mexican folk art sculptures of fantastical creatures. The first alebrijes, along with use of the term, originated with Pedro Linares. After dreaming the creatures while sick in the 1930s, he began to create what he saw in cardboard and papier mache. His work caught the attention of a gallery owner in Cuernavaca and later, the artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. Linares was originally from México City (DF), he was born June 29, 1906 in México City and never moved out of México City, he died January 25, 1992. Then in the 1980s, British Filmmaker, Judith Bronowski, arranged an itinerant demonstration workshop in U.S.A. participating Pedro Linares, Manuel Jiménez and a textil artisan Maria Sabina from Oaxaca. Although the Oaxaca valley area already had a history of carving animal and other types of figures from wood, it was at this time, when Bronowski's workshop took place when artisans from Oaxaca knew the alebrijes paper mache sculptures. [Wiki]

“You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul”

~George Bernard Shaw 

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Thanks for visiting, please be sure that I read each and every one of your kind comments, I appreciate them all. Stay tuned.