Frida Kahlo de Rivera was born in a town outside Mexico City in 1907. She was born in her parents’ home that is now called Casa Azul, or Blue house, owing to its color. She had three sisters and two half-sisters from her father’s first marriage. Her father was from Germany and her mother was Mexican, indigenous and Spanish in origin.

At the age of 18, Frida was a passenger on a bus involved in a serious accident. She suffered injuries to her back, her right leg and her uterus. For the rest of her life Frida was in pain and had many operations. Also, she could never have a baby. All this caused her to suffer serious episodes of depression.

Frida first began painting during her recovery from the accident. She painted many self-portraits in bed. Her paintings show the influence of the indigenous culture of Mexico. In 1929 Kahlo married Diego Rivera, another famous artist. Their marriage was tumultuous. For example, they divorced and married again the next year! They were active communists and knew many famous  people of the time such as Leon Trotsky.

Kahlo produced at least 140 portraits before her death at the age of 47 in 1954. While not famous in her lifetime, Kahlo’s works have gained in popularity over the past three decades both in Mexico and abroad. A film of her life, Frida, was produced in 2002 with Salma Hayek in the main role.

Pre-European Mexico

Mexico had a rich cultural history before the arrival of the Europeans. Notably they had many independent indigenous groups including the Aztec, Maya, Mixtec and Tolmec among others. These civilizations flourished at various times and in various regions of this large country over a period of 10,000 years.

Conquest

In 1519 Hernán Cortes of Spain led a group of 500 men and horses into the vast city of Tenochtitlan, now known as Mexico City. It was one of the largest cities of the time and the capital of the vast Aztec Empire led by its ruler Moctezuma. How Cortes and his men were able to capture such a huge empire with such a small number of people is due in large part to luck. The Aztecs believed the Spaniards to be Gods due to their appearance. They wore strange clothes, created fire with muskets and were presumed to be part animal part human. (The Aztecs had never seen horses before). Secondly, the conquerors brought with them a secret weapon: smallpox. Largely immune themselves, this disease ravaged the local population killing millions within the first years of contact. Many Aztecs believed they were being punished and turned to the Christian God as a savior. Although it took many more decades to completely conquer the vast territory of Mexico, the fall of the Aztec Empire in 1521 is seen as the official beginning of Spanish rule over Mexico. The Spanish spent another 130 years consolidating their empire. The colonial period lasted from around 1650 until Mexican independence in 1821.

Legacy

The majority of Mexicans today are considered mestizo,  a word which refers to the mixture of Spanish and indigenous blood. The Catholic faith continues to be the dominant faith within Mexico although it is different from Catholicism found in Europe. Mexicans have included numerous indigenous elements into their faith to reconcile the two. Nowadays, the term Montezuma’s revenge is used jokingly to refer to unpleasant symptoms of stomach discomfort or vomiting experienced by some tourists visiting Mexico!

Mariachi is the most popular music found in Mexico especially during festivals and weddings. Mariachi is performed by men who travel in bands of three or more players. The players wear traditional clothing which consists of large sombreros (see picture above), special decorated suits and a type of colourful cravat. Generally, the group features a guitar player, a trumpet player and an individual who plays a large guitar called a guitarón. The music is lively and may or may not feature singing.

Salsa is a type of dance based out of the Caribbean. Most traditional salsa comes from Cuba or Puerto Rico and was brought to America in the 1960s when a large number of Puerto Ricans emigrated to New York. Salsa employs a lot of percussion instruments particularly the cencerro. Also included are the trumpet, trombone and guitar. Salsa dancing is very popular globally. Couples combine basic steps with a lot of hip movement and twists and turns.

The cueca is a dance with a long history in Chile, Bolivia, Peru and parts of Argentina. According to legend the dance emulates the mating dance of chickens! Couples dancing la cueca wear old-fashioned clothing. Women wear long dresses and men wear traditional ranchero type outfits. Rancheros are the men that work with cattle. The couple around each other waving white handkerchiefs which represent the feathers of the chicken. This dance is most popular in Chile where it is considered the national dance and is performed on festive days.

During the 1910s Rivera was in Paris witnessing the emergence of a new art form called Cubism. Painters such as Pablo Picasso influenced his early work. Rivera returned to Mexico in 1921 and began a period of drawing large murals along with other notable artists such as José Orozco. Some of his murals depict scenes from Mexico’s 1910 revolution. They include simple figures combined with bold colors. Rivera also included Mayan and Aztec influences in his art. A number of his murals portray life in Mexico in the pre-Columbian era. Other works are more abstract and show urban landscapes, portraits and nature.

In 1929, Rivera married fellow artist and former student Frida Kahlo. Together they lived and worked in a house called “La casa azul” owing to its blue color. They were well known on the Mexican art scene and had many influential friends both in Mexico and abroad. Although their marriage was not always happy, Rivero was devastated when Frida Kahlo passed away. Rivera’s legacy is still felt today and many of his works can be found in Mexican and American museums today.

Rigoberta Menchú nació el 9 de enero de 1959 en Uspantán, Guatemala. Su familia era grande y sus familiares eran campesinos. Ella es una persona indígena del grupo Quiché-Maya. Su padre fue activista en la defensa de las tierras y los derechos indígenas mientras su madre fue comadrona para las comunidades en zonas rurales. Rigoberta conoce desde muy pequeña la discriminación, la pobreza y la injusticia.

Casi toda su familia fue asesinada por el ejército durante la guerra civil de Guatemala que tuvo lugar entre 1962 y 1996. Ella huyó a Méjico en 1981 y empezó una carrera como defensora de los derechos humanos. En 1992 ganó el Premio Nobel de la Paz. Ella era la ganadora más joven y la primera persona indígena en ganarla.

En 1984 publicó el libro Me llamo Rigoberta Menchú. El libro fue basado en las experiencias de su vida y relata las atrocidades cometidas contra la gente indígena durante la guerra civil de Guatemala, especialmente bajo los órdenes del general Efraín Montt. Unas personas tomaron la novela por una autobiografía algo que causó una controversia.

Regresó a Guatemala en 1988 y en 2007 y otra vez en 2011 Menchú era candidata en las elecciones presidenciales. Hoy en día trabaja como embajadora de buena voluntad para la UNESCO.

campesinos = poor country people, indígena = indigenous, la tierra = land, los derechos = rights,una comadrona = midwife, pobreza = poverty, casi = almost, el ejército =military, huyó (huir) =she fled (to flee), embajadora = embassador, buena voluntad =good will