Currently, Chilocuil is
the only village to benefit from the work of Mexico
Creativo but it is planned to extend the project
to other locations in the future.
Mexican Artists helping us
Rosa Maria Nunez
Rosa Maria is an artist living in Mexico City. She
organises printing workshops with children and embroidery
classes with the women in the community of Chilocuil.
More information can be found in the 2003 section below.
CV – under constructiion
Daria Hernandez (Embroidery)
Under construction
Victoria Rubio (Embroidery)
Under construction
Trio Los Seguidores de La Huasteca
The Trio los Seguidores de la Huasteca is made up
of the director, Maurilio
Hernández Nicanor (violin), Alejandro
(Juan) Peña Hernández (huapanguera
guitar) and Joaquín
Morales Hernández (jarana).
They have recently started to give classes voluntarily
within the community with a set of instruments donated
by Mexico Creativo to enable them to pursue their wish
to pass on their musical knowledge to the rest of the
community.
Their work includes community performances at key
rituals and festivals throughout the year, teaching
within the community in order to ensure the survival
of musical traditions across the generations, the development
of new music within those traditions and research and
revival of music which is falling from the cultural
memory.
The financial assistance requested is in the sum of £3000
sterling for one year. This would amount to £1000
per person per year for general subsistence and essential
materials for their work such as maintenance of instruments,
paper etc.
2004
We will continue to pursue our long term plans
2003
Sara's visit to Chilocuil
Sara has been supporting Mexico Creativo from its
beginning and decided to visit Chilocuil herself. She
had the opportunity to experience Mexican life hands-on,
away from all modern extravagances which many people
sometimes take for granted in today's world.
Read
the report
Workshops in Chilocuil
Rosa Maria is holding printing workshops in Chilocuil.
She uses a very simple method to produce art. You might
have learned to do this in school as well and spent
a few hours doing it before going home returning to
you TV or Football club. In Chilocuil, Rosa Maria brings
a welcome change to the children. They learn to carve
patterns into linoleum and to produce amazing prints
with a small number of colours. They learn to produce
something themselves. Eventually, these artistic produce
may serve to bring income to the village.
Printing with children
Mexico Creativo has hired the services and talents
of the Mexico City based artist, Rosa Maria Nuñez
who created an art workshop for the children of Chilocuil.
The workshop encouraged the use of local materials
such as seeds, which are freely available in the countryside.
This was crucial to the aims of the project as paper
and pencils are in short supply.
The workshops started in 2002 and due to their success
continued in 2003 in Chilocuil and surrounding communities.
Embroidery Classes for local women in Chilocuil
Mexico Creativo has provided embroidery materials
in order to set up embroidery clases in the community.
Two women, Daria Hernandez and Victoria Rubio were
provided with the materials in order to give free classes
to the girls and women of the Chilocuil community.
Funding
With the help of a grant from the International Performer's
Aid Trust, we were able to support the work undertaken
by the trio ‘Los Seguidores de La Huasteca) and even
purchase instruments for the trio.
Provision of Traditional Instruments
We were able to assist the 3 musicians to purchase
instrument. This allowed them to bring some traditional
music back to Chilocuil.
2002
Internet Training/ Communication Skills
November 2002: Mexico Creativo has given key members
of the community who are actively involved in the project
a crash course in the Internet.
By teaching them e-mail, the lines of communication between their remote community
and the outside world have vastly improved. Despite the nearest Internet cafe
being half an hour's walk from Chilocuil, the number of emails that we have received
indicates the initiative has been a success!
Access to Traditional Music
November 2002: Mexico Creativo has assisted a trio
of indigenous musicians and the community of Chilocuil
in order to increase access to traditional music.
The trio of indigenous musicians - "Los Seguidores
de La Huasteca", from the Huasteca region of Mexico
(north east of Mexico City), obtained a grant of £500
from the International Performers Aid Trust (IPAT)
with the help of Mexico Creativo.
A set of traditional instruments were provided to
the trio by Mexico Creativo to teach traditional music
to the children and other members of the community.
Arts Workshops in Chilocuil
December 2002: Mexico Creativo has hired the services
and talents of the Mexico City based artist, Rosa Maria
Nuñez who created an art workshop for the children
of Chilocuil.
The workshop encouraged the use of local materials
such as seeds, which are freely available in the countryside.
This was crucial to the aims of the project as paper
and pencils are in short supply.
Due to its success, future art workshops will be held
in 2003 in Chilocuil and surrounding communities.
Embroidery Classes for the Chilocuil
November 2002: Mexico Creativo has provided embroidery
materials in order to set up embroidery classes in
the community.
Two women, Daria Hernandez and Victoria Rubio were
provided with the materials in order to give free classes
to the girls and women of the Chilocuil community.
First program
Mexico Creativo – Project 2002 & 2003
The first project envisaged for Mexico Creativo centres
on a small rural indigenous community called Chilocuil
in the region known as La Huasteca to the North West
of Mexico City.
Chilocuil is a small Nahua community that maintains
many traditional aspects of Nahua culture cut across
with elements of the globalised 21 st Century. Chilocuil
is a bilingual community, the older generation speaks
Nahuatl between themselves while the younger generations
move gradually towards Spanish so that the children
know some words in Nahuatl but believe that there is
no worth in it, referring to it as a “dialecto” rather
than recognising it as a valid language in its own
right.
Corn is central to Nahua community. It forms the basis
of all nutrition and is viewed as a deity. The festival
surrounding the corn harvest is known as “Tlamanes” and
takes place in September / October time. The festival
of “Tlamanes” is key in the cultural calendar of Chilocuil
and offers an opportunity for the community to come
together through music, dance and feasting, but it
is a celebration that is threatened by poverty and
a creeping sense that there is little value in anything
that reflects indigenous culture.
The project planned for autumn 2002 would have a number
of strands, on the short term around the festival of
Tlamanes and on the long term sowing the seeds for
future work:
Short Term
• Organising a visual arts workshop for
children and adults where people can create work related
to the festival of Tlamanes
• Organising a creative writing workshop
(poetry / songs / stories) in Nahuatl and Spanish relating
to Tlamanes
• Supporting local musicians, e.g. instruments
As a record of the project and to feed back into the
future work of Mexico Creativo, a video of the work
undertaken will be made as well as a photographic record
through copies of the photos taken by the community.
A follow up visit will be planned in six to twelve
months to monitor the long term objectives and build
on the first project.
Plans 2002
Mexico Creativo will visit the community shortly to
identify key people within the community with whom
we can work in setting up a bilingual literacy and/or
music programme, which will form the first project.
We will also look at the needs of the community and
discuss with them how best to take forward the project.
As part of the first year's project Rosa Maria Nunez
- an artist from Mexico City - will develop a visual
arts workshop for children in the community to address
issues of identity and culture. We will also be providing
basic materials such as paper, books and writing/drawing
materials to the community.
In providing materials to Chilocuil we are looking
at ways of making your money go
as far as possible (by negotiating with Mexican publishing
houses and stationers and seeking sponsorship and donations
wherever possible). However we aren't asking for donations
of books and art materials from the UK or Europe for
two reasons:
We can keep transport costs to a minimum and contribute
to the local economy by sourcing them in Mexico.
One of the trustees, Susie, is to be going to Mexico
on 30th October 2002 and will set up the first project
while she is there. We'll keep you posted.
2001
The First Visit - Face to Face with the Sacred
What Susie experienced was like being on a different
planet. The life in and the village of Chilocuil did
not have any similarities with her ‘normal' life. Simply
explaining what a cello or classical music was appeared
to be a problem but no hurdle to enjoy the welcoming
gestures of the villagers and event participate in
a curative ritual … Who would think paracetamol would
be used to cure Typhoid? On the other hand, there is
astonishing scenery …
Read
the whole story here
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