Cover Image : Article from The Observer, Sunday 15th. October 2006 referencing the discovery of the Tlaltecuhtli monolith (more on this later) Under the streets of México City Tenochtitlan lies sleeping. México City was constructed upon the ruins of Tenochtitlan and from the very bones of Tenochtitlan itself. The temples were pulled apart and used to construct the palaces and churches and, in some cases, … Continue reading Ciudad de México: Bajo Las Calles
Cover Image via Martínez Hernández, Gabriel (2023) ***TRIGGER WARNING*** Just kidding. I am going to try and work through something though and I invite you to spend some time in my head. Cultural appropriation is a bit of a bugbear of mine. I have briefly investigated the phenomena in previous Posts. As an Australian of Irish heritage that was raised primarily around Aboriginal communities (until … Continue reading Whitexicanismo in Australia.
Luis Ricardo Amendolla Gasparo, (1928-2000) or (1939-2000, see Mexican Artist : Amendolla for a little more on this) As a newbie art researcher I have been excited by my latest mystery. A few weeks ago I came across some Mexican (?) artefacts on Facebook Marketplace. The mother of the woman selling them had recently passed away and she possessed a house full of art pieces … Continue reading Is This Luis Amendolla?
In one of my most recent Posts, Arte Mexicano : Mi Colección, I mentioned a beautiful watercolour that had fortuitously (and somewhat synchronistically) entered my possession. The image in the painting was that of San Bernardino, a church in Xochimilco, and was by the artist Amendolla. Now my knowledge of Mexican art is really limited to the prehispanic era, although I am aware of modern … Continue reading Mexican Artist : Amendolla
I have begun to collect Mexican art. I stumbled upon this beautifully textured oil painting in a second hand store and was immediately drawn to the bugambilia flowers (1). The aesthetics of the painting strongly suggested Mexico to me and upon further investigation I found that it was painted in Cuetzalan Puablo (sic) (1) The next piece to enter mi coleccion was a lovely watercolour. … Continue reading Arte Mexicano : Mi Colección
A new chapter? Probably too much to ask I’d reckon. I have previously Posted on celebrities jumping on the tequila (or mezcal, or sotol) bandwagon to “create” new brands of tequila for “discerning” consumers. Celebrity Tequila. Cultural Appropriation? Gentrification? Only a few hours ago (on the twenty sixth day of October in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty three) a new celebrity … Continue reading Celebrity Tequila : A New Chapter?
This plant is often called Tagetes filifolia. They are similarly flavoured and can be used interchangeably both culinarily and medicinally. Anís de chucho, anisillo (Central Mexico, San Luis Potosi, Durango, Chihuahua, Michoacan – more specifically Patzcuaro), anis de campo (Michoacan), anis de suelo (Guerrero), Tanix’ ch’ian (Motozintla, Chiapas), yuku anís (Mixtec), licorice marigold, Anise marigold (Southern Baja), putsut, putzuti (Lascurain-Rangel et al 2022) Tagetes micrantha … Continue reading Quelite : Anis de Chucho : Tagetes micrantha
On Saturday 25/03/22 (03/25 if you’re from the E.U.A) I presented another talk at the Museum of Western Australia on behalf of the Friends of Mexico Society. (Notes in BOLD have been added to this Post and were not part of my original talk) This is an outline of my latest presentation at the Western Australian Museum as part of their Boola Bardip program of … Continue reading The Glory of the Aztec Empire
Tagetes filifolia The Latin Tagētes is derived from the name of the Etruscan Tages, born from the plowing of the earth.The species epithet, filifolia, is derived from the Latin, filum “thread” and folium “leaf” and describes the plant as having thread-like leaves According to a legend, Tages was a wise child who sprung up from the freshly ploughed earth. Later he taught Etruscans divination.Cicero reports … Continue reading Quelite : Anís de campo : Tagetes filifolia
This Post is not about the sunflower you might typically think of. The flower I know as a sunflower is of the Helianthus (1) species. This plant (H.annuus) is also a Mexican plant and although it has been posited that this plant was introduced into México by the Spanish (Heiser 1998) (2), there is evidence (Lentz etal 2008) that this plant arose in the southwestern … Continue reading Tithonia : The Mexican Sunflower
