Detail from a mural by Diego Rivera in the Palacio Nacional, Mexico City.
Europeans brought mayhem, slavery, an obsession with gold -- and a religion that seemed to bless it all from the perspective of the "discovered." The muralist made art from the story.
I have seen that mural and I love I love Diego Rivera's work as well as that of the other muralists.
ReplyDeleteAnd what you said is right but they are people of strong faith and hope and courage.
I work with the Hispanic community here and I love my work. We help the Latino population with legal and medical issues as well as ESL and computer classes. They are lovely people who are polite and grateful for any assistance we give them. Heck! They don't even laugh at me when my Spanish fails me!
We have a project at one of the migrant camps in the northern part of the county where we provide assistance to the workers who work the muck farms and their families.
The farmers in conjunction with with the Church and our agency have a council where they work together to solve problems and meet the workers' needs. My favorite project that the workers did is a beautiful mural on the side of one of the buildings that reminds me of the murals I saw in Mexico.
Rivera's murals are beautiful and at the same time full of cartoonish elements. For instance, the hilariously suspicious red-haired caballero.
ReplyDeleteI also wonder if Cristobal Colon isn't based on some well-known and despised rightist, something that would have been immediately apparent to viewers at the time it was painted.