Before I moved to Mexico a little over a month ago, I lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and spent my career as an arts and culture journalist, editor, professor and critic. Yes, it was fun, but yes, recent biological (COVID-19) and political (we all know what I mean) conditions completely changed the U.S. arts landscape and economy, making it no longer so much fun. These weren’t the only reasons I emigrated, but they sure lit a fire.
My knowledge of English-language culture isn’t encyclopedic, but it’s built over the past 30 or so years into a pretty solid foundation, which leaves me in the unenviable position of now starting nearly from scratch, with the exceptions of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera and a few others who managed to jump the border and remain in the U.S. cultural consciousness. I’m learning a new language, while also learning an entirely new artistic history and lexicon. It’s a challenge as terrifying as it is exhilarating.
5 plus cool things
Before I left, I started a little Substack called “Five-and-a-Half Cool Things” to keep my regular audience updated on some, you know, cool things I liked. And so, here we are, maybe learning together about some of the cool things Mexico has on offer, maybe ready to share your own, maybe annoyed that this principiante is already making calls on coolness.
Welcome, all. These are the top five-and-a-half Mexican things that seem cool to me and are available to you within the next month.
TONO Time-Based Art Festival in Mexico City and Puebla — March 6-22
I get it, the title is already an issue, pretentiousness-wise, and there’s so much cool stuff in Mexico City. (Get me to that Leonora Carrington exhibition ASAP!) But stay with me: time-based art isn’t just Marina Abramović staring into strangers’ eyes and weeping all day.
The fourth year of this fest encompasses everything from a Beyoncé songwriter and DJ, Kelman Duran, to a Thai performance artist, Oat Moniten, who grew up designing lighting at his mother’s brothel, to a much-lauded Mexican artist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, who uses robotic lights, programmed fountains and more to create installations the festival’s website says have been called “antimonuments for an alien agency.” Beam me up!
Chichén Itzá Spring Equinox in Yucatán — March 20 or 21
Speaking of monumental light shows, the Mayas, masters of impressive art and architecture, built the Great Pyramid of Kukulcán somewhere between the eighth and 12th centuries. While its name honors a feathered serpent deity, what makes it particularly cool is that the deity’s heads are carved at the bottom of each of the structure’s sides, flanking staircases that climb to its top. At the equinox, when the sun hits just so, its light produces the illusion of the serpent’s body snaking down the pyramid’s length, creating what is, perhaps, the ultimate time-based work of art.
‘Güeros’ on Netflix — viewable at your leisure
Let’s say there’s no fiesta tonight (I know, crazy!) or perhaps your city is on cartel lockdown and you decide to stay in. (Even crazier!) Step back into 2014 and check out this delightful buddy road trip stoner comedy-political romance. The first film of writer-director Alonso Ruizpalacios (“Museo,” “La Cocina”), it features always fabulous Ténoch Huerta as the aptly named Sombra, who reluctantly takes in his little brother Tomás amidst a university strike.
In a loosely unspooling narrative, Tomás, Sombra and Sombra’s roommate, Santos, take off on a hunt for an elusive folk musician beloved by the brothers’ long-departed father. It’s funny and sweet, and a reminder that even though our world is tumultuous, our emotions — joy, love, yearning, disappointment and excitement — don’t disappear.
Zihuatanejo International Guitar Festival Zihuatanejo — March 7-14
This nonprofit event reaches its 22nd anniversary next month, and it wears the years well. Located in multiple indoor and outdoor venues, its lineup offers diversity in both genre and geography. In one week, attendees can hear Mè’phàà guitarist Bègò Mosso’s traditional Guerrero sounds alongside New Orleans-based singer-songwriter John Fohl, Italian classical guitarist Sara d’Ippolito Reichert, Argentine tango player Damián Tuso and a whole lot more. The fest’s setting and selections look fabulous, and I plan to daydream about them Shawshank Redemption-style until I can get there myself.
Ultra Marathon Caballo Blanco in Urique, Chihuahua — Feb. 27-March 1
If you’ve never raced, volunteered at or cheered on a marathon, let alone an ultramarathon, let alone such a storied, culturally significant race, I fully recommend participating in this experience of agony, ecstasy and superhuman endurance … even if only from the sidelines.
Christopher McDougall’s 2009 book “Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen,” introduced the wider world to the Indigenous Rarámuri people (or Tarahumara). Their sandal-clad sojourns through Copper Canyon and beyond are legendary among runners and documentarians (and also, unfortunately, inspired the rash of feet-shoes that were everywhere during the barefoot running craze of the 2010s).
Last year’s event brought a new 100-mile race to go with the 80-kilometer (50-mile), 42-kilometer (marathon) and 21-kilometer (half-marathon) race distances. The ridiculously scenic weekend — Urique sits at the bottom of a canyon in the Sierra Tarahumara mountains — includes races for those 17 and under, as well as local culinary specialties and cultural entertainment from the region’s Indigenous people.
5.5: Feria de las Fresas in Irapuato, Guanajuato — March 13-19
What’s a half-cool thing? Generally, it has interesting qualities, but for whatever reason, it also possesses some drawbacks. Take, for example, chapulines. It’s really cool that crickets, this ancient food source, are now considered the protein of the future. And yet, ask how they taste, and most newcomers will say they taste fine “except for all the legs.” You see what I mean.
I’d like to preface this particular half-cool thing by explaining that I am but two months into my life in Mexico and have as much to unlearn as I have yet to learn. Some subjects are still sticky, and the stickiest for me is cartel violence. I’m still reeling from an astonishing exhibition at Guanajuato Capital’s Museo de Arte Primer Depósito featuring Mexican artist Raúl Pineda’s mezzotints of gasping faces beneath plastic bags and the pierced, battered, tattooed corpses of young men floating through debris as though reenacting some ancient mythology.
So, when I received my residency visa, the consulate’s interviewer said not to miss Irapuato’s Feria de las Fresas. Sure, Irapuato is the home of Driscoll, among many other global and local producers, and is lauded as the strawberry capital of the world. That’s cool.
But there is precious little information about strawberries in any publicity about the fair. There’s a livestock show, rides and tons of live bands every night, ranging from popsters OneRepublic to Philly-born DJ and producer Marshmello to Norteño superstars Los Tigres del Norte.
Sure, they’ve softened, and part of me would love to see them play while downing a delicious strawberry-based confection. If the event sounds promising to you, go for it and please report back. If not, hit the mercado, pop on Spotify, and enjoy your very own Fresa Fest while berry season is still at its peak.
Wendy Rosenfeld is a contributor to Mexico News Daily.
