THE VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE: BETWEEN CRAFTS AND ANTHROPOLOGY
The Casa de México Foundation in Spain presents Guadalupe. La Virgen de México (Guadalupe. The Virgin of Mexico), an extensive program of exhibitions and activities centered around one of Mexico's most iconic and anthropologically significant figures. In addition to lectures and various screenings, the program revolves around two main themes: craftsmanship and popular culture on one hand, and anthropology on the other.
At the entrance of the exhibition space stands Camino al Tepeyac (2010), an installation by anthropologist and artist Alinka Echeverría (Mexico City, Mexico, 1981). The work consists of seventy photographs that collectively capture the pilgrimage to Tepeyac Hill. Through this piece, the Mexican artist explores the transformation of individual devotion into a communal act of faith and unity.
With an artistic lens, Echeverría offers a visual record of a ritual that channels movement and devotion, thereby elevating the intangible nature of belief and framing it within the theoretical realm of performance. The interplay between the visible and the invisible is also reflected in the iconography, underscored by the repetition and serial arrangement of the photographs—mimicking the cyclical rhythm of the ritual.
Guadalupe. The Virgin of Mexico also embraces the perspective of popular and folk art. The figure of the Mexican Guadalupe epitomizes religious syncretism, blending the Spanish Catholic Virgin with the indigenous deity Tonantzin and the image of the apocalyptic woman. The exhibition features nearly forty artworks depicting the icon, crafted by master artisans using various techniques and materials such as clay, talavera, wood, volcanic stone, and featherwork.
This representation of folk art offers visitors an unfiltered glimpse into the richness of Mexican culture. The convergence of pre-Hispanic and indigenous influences with European—and even Asian—traditions is evident in each piece. Folk art enables a more fluid connection to tradition, belief, and history, with each artisan expressing in their work the diversity that paradoxically shapes a shared Mexican identity.
Guadalupe. La Virgen de México is on view until September 21 at the Casa de México Foundation in Spain, Alberto Aguilera 20, Madrid (Spain).
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