The 2010 Census revealed yet another Latino population boom, with the U.S.-Mexican population increasing by 54% from a decade ago. In New York City, specifically, the Mexican population jumped by a whopping 71%. So what better place to bring the best of contemporary Mexican culture than the Big Apple, or rather, La Gran Manzana? Now in its eighth year, Celebrate México Now is a two-week cultural festival featuring a variety of events from film screenings to music performances to culinary tastings, representing the best of contemporary Mexico. This year’s festival runs from Wednesday, September 21 through Saturday, October 1 at venues throughout New York City. Tickets are available directly from each venue. See www.mexiconowfestival.org for more. “We are thrilled to bring Celebrate México Now to New York City once again,” says festival director, Claudia Norman. “Mexico is home to so many rich and diverse cultural expressions and we are honored to bring some of that country’s most exciting new artists to New York.” Celebrate Mexico Now kicks off with MEXICO SE ESCRIBE CON J (September 21, King Juan Carlos of Spain Center, NYU), a conversation about the book of the same name that highlights contributions of the gay community to Mexican culture. Nayar Rivera, Michael Schuessler, and Alejandro Varderi will participate, moderated by New York independent curator Earl Dax. The following night, Anthology Film Archives, Cinema Tropical and the Mexican Cultural Institute of New York join forces to present Gen Mex: Recent Films From México (September 22, Anthology Film Archives), a celebration of the revitalization of Mexican cinema with films by some of the nation’s most exciting emerging directors. The next event will also be film-focused – the North American premiere of the Short Film Winners of the 2010 Morelia International Film Festival (September 23, School of Visual Arts), whose estimable jury includes judges from the Sundance and Huesca Film Festivals, followed by a Q&A with the directors from Mexico. Over the weekend, the Queens Museum will host the first U.S. performance of Hecho en Mexico (September 24 and 25, Queens Museum of Art), from director Miguel Vaylon. The multidisciplinary performance fuses theatre, dance, video and music to create a statement about stereotypical headlines about contemporary Mexico. Working from a minimalist approach inspired by the experimental theater methods of Jerzy Grotowski, Hecho en Mexico has been performed by local artists in cities worldwide. Mexico City’s colorful neighborhood of Xochimilco is home to a complex system of canals and the gondola-like boats known as trajineras. These colorful, highly decorated boats were an ancient Aztec transport system in pre-Colombian times, but have now become the focus of a debate around sustainability and environmentalism. The area in Mexico was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but is nevertheless threatened by environmental degradation and contamination. Yet the self-sufficient lifestyle that grew up around the trajineras serves as inspiration to contemporary urban planners looking for ways to cut down on environmental wear and tear. Mexican artist and designer Natalia Porter will lead a workshop and panel at the Queens Museum of Art before launching her own reproduction, Trajinera Xochitl (September 25, Queens Museum of Art and Corona Park), at the lake in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. No Mexican cultural celebration would be complete without an event dedicated to the country’s cuisine, and this year’s festival is no exception. Last fall, the UNESCO committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage inscribed Mexican Cuisine on the list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. To celebrate this achievement, chef Daniel Ovadía will prepare representative dishes from the Zoque-Coleto (Chiapas) culture in a panel demonstration about the history and traditions of Mexican gastronomy (September 28, St. John’s University) where audiences will learn how these dishes have been prepared over the last 600 years. The discussion will be followed by a mouth-watering tasting of some of Mexico’s most iconic dishes from these regions. September 29 brings a very special performance to New York City by Botellita de Jerez, the founding fathers of Mexican rock en español (September 29, S.O.B.’s). Botellita’s legacy includes many records, innumerable public performances rich in ritualistic theatrics, and the founding of the now legendary Mexico City club Rockotitlan, a breeding ground for some of today’s most important rock groups. Botellita brings back its original line up of Francisko Barrios (El Mastuerzo) on drums, Sergio Arau (El Uyuyuy) on guitar and Armando Vega-Gil (El Cucurrucucú) on the bass. The performance collective called Rey Trueno y su Orquesta performs Radio Soap Opera, a tongue-in-cheek, multimedia showcase (September 30, Bowery Poetry Club) based on the “legend” of pilot Reymundo Alvarez Trueno who was granted the power of rebellion and rock by a Mayan deity and entrusted with creating an orchestra. Most succinctly, this audio-visual experience is one-of-a-kind. No matter where Rey Trueno performs, the Great Shaman’s motto always resounds: ¡Siempre arriba! ¡Nunca baja! Celebrate Mexico Now closes with two performances by Pasatono (October 1, Family matinee performance at Lincoln Center, evening concert at Casa Mezcal), a folk orchestra dedicated to the musical culture of the Mixtec people. This ensemble of the “people of the clouds” is a reincarnation of the traditional orchestras of strings, winds, and percussion that were once ubiquitous in rural Mexico. Led by Rubén Luengas, who has devoted his life to the preservation and performance of this music, the Pasatono Orquesta has performed at Lincoln Center in New York, the National Center of the Arts in Mexico City, the Macedonio Alcalá Theater in Oaxaca and the Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. About Celebrate México Now: Celebrate México Now is New York City’s first and only annual festival of contemporary Mexican art and culture. Encompassing cuisine, dance, film, literature, and music, Celebrate México Now provides New Yorkers with a glimpse of the most intriguing artists and ideas pouring out of Mexico today. Produced by CN Management, the festival was first held in 2004, and over the past seven years has helped bring more than 200 artists and projects to over 60 of New York’s leading cultural institutions. As of press time, Celebrate México Now 2011 is proudly sponsored by Bloomberg, Mexican Cultural Institute, CONACULTA, Telemundo 47, Razorhead Music, Material for the Arts, and REVOLUCION. Celebrate México Now 2011 is officially supported by Mayor Bloomberg’s Latin Media and Entertainment Commission and is a fiscally sponsored project of The Field.
