Exploring Colonial Mexico©Exploring Colonial Mexico©
Aficionado Manuel Aguilar-Moreno has long had an intense interest in the arts of the early colonial period in Mexico. His doctoral thesis concerned the so-called arte tequitqui of this era, a stylistic and iconographic amalgam of pre hispanic and European artistic traditions. His thesis has been adapted into a handsome illustrated survey of the principal monuments that embody this unique phenomenon. (available in Spanish only)
The cover shows the 16th century carved atrium cross at Huichapan in the State of Hidalgo.
Manuel is an Associate Professor of Art History at California State University in Los Angeles. He is also an authority on Aztec architecture and co-directs the Ulama Project at Cal State LA on the survival of the Mesoamerican ballgame. In addition he hosts an extensive web archive on the arts of colonial Mexico. A great resource.
Aguilar Moreno, Manuel. Utopía de Piedra: El Arte Tequítqui de México. Guadalajara: Editorial Conexión Gráfica, 2005.
Summanus GmbH, the German publisher has just announced the release of the English language edition of their handsome and lavishly illustrated volumes on the churches of Yucatan.
Edited by long time aficionados Juergen Putz and Christian Heck and enhanced by Juergen's photography, the books are designed in the form of itineraries. Volume one deals with western Yucatan while the second covers the eastern side of the peninsula. Together these two large format books, now available in English, Spanish and German editions, offer a detailed vision of Yucatan's magnificent heritage of colonial art and architecture.
Inquiries regarding
prices or ordering can be directed to: Chr.Heck@gmx.de or visit
the Summanus
web site.
City,
Temple, Stage (The
University of Notre Dame Press. November 2004.) is a
new study by Jaime Lara of Yale, that reinterprets the
art, architecture, and liturgy created for the conversion of Aztecs
and other native peoples of central Mexico by European Franciscan
missionaries in the mid-sixteenth century.
Lara contends that the design of missionary centers, or so-called "fortress monasteries," can only be understood against the backdrop of the eschatological concerns of the age and the missionary techniques of the mendicant friars. Lara argues that these architectural constructions are quasi-theatrical sets for elaborate educational and liturgical events that served as rehearsals for the last age of world history.
In 2008, Jaime Lara's most recent book Christian Texts for Aztecs: Art and Liturgy in Colonial Mexico, a companion volume to City, Temple Stage, was published by the University of Notre Dame Press.
Available
through Amazon.com
MEXICO: A Travelers Literary Companion
Mexico has long been the top travel destination for Americans. But until now, there has not been such a panoramic vision of Mexico offered by some of Mexico's finest contemporary writers of fiction and literary prose. Here are writings, many translated for the first time, that bring you to the people of the beaches, the deserts, jungles, snow-capped mountains, and megacities. The voices are rich and diverse, the stories enthralling and strange. These writings shatter stereotypes as they provide a rollicking journey from the Pacific to the Gulf, from Yucatan to the U.S.-Mexico border, from humble ranches to a fabulous mountaintop castle.
Contributors include rising stars as well as many of Mexico's best-known literary writers, including Carlos Fuentes, Angeles Mastretta, Laura Esquival, Alberto Ruy Sanchez, Ilan Stavans, and Juan Villoro.
C.M. Mayo is founding editor of
Tameme, one of the most prestigious publishers of Spanish/English
literary translation. She is the author of the widely lauded travel
memoir, Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja
California, the Other Mexico, and Sky Over El Nido, which won
the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction.
SPIRIT OF CHIAPAS
After many years of dedicated research, Virginia and Robert Guess have brought out their handsomely illustrated new book, Spirit of Chiapas, a fascinating study of the unique roof crosses of Chiapas.
This account details the history and stylistic variety of this little known folk art tradition. It also includes a full description and analysis of the noted Frans Blom collection of crosses, as well as a street by street guide to the roof crosses of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, the old colonial capital.
This timely book - the only published study of this unique folk art - not only authoritatively documents this dying tradition but, the authors hope, may lead to its authentic revival.
Available through Amazon.com
Yucatán aficionados may be interested in Yucatán Passages, a new, large format photo essay by Robert Hansen, which features evocative black and whitepictures of life and the landscape in Yucatán and southern Mexico, including Mayan and colonial monuments, haciendas and, of course, the Maya themselves.
WESTERN MEXICO: A Traveller's Treasury (Third Edition)
From San Blas on the Pacific coast to the celebrated Monarch butterfly refuge in the high Sierra of Michoacan, this guidebook describes all the natural wonders of Western Mexico.
British born Tony Burton, a long time resident of Mexico and award winning travel writer and naturalist, gives you his unique insights into this scenic and culturally rich area of lakes and mountains, colonial towns and Indian villages.
The author takes you to all of his favorite places along the less traveled roads of the region, revealing their history, ecology and archaeology, as well as their arts, crafts and folklore. Charmingly illustrated by artist Mark Eager, Tony's guide is easy to read and packed with suggestions for the traveler, complete with helpful maps and itineraries. Full bibliography and index. Available through this web site.
Spanish speaking readers may be interested in the new Spanish edition of Tony Burton's Western Mexico; A Travellers Treasury. Now available in Canada from Sombrero Books.
We also have several out-of-print books for those readers interested in the Maya
