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Intangible heritageMEXICO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity : 2012: Description
The Center for Indigenous Arts was designed as a response to a long-term desire of the Totonac people to create an educational institution to transmit their teachings, art, values and culture, while also providing favourable conditions for indigenous creators to develop their art. The structure of the centre represents a traditional settlement comprising house-schools, with each ‘House’ specialized in one of the Totonac arts for apprentices to follow, such as pottery, textiles, paintings, art of healing, traditional dance, music, theatre and cuisine. At the ‘House of Elders’, students acquire the essential values of the Totonac and an orientation in the meaning of creative practice. The transmission of knowledge is integral and holistic. The house-schools embrace creative practice as something intrinsically linked to its spiritual nature. The centre proposes cultural regeneration, revitalizing the Totonac cultural practices through such means as the use of the Totonac language as the vehicle for teaching, the recovery of forgotten traditional techniques, artistic production, reestablishment of traditional governing bodies and reforestation of the plants and trees needed for cultural practice. The centre also promotes ongoing cooperation with creators and cultural agencies from other states of the country and from around the world. . (Source: Xtaxkgakget Makgkaxtlawana: the
Centre for Indigenous Arts and its contribution to safeguarding the intangible
cultural heritage of the Totonac people of Veracruz, Mexico, © UNESCO, http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/en/Art18/00666) 2011: Description
Mariachi is a traditional Mexican music and a fundamental element of Mexican culture. Traditional Mariachi groups, made up of two or more members, wear regional costumes adapted from the charro costume and interpret a broad repertoire of songs on stringed instruments. Ensembles playing ‘modern Mariachi’ include trumpets, violins, the vihuela and guitarrón (bass guitar), and may have four or more musicians. The wide repertoire includes songs from different regions, jarabes, minuets, polkas, valonas,schottisches, waltzes and serenades, in addition to corridos (typical Mexican ballads narrating stories of battles, outstanding deeds and love affairs) and traditional songs depicting rural life. Modern Mariachi music has adopted other genres such as ranchera songs, the bolero ranchero and even the cumbia from Colombia. The lyrics of Mariachi songs portray love of the earth, hometown, native land, religion, nature, fellow countrywomen and the strength of the country. Learning by ear is the main means of transmission of traditional Mariachi, and the skill is usually passed down from fathers to sons and through performance at festive, religious and civil events. Mariachi music transmits values of respect for the natural heritage of the regions of Mexico and local history in the Spanish language and the different Indian languages of Western Mexico. (Source: Mariachi, string music, song and trumpet, © UNESCO,
http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/en/RL/00575) 2010: Description
The traditional Great Feast takes place from 4 to 23 January every year in Chiapa de Corzo, Mexico. This celebration of music, dance, handicrafts, gastronomy, religious ceremonies and feasting takes place in honour of three Catholic saints: Saint Anthony Abbot, Our Lord of Esquipulas and, most importantly, Saint Sebastian. The dances of the Parachicos – the word refers both to the dancers and to the dance – are considered a communal offering to these saints. They start in the morning and conclude at night, as the dancers carry statues of saints throughout the city, visiting places of worship. Each dancer wears a carved wooden mask with headdress, serape, embroidered shawl and multicoloured ribbons, and plays chinchines(maracas). The dancers are led by the severely-masked Patron, who carries a guitar and whip, while playing a flute accompanied by one or two drummers. As they dance, he intones praises to which the Parachicos respond with cheers. The dance is transmitted and learned simultaneous with its performance, with young children taking part, imitating the adult dancers. The technique of mask-making is passed from generation to generation, including cutting of the wood, drying, carving and decorating. The dance of the Parachicos during the Great Feast embraces all spheres of local life, promoting mutual respect among communities, groups and individuals. (Source: Parachicos in the traditional January feast of Chiapa de Corzo, ©
UNESCO, http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/en/RL/00399) Description
Pirekua
is a traditional music of the indigenous P’urhépecha communities of the State
of Michoacán, Mexico, sung by both men and women. Its diverse mix of styles
draws on African, European and indigenous American origins, with regional
variations identified in 30 of the 165 P’urhépecha communities. A
Pirekua, which is generally sung with a gentle rhythm, may also be presented in
non-vocal styles using different beats such as sones (3/8 time) and abajeños(6/8 time).
Pirekua can be sung solo, in duets or trios, or accompanied by choral groups,
string orchestras and mixed orchestras (with wind instruments). Pirériecha (Pirekua
singers and interpreters) are renowned for their creativity and interpretations
of older songs. Lyrics cover a wide range of themes from historical events to
religion, social and political thought and love and courtship, making extensive
use of symbolism. Pirekua acts as an effective medium of dialogue between the
P’urhépecha families and communities that practise it, helping to establish and
reinforce bonds.Pirériechas also
act as social mediators, using songs to express sentiments and communicate
events of importance to the P’urhépecha communities. Pirekua has traditionally
been transmitted orally from generation to generation, maintaining its currency
as a living expression, marker of identity and means of artistic communication
for more than a hundred thousand P’urhépecha people. (Source: Pirekua, traditional song of the P’urhépecha, © UNESCO, http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/en/RL/00398)
Description
Traditional Mexican cuisine is a comprehensive cultural model comprising farming, ritual practices, age-old skills, culinary techniques and ancestral community customs and manners. It is made possible by collective participation in the entire traditional food chain: from planting and harvesting to cooking and eating. The basis of the system is founded on corn, beans and chili; unique farming methods such as milpas (rotating swidden fields of corn and other crops) and chinampas (man-made farming islets in lake areas); cooking processes such as nixtamalization (lime-hulling maize, which increases its nutritional value); and singular utensils including grinding stones and stone mortars. Native ingredients such as varieties of tomatoes, squashes, avocados, cocoa and vanilla augment the basic staples. Mexican cuisine is elaborate and symbol-laden, with everyday tortillas and tamales, both made of corn, forming an integral part of Day of the Dead offerings. Collectives of female cooks and other practitioners devoted to raising crops and traditional cuisine are found in the State of Michoacán and across Mexico. Their knowledge and techniques express community identity, reinforce social bonds, and build stronger local, regional and national identities. Those efforts in Michoacán also underline the importance of traditional cuisine as a means of sustainable development. (Source: Traditional Mexican cuisine - ancestral, ongoing community culture, the Michoacán paradigm, © UNESCO, http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/en/RL/00400) 2009: Description
Living in the semi-desert zone of the state
of Querétaro in central Mexico, the Otomí-Chichimeca people have developed a
range of traditions that express a unique relationship with their local
topography and ecology. Their cultural environment is dominated by a symbolic
triangle formed by the Zamorano and Frontón hills and the Bernal rock. It is to
these sacred hills that people make annual pilgrimages bearing miraculous
crosses to pray for water and divine protection, venerate their ancestors and
celebrate their communal identity and continuity. Other community festivities
throughout the year make up a calendar of rituals centred on water, a dangerously
scarce element in this climate, and dedicated to the endurance of the
Otomí-Chichimeca people. The rituals often occur in intimate family chapels
dedicated to ancestors or in chimales,temporary
but impressive reed structures with leaf roofs built as an offering, an emblem
of endurance and a symbol of vitality and belonging. The relationship between
spiritual culture and physical space is influential on the art of the region –
including religious images, murals, dance and music – and the traditions that embody
it are central components of the cultural identity of the community. (Source:Places of memory and living traditions of the Otomí-Chichimecas people of
Tolimán: the Peña de Bernal, guardian of a sacred territory, © UNESCO, http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/en/RL/00174)
Description
The ritual ceremony of the Voladores (‘flying men’) is a fertility dance performed by several ethnic groups in Mexico and Central America, especially the Totonac people in the eastern state of Veracruz, to express respect for and harmony with the natural and spiritual worlds. During the ceremony, four young men climb a wooden pole eighteen to forty metres high, freshly cut from the forest with the forgiveness of the mountain god. A fifth man, the Caporal, stands on a platform atop the pole, takes up his flute and small drum and plays songs dedicated to the sun, the four winds and each of the cardinal directions. After this invocation, the others fling themselves off the platform ‘into the void’. Tied to the platform with long ropes, they hang from it as it spins, twirling to mimic the motions of flight and gradually lowering themselves to the ground. Every variant of the dance brings to life the myth of the birth of the universe, so that the ritual ceremony of the Voladores expresses the worldview and values of the community, facilitates communication with the gods and invites prosperity. For the dancers themselves and the many others who participate in the spirituality of the ritual as observers, it encourages pride in and respect . (Source: Ritual ceremony of the
Voladores, © UNESCO, http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/en/RL/00175)
2008: Description
As practised by the indigenous communities of Mexico, el Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) commemorates the transitory return to Earth of deceased relatives and loved ones. The festivities take place each year at the end of October to the beginning of November. This period also marks the completion of the annual cycle of cultivation of maize, the country’s predominant food crop. Families facilitate the return of the souls to Earth by laying flower petals, candles and offerings along the path leading from the cemetery to their homes. The deceased’s favourite dishes are prepared and placed around the home shrine and the tomb alongside flowers and typical handicrafts, such as paper cut-outs. Great care is taken with all aspects of the preparations, for it is believed that the dead are capable of bringing prosperity (e.g. an abundant maize harvest) or misfortune (e.g. illness, accidents, financial difficulties) upon their families depending on how satisfactorily the rituals are executed. The dead are divided into several categories according to cause of death, age, sex and, in some cases, profession. A specific day of worship, determined by these categories, is designated for each deceased person. This encounter between the living and the dead affirms the role of the individual within society and contributes to reinforcing the political and social status of Mexico’s indigenous communities. (Source: Indigenous festivity
dedicated to the dead, © UNESCO, http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/en/RL/00054) |
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