Masks of Mexico

19 JULY TO 31 JULY

INDIA INTERNATIONAL CENTRE

For at least 3,000 years, Mexican folk-culture has found expression through masks. Besides being known for their aesthetic charm, the masks are also an integral part of cultural events—commemorating the harvest, marriage, birth, death and so on. To share this ritual art, the Mexican embassy showcased masks from the many milieus of the diverse country. From the western region of Michoacán, there were lacquered wood masks that satirised old people; from the state of Nayarit, there were bonded paper masks painted with antler bones, which are used in an Easter dance and burned afterwards; and “Negrito” masks that represented Mexico's black African slaves brought to work in mines and fields.

~ Ahyaan Raghuvanshi