The African Presence in Mexico: From Yanga to the Present.

The Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum is hosting the critically acclaimed traveling exhibition, “The African Presence in Mexico: From Yanga to the Present,” through July 4, 2010. Through paintings, photos, lithographs and historical texts, the visiting exhibition highlights the indelible impact that Africans have on Mexican culture and examines the complexity of race, culture, politics and social stratification. “The African Presence in Mexico” is a bilingual exhibition that includes text panels, tours and various educational and public programming in both Spanish and English. The companion exhibition, “Who Are We Now? Roots, Resistance and Recognition,” examines the relationships between Mexicans and African Americans in the United States and African Americans in the United States and the country of Mexico.

“We are delighted to bring this important exhibition to the Smithsonian through its engagement at the Anacostia Community Museum,” said Camille Giraud Akeju, director of the museum. “The exhibition and the stimulating public programs that accompany it will highlight another significant yet little known aspect of the African diaspora.”

Organized by the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago, this traveling exhibition has been presented in Chicago, New Mexico, California and Philadelphia, as well as Monterrey and Veracruz, Mexico. No exhibition has showcased the history, artistic expressions and practices of Afro-Mexicans in such a broad scope, with a comprehensive collection of artwork from historic pieces to contemporary artistic expressions. The Smithsonian presentation at the Anacostia Community Museum includes reproductions of two rare 18th-century colonial “casta” paintings not seen on display since the exhibition originally opened in 2006. The exhibition also features important historical figures, like Yanga, an African leader and founder of the first free African township in the Americas (Jan. 6, 1609).

Curated by Sagrario Cruz-Carretero and Cesareo Moreno, “The African Presence in Mexico,” illuminates the often overlooked contributions of Africans to the artistic, culinary, musical and cultural traditions of Mexican culture from the past through the present day. Elena Gonzales developed the companion exhibition, “Who Are We Now?” to offer a basis for discussion on contemporary U.S. relationships between people of African and Mexican descent. “At so many levels, ‘The African Presence in Mexico’ project is a landmark undertaking and the most important cultural presentation ever organized by the National Museum of Mexican Art,” said Carlos Tortolero, president and founder of the National Museum of Mexican Art.

The National Museum of Mexican Art notes that “The African Presence in Mexico” serves as a catalyst for a more positive dialogue between African Americans and Mexicans, offering Mexico the opportunity not only to reveal its African legacy, but also actively embrace it as an important element in its national cultural heritage. “Visitors will learn that Mexico is a diverse country, that it has had its own struggle with slavery, race and class and that Africans in Mexico participated in the country’s seminal
events as well as made important contributions to the nation,” said PortiaJames, senior curator at the Anacostia Community Museum.

The museum has worked with several Mexican and Latino civic, cultural leaders and organizations to collaborate on programming and promotional efforts and to generate ongoing dialogue in the Washington metropolitan area. The Smithsonian presentation received federal support from the Latino Initiative Pool, administered by the Latino Center. Exhibition programs and special events are presented in collaboration with the Smithsonian Latino Center, the National Museum of African Art, the Mexican Cultural Institute and the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

For more information at http://www.nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org>