African Big Five loose in the library
By Carol Wheeler June 20, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

Photo Safari
Al Kokourek
Tue, June 24, 3pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
50 pesos, Audubon members free

Africa comes alive when professional photographer Al Kokourek shows over 200 photographs of wildlife, people and exotic birds that he took on his recent trip to Kenya and Tanzania. The event is sponsored by Sociedad Audubon de México. Susan Sexton helped put the show together.

The African Big Five—elephant, buffalo, leopard, lion and rhinoceros—are well represented in the show, which is accompanied by Kokourek’s commentary and African music. He and his wife took the trip last July, which is apparently the best time to see the animals.

“The grass is shorter then; it’s been trampled down by the animals and there’s less rain and less mud,” he said, recalling one spot where the grass was unusually high and they were on the edge of a field that seemed empty. “Suddenly, 50 feet in front of us we saw an ear and in 10 seconds six lions appeared.” If they hadn’t seen the ear, they might have started walking in that direction.

A balloon trip was one of the highlights; they flew over a huge migration of wildebeests and zebra across the Serengheti. “It’s remarkable, the land is dark with them,” he said, remembering too the herds of flamingos he saw, “so thick you could walk on them.”

Prior to his African trip, his motto had been, “If it breathes, don’t shoot it.” He was exclusively a landscape photographer (his third career, after technology and financial services stints). But on the Dark Continent, he changed his mind. The people, the birds and the animals were just so fascinating.

There were times when he could not use his telephoto lens, when “the cheetahs were close enough to touch,” for instance. He traveled with three cameras and is happy to share photography tips, too. “You just need to use a fast shutter speed,” he says.

General admission is 50 pesos; Audubon members get in free. You can join Audubon at the door for 300 pesos and never pay for an Audubon presentation again.

Returning the most valuable art collection in history

Lecture
An Inside Look at Making The Portrait of Adele
Ruth Ann Kalish, Ph.D.
Fri, June 27, 5pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
Donation 50 pesos

The Portrait of Adele is an upcoming feature documentary capturing the efforts of Stuart E. Eizenstat and a group of unsung heroes who became the catalyst for a sea change in the world of Holocaust-era restitution.

The film, still in production, deals with the controversial and emotional issue of cultural restitution—the return of art and artifacts stolen by the Nazis and subsequently “held” by private individuals, galleries and governments despite evidence that the works were owned by Jewish families, many of whom perished in the Holocaust.

Adele Bloch-Bauer I by Gustav Klimt, purchased for a stunning US$135 million in 2006, bore witness to some of the most extraordinary events of the last 100 years. Since the return in 2006 of Adele Bloch-Bauer I and four other Klimt paintings to the sole surviving Bloch-Bauer heir, the painting has become a symbol for the return of Holocaust-era assets.

The Portrait of Adele focuses on this ground-breaking case as a springboard to examine restitution claims for art systematically looted by the Nazis. It highlights the growing number of objects that finally have been returned to their rightful owners, and those yet to be returned, that are making international headlines every week.

Join producer Ruth Ann Kalish for film clips and background on the extraordinary journey of the restitution of the most valuable art collection in history. She offers an exclusive look at how the film is taking shape and the events that form the backdrop of this dramatic documentary—hidden Swiss bank accounts, insurance claims, looted gold and stolen art—of the pursuit of justice and its enduring legacy in Jewish, American and world history.

Aztecs and astrology
By Lauren Lesko 

Astrology Lecture
Pregnant with Possibility
Lauren Lesko
Mon, June 23, 3–4:30pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
50 peso donation
www.LaurenLesko.com 

From C.G. Jung, I have borrowed the idea that our unconscious embodies every human thought and deed from the beginning of consciousness and that astrology reflects our unconscious and is a powerful tool to help us understand the meaning of life experiences.

The astrology I practice, working with the tropical zodiac, recognizes the importance of the equinox and solstice points of the ecliptic because they are the four cardinal points of the chart. The celebration of the Summer Solstice has a specific significance in astrology because it highlights the nurturing relationship between the Sun and the Moon.

I am interested in cultural myths and rituals that speak of the interconnection of all human experience. As a recent arrival in San Miguel, and without knowing the indigenous myths and rituals, nor the contemporary fiestas and feasts, I recognize common themes shared by astrology and Mexico’s cultural traditions.

I see the cyclical rhythms of life reproduced in the images of Sol y Luna offered in a cornucopia of sizes, shapes, materials and colors. Likewise, the Sun and Moon are the heart and soul of astrology.

It is no wonder our ancestors projected the powerful internal forces of vulnerability and survival onto the Sun and Moon, or that we continue to do so in our own lives. One plausible theory about the etymology of the name Mexico suggests its derived meaning is “Place at the center of the Moon.”

The face of the Aztec goddess, Tlazolteotl, giving birth to the Sun-god, and his hesitancy to emerge from the protection of the womb, represents our emotional pain and suffering in the birth process.

The Mayan goddess, Ixchel, sitting astride the crescent Moon holding a hare in her arms reveals the deep imprint of mother and child in Mexican culture. The metamorphosis into Our Lady of Perpetual Succor holding the Christ child is not coincidental. The feast is on June 27 but begins nine days earlier, near the solstice, in prayer and fireworks.

From village to world-class city
By Arturo Morales

Lecture with Slides
Four generations of foreigners
Tue, June 24, 1:30pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
50 pesos

The boom of foreigners in San Miguel de Allende began 70 years ago. The saga began with the efforts of two extraordinary foreign men who fell in love with the city and committed their lives to it—Stirling Dickinson (who died in 1997) from the US and Felipe Cosío del Pomar from Peru. They founded the first summer arts program and handicraft school that today is Bellas Artes.

Their efforts also produced one of the first laws in America for the protection of a city with unique cultural and natural heritage. Ley de Protección de la ciudad típica de San Miguel de Allende dates from 1939.

For seven decades, we have coexisted with three generations of foreigners and Mexicans not native to San Miguel who have enriched the cultural diversity of this small cosmopolitan city. The three generations also reflect the history and cultural evolution of the world, the hemisphere and the city.

In the forties and fifties, the first foreigners who arrived in San Miguel in the first big wave of the twentieth century reflected the moral shock of the tragedy of World War II and the birth of the Cold War. San Miguel, with 25,000 inhabitants, a continental climate, and cultural and natural patrimony preserved by accidents of local history, offered a unique place to live.

In the sixties and seventies, in the search for new forms of expression, coexistence and social paradigms, from Prague and Paris and Kent to Mexico City, San Miguel was the open city where foreigners paired with Mexicans, drawing from both cultures and producing many bicultural young people who grew up in the social and ethnic wealth of a city open to the world but rooted in its traditions and local identities.

At the end of the idealistic dream, in the eighties and nineties, with the rise of consumer society, San Miguel saw the arrival of another generation of foreigners, often out of step with the evolution of the city.


The new twenty-first century generation reflects the cosmopolitan personality of the city today.

What is Dharma Art?
By Christina Hager

Dharma Art Program
Introductory talk
The principles of Shambhala Art
Fri, June 27, 6:30–8pm
Casa Shambhala
Terraplén 34
Free


Workshop
Coming to our Senses
Sat, June 28, 9am–5:30pm
The Creative Process
Sun, June 29, 9am–5:30pm
Casa Shambhala
Terraplén 34
Donation 1200 pesos

The truth of the thing is not the think of it but the feel of it.
—Stanley Kubrick


“Dharma Art,” or “Shambhala Arts,” refers to creative works that spring from the meditative state, characterized by directness, unselfconsciousness and nonaggression. Dharma means “truth,” and refers to the state before you lay your hand on your brush, clay, or canvas—basic, peaceful and free from distortion.

Art refers to all activities of our lives, including any artistic disciplines we practice. It is not an occupation; it is our whole being. Dharma Art does not teach a particular skill or technique, but is about the source of inspiration, its manifestation and how it speaks to us. The creative process requires that we first perceive our world as it is before we can represent it in an art form or use it is a launching pad for expression.

Shambhala Arts is a five-part sequential program based on the teachings of meditation master, author and artist Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, founder of Naropa Institute in Colorado and Shambhala International. The programs include sensory and contemplative exercises, and meditation instruction. In these programs we awaken the creative mind that arises from the meditative state.

Four teachers will come to San Miguel to lead this first-ever Dharma Art program. “Introduction to Shambhala Art: Awakening the creative process in everyday life,” is open to artists and non-artists and no prior experience is required. The free introductory talk on Friday will cover what we will work on during the weekend.

The Saturday program will explore perception in the creative process and how thought influences what we perceive. We will also delve into signs and symbols, seeing things as they truly are, and how we add conceptual meanings and interpretations.

In Sunday’s program we experience contemplation with art making and art viewing using the principles of space, form and energy. Experiential exercises illustrate the principles through poetry, videos, movement, group interaction and calligraphy.

All program and reading materials, meals and a closing reception are included in the 1200-peso program donation. A limited number of scholarships are available. English/Spanish translation provided. For questions and registration, call Christina Hager at 152-5814 or email: shambhalactrsma@gmail.com. 

Four pre-Hispanic Mexican cultures
By Professor Guillermo Méndez

Lecture
Ancient Cultures, Part I
Professor Guillermo Méndez
Wed, June 25, 3pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
50 pesos

Aztec, Toltec, Zapotec, Olmec—we know they were some of the great cultures of ancient Mexico, but how do you tell one “tec” from another? In an introductory lecture this week, retired professor of humanities Guillermo Méndez will examine four major pre-Hispanic cultures described by one Mesoamerican scholar as the four “unifying forces” in ancient Mexico. They are the Olmec, Teotihuacán, Toltec and Aztec civilizations. Méndez illustrates the lecture with over 200 digital images of art, artifacts and architecture.

A distinguishing concept for each culture helps differentiate one group from another. For example, the concept for the Olmec is “The Mother Culture.” Most of the salient characteristics of later cultures were present in the Olmec several centuries before the year zero in our Gregorian calendar.

The ancient cultures of Mexico shared a unique calendar that combined a 365-day solar calendar and a 260-day ritual calendar. This combination of calendars repeated every 52 years. Thus 52-year “centuries” acquired considerable importance in the cosmic expectations of the Aztecs, demanding vital rituals like the “new fire ceremony.” Every 52 years, all the fires in the Aztec capital city, Tenochtitlan, were extinguished. On a hilltop outside the city, a “new fire” was started on the chest of a soon-to-be-sacrificed person. From the new fire all the extinguished fires were reignited.

Each of the four cultures had its own style in art and architecture. Distinguishing visual images will be presented that characterize each culture. Méndez will discuss Olmec colossal heads carved of basalt, for example, and the unique were-jaguar images, many carved from jadeite.

A second lecture next week presents the Zapotec, Maya, Classic Veracruz and Mixtec cultures.