Dancing with Life: Recontextualizing Mexican Masks

In the late pre-Hispanic period, complex societies ruled by noble families inhabited the southern, central, and western regions of Mexico. Living there were speakers of numerous Indigenous languages who believed that the native lords’ power derived from male and female gods who interfered in every aspect of life, and that they had to feed and please these divine forces through various rituals in order to assure the well-being of the rulers and their subjects, as well as the survival of the world. Masks formed an important part of the deities’ attire, used by priests and kings who represented these sacred forces on earth and had a divine status themselves. The masks appeared in many contexts, such as rituals, sacrifices, wars, and burials, among others. Some have survived the sands of time and found their way into museums and private collections, whereas others survive only in old texts and paintings.Although many Indigenous traditions and customs ended upon the arrival of the Spanish conquerors and the start of Christianization in the early sixteenth century, others experienced transformations throughout the colonial era, and in many occasions are still present today. The Indigenous population resettled in villages with their own communal lands and patron saints, creating new local identities whose internal dynamics developed around the agricultural cycle and the religious calendar. Western beliefs and practices merged with Indigenous elements, leading to a special form of Catholicism that still distinguishes Mexico from other countries and regions. Besides its formal component, administered and controlled by the Church, it also includes many ritualized manifestations that the communities organize themselves in their feasts or fiestas, in which theatrical performances, music, and dances often play a key role. Masks made of wood, clay, or paper form an essential part of the attire used by many participants.Dancing with Life is a splendid catalog that accompanied the exhibition of Mexican masks at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture in Spokane, Washington (2022–2023), an event that focused mainly on the Michoacán region in the western part of Mexico. The first section of the publication contains short essays from several writers and scholars who are directly related to the communities and artisans and artists who made and/or used these artifacts, providing information about their historical and present-day contexts. After explaining the exhibition and book project, Pavel Shlossberg addresses, among other topics, the important subject of tradition versus modernity, emphasizing that the fiestas are dynamic cultural expressions, which manage to successfully combine conventional meaning and symbolism with innovations, attending to the needs of the local participants and audiences, without excluding the commercial advantages associated with visiting tourists.The same applies to the artisans selling their masks to people who use them in their communities (including Mexican migrants in the United States), and also to national and foreign visitors, as well as collectors. Creativity and flexibility are also key concepts in the chapter written by Luis Urrieta, Jr., who further stresses the considerable boom of mask-making in the town of Tócuaro during the second half of the twentieth century. He adds that, in recent years, it has faced considerable challenges and is no longer the primary economic activity. Gabriela Spears-Rico reflects on the crucial importance of the danza del torito de petate (dance of the straw bull) to the inhabitants of Charo, defining their collective identity and showing their talent, liberty, and pride that stretch beyond the national borders and also include the migrant community in the United States. Mintzi Auanda Martínez-Rivera shows how the kurpiticha dance, which came to Angahuan via people from adjacent Parangaricutiro who fled from the erupting volcano Paricutin in the 1940s, then further developed with its own distinctive features.The second part of the book, written in bilingual format (English and Spanish), briefly presents the voices of the people involved in the making and usage of the masks: Felipe de Jesús Horta Juan and his son Juan José Horta Ramos from Tócuaro, Jesús Aguilar Toral and Manuel Basilio Aguilar Toral from San Juan Nuevo Parangaricutiro, Manuel Valencia Chávez from Sevina, Luis Antonio Mariano Martínez and Fidel Pascual Salvador from San Francisco Pichátaro, Mía Carmen Campos Jirónimo and Juana Arredonda H. from Santa Fé de la Laguna, and Heriberto Cabrera Martínez, Sabino Chamán, and Tomás Hernández from the town of Charo. These specialists share their personal experiences and provide insight into the production processes, also acknowledging some of the problems they confront, especially in reference to accessing high-quality natural resources (clay and wood). Furthermore, they emphasize the participation of family members (both men and women) in the workshops and the introduction of innovations with every new generation of artisans, continuously adapting to varying demands.Dancing with Life contains many excellent quality photographs of artisans, artists, details of performances, and the masks shown in the exhibition. It also includes a map of Michoacán with the communities mentioned in the texts. The book introduces readers to the dynamic world of Mexican masks, the artisans who make them, and the people who dance with them in their fiestas. The communities face difficult challenges, some of which the authors address, while others (for example, the profound impact of organized crime on daily life) the authors barely mention. Obviously, those interested in these subjects need to consult more specialized literature. Dancing with Life addresses a broader audience and focuses on the masks and the people directly behind them, showing the relevance and strength of mask art in Mexican culture.