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鈥淰einte A帽os De Fiesta,鈥� now at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, showcases 20 years of community and celebrations from Mexico. The Metamorfosis Documentation Project is presenting the exhibition in collaboration with the Consulate of Mexico in sa国际传媒官网网页入口 and the NHCC.

Craig Johnson, associate director for the Metamorfosis Documentation Project, said 鈥淰einte A帽os鈥� documents communities across Mexico celebrating patron saint days or other feast days.

鈥淲e did collaborative work with those communities and with their community museums,鈥� Johnson said.

Armando Espinosa Prieto, project director for Metamorfosis Documentation Project, said the collaboration resulted in an exhibit of 45 photographs.

The museums worked with Johnson and Prieto to find the people in the photos and supply information about the events.

鈥淲e try not to do the projects based on our interpretation of what鈥檚 happening (during) those feast days or those fiestas, but rather what the community and their own history is saying,鈥� Johnson said.

Johnson said exhibits like 鈥淰einte A帽os De Fiesta鈥� connect expat communities back to their homes and heritage.

鈥淲e had two guests walking through the exhibit recently 鈥� and one of them paused and said, 鈥極h my gosh, this is where my grandmother鈥檚 from,鈥欌�� Zachary Quintero, executive director of the National Hispanic Cultural Center, said, 鈥渁nd that really hit home, because she was saying she had only heard about these kinds of dances and celebrations, and she had never seen it, because she did not grow up in the town that her grandmother grew up in. But being able to see it like this kind of transported her back through her family鈥檚 memories.鈥�

The exhibit covers a variety of communities and traditions, organized by celebration rather than location.

Quintero said when he first saw everything put together at the NHCC, he was blown away. A standout for him is the 鈥淒anza de los Voladores鈥� in San Miguel. The images depict dancers atop skinny poles, dangling from ropes.

鈥淪eeing it photographed and documented was really, really interesting to me,鈥� Quintero said. 鈥淏ecause I鈥檝e never been able to witness it up close, I鈥檝e only heard stories of it.鈥�

The exhibit showcases everything from dancing to ritualistic practices, such as the 鈥淔estival of Guul.鈥� Johnson said it is a ceremony in which the ancestors return in spirit, with community members dressing as characters and holding small parties over the course of a week.

鈥淭hey do a ritual exchange of gifts and a ritual dance, and then the community parties,鈥� Johnson said.

The project exhibit honors a shared heritage across the Americas, Quintero said, and also speaks to the NHCC鈥檚 mission of preserving arts and culture.

鈥淭his public institution exists to be able to preserve and document and share these cultures for shared cultural awareness and overall advancement of the arts and the tradition,鈥� Quintero said.

鈥淰einte A帽os鈥� showcases different Indigenous dances performed throughout Mexico, Quintero said, and their similarities to celebrations in New Mexico.

鈥淚t grounds us in a shared sense of humanity of expressing culture and dances and beliefs,鈥� he said.

鈥淣ew Mexicans can take a lot of pride in this exhibit, and folks across the state should come to visit to see it in person, because they鈥檒l see a lot of themselves reflected in different settings.鈥�

Elizabeth Secor is an arts fellow for the sa国际传媒官网网页入口. You can reach her at esecor@abqjournal.com.