Research trip to Mexico
ONLINE
July 27-31, 2020

Research trip to Mexico

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    Presentation

    Let's travel differently!

    The next Research Trip of the network, initially scheduled from July 13-19 to Mexico City and Guadalajara, organised in partnership with Festival Periplo is cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. lnstead, it will take the shape of a digital journey.

    You can already book the dates in your calendar and prepare yourselves to embark on this journey with us! 

    From July 27 to July 31, you will have the opportunity to discover an eclectic sample of resources each day: publications, videos, podcasts, illustrated map, magazine, photo exhibition... We'll do our very best to make you feel away in Mexico for an entire week, and we engage ourselves to provide rich, diverse and original contents, to give you a proper overview of the Mexican circus and street arts sector. 

     

    Our partners
    
    

    Periplo Desarrollo y Cultura AC. is an independent organization with circus projects such as the Periplo international circus festival and the Periplo Forum cultural and artistic center. They live in Guadalajara, the third largest city in the country and self-proclaimed "circus land".

    Ohtli Production A.C., is a younger production structure, but very active in the field of artistic exchanges between Mexico and Europe, especially in the field of circus and contemporary puppetry.

     

    Stay tuned for the release date and play the game with us!

    More information to come

     

     ©Halejadro Cortes

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    Map & Podcast

    VISUAL MAPPING OF THE SECTOR

    To open up this digital journey, we thought a little context could help setting the stage, the mood, the atmosphere of the place we are virtually leading you to explore for a week. For this reason, we have decided to present you an Overview of the Mexican circus and street arts landscape thanks to a colorful illustrated map of the field! Festivals, companies, schools, organisations: all in all, there will be over 40 key entities represented on the map, to give you a nice and comprehensive overview of the Mexican ecosystem for circus and street arts! 

    This map is not exhaustive, it represents, on Mexican territory, 43 projects selected by the Mexican coordinators of the project. The selection criteria, jointly decided between partners, are the following: visibility of the projects, their trajectory, their aesthetic line (contemporary), their influence in the cultural development of the country and their geographical location.

    The projects were divided into 4 sections: companies, cultural places, festivals and vocational schools.

    We hope that this map motivates the Mexican circus and street art community to continue the census work initiated for this activity, which is very important for the visibility of both sectors at the national and international level.

     To complement this map, a directory including a description & the contact information of each structure represented on the map has been set up. You will find in below (available in English and Spanish).

    Discover the 1st episode of our Circostrada podcasts 

    Keep your ears wide open!

    We are please to present you a brand new format: in a few weeks, you’ll have the chance to listen to the first Circostrada podcast (recorded in English)! Together with Periplo and Ohtli producción, we’ve asked 4 circus and street art festival directors to share their perspectives and to answer both urgent and inspiring issues. Between local and international audiences, production and fair economic redistribution concerns and artist valorization, find out more about the situation in Mexico through authentic, critical and empowering testimonies. 

    Circus and street arts festivals in Mexico are born mainly from the pleasure of exchanging, cooperating, learning and creating together. Four directors share their experience in programming and managing festivals in a territory confronted to different realities. 

    Link to the podcast HERE
     
     

     

     

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    PHOTO REPORTS “[Y], dialogues between circus and science”

    If you think we’ve stopped there, you are fooling yourselves ;) 

    We also published two photo reports, strongly linked to Mexican artistic production. A great opportunity to discover the exhibition by Julia Sanchez, entitled "Dialogues between Science and Circus”, that we were meant to visit in Guadalajara, and the “murales” of the City of Queretaro analyzed by Edgar Sanchez.

    PHOTO REPORT #1 

     “[Y], dialogues between circus and science” is a project carried out by the artist, creator and manager Julia Sánchez. The project brings together artists, pedagogues and scientists with the aim of developing new learning environments for young people, proposing a cartography of the artist's imagination and its relationship with the concepts of physics such as gravity, the center of mass and the pendulum to name a few.
    The exhibition, curated by Desiree Vargas should have been mounted during the Periplo 2020 Festival but, due to the health emergency, it was decided to publish some of the art pieces online.

     

    Production Day#2: Julia Sánchez

     

    “[Y], dialogues between circus and science” is a project carried out by the artist, creator and manager Julia Sánchez.

    The project brings together artists, pedagogues and scientists with the aim of developing new learning environments for young people, proposing a cartography of the artist's imagination and its relationship with the concepts of physics such as gravity, the center of mass and the pendulum to name a few.
    The exhibition, curated by Desiree Vargas should have been mounted during the Periplo 2020 Festival but, due to the health emergency, it was decided to publish some of the art pieces online.

     

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    PHOTO REPORT "Neo-Mithology: symbol and semantics in urban arts"

    PHOTO REPORT #2

    In this photo report and article Edgar Sanchez from Nueve Arte Urbano explores the symbols and messages of an artistic movement inspired by the  pre-hispanic civilizations' mythologies and urban esthetic.

    Through photos of “murales” these monumental art pieces painted on the walls, Edgar Sanchez speaks about how Mexican urban artists fight for civil rights, intercultural dialogue and wider solidarity by spreading their work in the walls of Mexican neighborhoods, valleys, cities, modifying the face of its public spaces. 

    Nueve Arte Urbano 

    Creators!

    We promote a monumental plastic movement throughout the world, creating murals in urban spaces to inspire society towards cultural freedom.

    We define culture as the systems of symbols and meanings that a human group shares. We propose art as the act of creating symbols and meanings to interpret perception and expand the reach of cultures. We assume the purpose of catalyzing cultures through art, with the bet that cultural freedom is the best path to social well-being and to make people to smile.

    We are creators and we achieve environmental, social, cultural and economic results. We specialize in emerging talent, long-term development, collective processes, urban production, technological means, and entrepreneurship. We link contemporary, traditional and human ideals, to build a Neo-Mithology.

    Today throughout the world, millions express themselves by painting on walls. They write their name to identify with their environment. They travel a transpersonal path that inspires them to paint metaphors. They discover their influence on the street and in culture. They develop cultural leadership in the neighborhood. They produce street spells that transform the space. This swarm of creators, which Siqueiros never imagined, embodies the purpose of art: to create a better world.

    The creator finds meaning.

    This is Nueve Arte Urbano

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    PODCAST

    CIRCOSTRADA PODCAST#2… We give the mike to Mexican artists!

    Since one piece of good news never comes alone, we continue building on that progress with the launch of our 2nd podcast (recorded in English) dedicated to 3 Mexican artists working in circus and in the public space: Jade Zerón, Aziz Gual, and Raúl Sisniega.

    Get ready for an immersion into the work and projects of these original artists. It will give you an interested perspective into what it is to be an artist in Mexico working in and dealing with the public space, ensuring the sustainability of a project, and many other facts and anecdotes to provide a rich and meaningful podcast.

    LINK TO THE PODCAST HERE

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    Video - 10 creative portraits

    The journey continues with a new video putting artists in the spotlight

    Don’t leave us yet, you would be missing out on another precious content! Indeed, in addition to the podcast, you also have the opportunity to discover 10 established circus/street art companies and artists in Mexico in a short video.

     

    In this short video, you have the opportunity to discover 10 established circus/street art companies and artists in Mexico. Enjoy!

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    Video - CircoTour in Mexico

     

    ENJOY THE RIDE!

    For the 4th day of this Mexican journey, we’ve been thinking BIG with our partners! Indeed, we’re be taking you through three different cities for three very special “CircoTours” in Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara! You’ll have the opportunity to discover in videos the main circus spots, venues, artists, organisations, and much more! Sit tight and join us for this unusual circus tours. Change of scenery guaranteed ;-) 

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    Video - CircoTour in Monterrey

    We are now taking you to a different Mexican city, Monterrey, to explore a new circus and street arts landscape. Enjoy the ride! 

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    Video - CircoTour in Guadalajara

    Last but not least, discover the final video of the CircoTour series! Join us to explore Guadalajara and prepare yourselves to be amazed!

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    Webinar "Circulation, round trip conversations on circus and urban arts"

    “CIRCULATION : round trip conversations on circus and urban arts”

     

    Presentation

    This webinar aims to explore the conditions under which the different aspects of circus arts and urban arts (including street arts) have developed in Mexico. The themes will allow us to initiate a reflection on the current status of these two sectors, marked by a long tradition but paradoxically long removed from any visibility on the contemporary scene.

     

    Objectives 

    • To understand what is at stake in the development of contemporary circus and urban  arts in Mexico and discover both genealogy. 
    • To analyze the relations between Mexican public policies and artistic creation and the ensuing challenges.  
    • To discover how circus and urban art professionals invent innovative practices to mitigate the socio-political and economic context in Mexico, characterized by job insecurity, oblivion and artistic emergency. 

     

    Target audience  

    This webinar is designed for all circus and urban arts professionals from Mexico and beyond, who wish to understand and explore the artistic landscape of Mexico and its particularities. 

     

    Topics

    Digital Roundtable 1: Aesthetics of circus and urban arts in Mexico

    Digital Roundtable 2: Management and public policies in the field of circus and performing arts 

    Digital Roundtable 3: Outdoor and urban arts in Mexico: genealogies and deconstruction

     

    The speakers

    CHARLOTTE PESCAYRE (Ethnologist researcher and tightwire dancer) - Introduction 

    EDUARDO BERNAL (Artist, Architect, Professor at UAEMEX) - Roundtable 1

    ROY GOMEZ CRUZ (Performance Studies Researcher) - Roundtable 1 

    EDÉN BASTIDA KULLICK (Urban Artist) - Roundtable 1 

    JESSICA GONZALEZ LOPEZ (Director of  Transito 5 company and of the festival Escenarios Suspendidos) - Roundtable 2 

    JUAN MELIÁ (Cultural Manager and Director of Teatro UNAM) - Roundtable 2 

    ANDREA PELAEZ (Co-Director of Cirko de Mente company) - Roundtable 2

    ELENA GORE (Actress and Producer) - Roundtable 2  

    GABRIEL YEPEZ (Artistic Director and Researcher) - Roundtable 3 

    DÉBORAH CHENILLO (Director of cultural places and Researcher) - Roundtable 3 

    SAID DOKINS (Urban Artist and Curator) - Roundtable 3 

     

    Visit our Vimeo page to find the recordings of the webinar (in Spanish and English versions)
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    RESOURCES

    RESOURCE
    
    To accompany the webinar, we offer two feature articles that will deepen your knowledge of Mexico and finish in a high note. An ideal way to present the artistic challenges, aesthetics and history of urban and circus arts in Mexico. Spanish and English versions available. 

    Charlotte Pescayre, ethnologist and contemporary circus tightwire dancer will offer an inspiring article "Diagnosis of the Mexican circus: continuity and rupture in the past and the present".

    Ethnologist researcher and tightwire dancer. Graduated in Social Sciences from the University of Paris V, Master in Latin American Studies and project engineering for Latin America from the IPEAT of Toulouse, her research has focused on Mesoamerican acrobatic practices and their contemporary transformations. She is a PhD candidate in Ethnology from the University of Paris Nanterre and in Mesoamerican Studies from the National Autonomous University of Mexico with the thesis "the Mesoamerican Maroma against the processes of patrimonialization". Graduated from the Circo Vertigo school in 2008, she founded Transatlancirque, a Franco-Mexican company of experimental cross-cultural circus and is co-founder of the Plural and Independent Collective of Maromers in Mexico "Correspondencias maromeras" (2016).

     Gabriel Yepez, journalist and researcher, specialist in theatrical studies will present an article entitled: "Street arts in Mexico. Prospects for a new discussion"

    Gabriel Yepez is a researcher and scenic creator, as well as a programmer in living arts. He is the editorial advisor of the theater magazine Paso de Gato (Mexico) and Primer Acto (Spain), in which he participates as a columnist constantly. He is also a columnist on performing arts in other magazines such as La Tempestad, and Residente D.F. (Mexico), Backdrop (Argentina) and Joint Magazine, (Cuba). Collaborator of the National Theater Coordination and the National Fund for Culture and the Arts, FONCA. Since 2017, he has been the coordinator of Living Arts of the Museo Universitario del Chopo, of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

    ARTICLE 1 - A DIAGNOSIS OF CIRCUS ARTS IN MEXICO: RUPTURES AND CONTINUITY IN THE PAST AND PRESENT, BY CHARLOTTE PESCAYRE

    Charlotte Pescayre, ethnologist and contemporary circus tightwire dancer will offer an inspiring article "Diagnosis of the Mexican circus: continuity and rupture in the past and the present".

    Ethnologist researcher and tightwire dancer. Graduated in Social Sciences from the University of Paris V, Master in Latin American Studies and project engineering for Latin America from the IPEAT of Toulouse, her research has focused on Mesoamerican acrobatic practices and their contemporary transformations. She is a PhD candidate in Ethnology from the University of Paris Nanterre and in Mesoamerican Studies from the National Autonomous University of Mexico with the thesis "the Mesoamerican Maroma against the processes of patrimonialization". Graduated from the Circo Vertigo school in 2008, she founded Transatlancirque, a Franco-Mexican company of experimental cross-cultural circus and is co-founder of the Plural and Independent Collective of Maromers in Mexico "Correspondencias maromeras" (2016).

    Available to read and download in English, Spanish and French

     

    ARTICLE 2 - STREET ARTS IN MEXICO, BY GABRIEL YEPEZ

    Gabriel Yepez, journalist and researcher, specialist in theatrical studies will present an article entitled: "Street arts in Mexico. Prospects for a new discussion"

    Gabriel Yepez is a researcher and scenic creator, as well as a programmer in living arts. He is the editorial advisor of the theater magazine Paso de Gato (Mexico) and Primer Acto (Spain), in which he participates as a columnist constantly. He is also a columnist on performing arts in other magazines such as La Tempestad, and Residente D.F. (Mexico), Backdrop (Argentina) and Joint Magazine, (Cuba). Collaborator of the National Theater Coordination and the National Fund for Culture and the Arts, FONCA. Since 2017, he has been the coordinator of Living Arts of the Museo Universitario del Chopo, of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

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    Magazine "MIRAR, from the other side. A landscape of the circus and art in public space"

    MAGAZINE 

    To close up this digital journey, we conceived and published the digital publication MIRAR, from the other side. Panorama of the circus and art in public space, Circostrada's Digital Research Trip, México 2020, where we have captured the profile and creation processes of some of the “emerging” and subversive artists in the field of contemporary circus, the living arts and the urban visual arts. Through photographs, sketches, and reflections of artistic processes, we give a subjective overview of the contemporary artistic scene in Mexico.

     

    Available in English, Spanish and French!

    In order to access this section, you must enter the password that has been sent to you per email.