2016 Mexico City La Danze Macabra Workshop with Michael deMeng
October 21
to November 3, 2016
Friday,
October 21, 2016
For
the fourth time I am off to Mexico for a workshop with Michael deMeng organized
by Colleen Darling. Colleen always does
a wonderful job of putting an exciting tour together and this year the featured
location is Mexico City.
Denice
was able to take me to the Coach USA bus station where I caught the ride to
Chicago’s O’Hare Field. The bus was a
little late going out because it had been delayed by Chicago traffic on its
first run and there was a threat of a back up reported by radio caused by a car
fire near the Edens exit. That proved to
be a non-issue and I was able to get to the International terminal in plenty of
time.
I
flew Aeromexico direct to Mexico City.
The flight was supposed to leave at 3:09 p.m. but was delayed about
one-half hour due to heavy traffic volume in the skies around Chicago. We were scheduled to arrive in Mexico City at
7:23 p.m. but despite the delay in leaving we actually arrived a bit early.
The
down side came in getting my luggage which turned out to be the fact that they
had off-ramp storage space for the luggage that is considered “mas grande” and
mine qualified.
The
cool thing was my friend Lois was flying in on an Aeromexico flight from San
Francisco at about the same time. We
managed to meet up, exchange US money for pesos, and share a cab ride to our
first hotel, The Hotel Catedral. When we
walked into the lobby there was a host of art buddies who had just got back
from dinner including Michael, Colleen, Janet, Sue, and Marilyn.
After
Lois and I got into our rooms, we hit the hotel restaurant for a light dinner
and drinks. I was off to bed by 11:30
p.m. tired from the day’s journey.
Saturday,
October 22, 2016
Today
I was up at 6:30 a.m., breakfasted in the buffet at the Hotel Catedral and
ready to begin our tour at 9:00 a.m. We
were joined by our Mexico City tour guide Felipe Reissenweber who is very knowledgeable
about the city and art in general.
Today
is a special day in Mexico City as the Museo de Arte Popular is hosting a
parade call the Alebrijes Monumentales.
Alebrijes are the brightly colored fantastical creatures made in Oaxaca
and in this parade they are represented by large paper mache creatures on
floats. We started our day by walking
amongst the floats, not only enjoying them for their sake but also harvesting
ideas for our upcoming mask making workshop.
The
rest of the day was spent around the historic Zocolo area of Mexico City. We visited the Palacio Nacional where we say
our first Diego Rivera murals.
Then
we went to the Antiguo Colegio De San ‘Ildefonso to see murals by Jose Clemente
Orozco and other muralists.
This
museum also had a Chinese art exhibit and I really liked the mask collection.
Next
was the beautiful historic post office, the Palacio Postal.
As
we left this museum, we stumbled onto the actual Alebrijes parade. The route was really crowded so we could not
see the floats on the street.
On
to the Palacio de Bellas Arte to eat lunch.
The lunch was a very elegant affair but I ended up eating a hamburger
because the menu was in Spanish and I did not ask for help. I probably should have been more adventurous.
Because
the ticket line to get into the Bellas Arte was so long, most of us (except for
Janet and Felipe Reissenweber) went to the Museo de la Alameda to see more of the works of
Diego Rivera including a huge mural which was saved when the hotel that
contained it was devastated by an earthquake.
Then
it was time to explore the collection of the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts). This included work by Orozco, and Siqueros.
Micheal,
Sue, Lois, Marilyn and I went for a drink at the Mezcalaereia la Casa de las
Sirenas.
The
group has supper this night at a very cool restaurant called the El Balcon del Zocalo which does overlook the
big square. I had goat for supper,
something I have never had. Then it was
back to the hotel and in my room by 10:00 p.m.
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