Art, folklore, and industry: popular arts and indigenismo in Mexico, 1920–1946

ABSTRACT

The construction of popular arts in Mexico is a process that is generally attributed to the proposals of the plastic artists of the post-revolutionary period. Here, I explore some of these (Exposición Nacional de Artes Populares, 1921; y Museo de Artes Populares, 1930–1942), along with others not yet analyzed by historiography, mainly developed by anthropologists (at the Museo Nacional, 1920–1924; in the Misión Universitaria del Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas de la Universidad Nacional, 1936–1937; and in the Departamento de Asuntos Indígenas, 1936–1946). The goal is to show their affinities (a purist and primitivist notion) but, above all, to highlight their differences regarding the aesthetic (art), cultural (folklore), and identity (Mexican, indigenous, national) valuation of the objects (industry/crafts), as well as the need for its conservation vs. transformation. I argue that, far from being a linear and homogeneous history derived exclusively from post-revolutionary plastic arts, it is a heterogeneous process that was not consolidated into a single centralized and institutionalized project until the middle of the century, within the framework of the modernization of the Mexican State and the inter-American indigenism.

RESUMEN

La construcción de las artes populares en México es un proceso que generalmente se atribuye a las propuestas de los artistas plásticos del periodo posrevolucionario. Aquí exploro algunas de éstas (Exposición Nacional de Arte Popular, 1921; y Museo de Artes Populares, 1930–1942) junto a otras aún no analizadas por la historiografía, principalmente desarrolladas por antropólogos (en el Museo Nacional, 1920–1924; en la Misión Universitaria del Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas de la Universidad Nacional, 1936–1937; y en el Departamento de Asuntos Indígenas, 1936–1946). El objetivo es mostrar sus afinidades (una noción purista y primitivista) pero, sobre todo, destacar sus diferencias en torno a la valoración estética (arte), cultural (folklore) e identitaria (mexicana, indígena, nacional) de los objetos (industria/artesanía), así como de la necesidad de su conservación vs transformación. Sostengo que, lejos de ser una historia lineal y homogénea derivada exclusivamente de la plástica posrevolucionaria, se trata de un proceso heterogéneo que no se consolidó en un solo proyecto centralizado e institucionalizado sino hasta mediados del siglo, en el marco de la modernización del Estado mexicano y del indigenismo interamericano.

KEYWORDS:

• Popular art; Folklore; Indigenous industry; Crafting; Indigenismo; Mexico

PALABRAS CLAVE:

• arte popular
• folklore
• industria indígena
• artesanía
• indigenismo
• México

Acknowledgements

I am indebted to Laura Giraudo for providing me with the documentation of the Pátzcuaro First Conference, as well as for her valuable comments and suggestions on different versions of this text. I am similarly grateful for the suggestions and guidance of Emilio Gallardo, and the rich exchange with the members of the Seminar Artesanías en transición 1950–1980 (PAPIIT IN400519, IIE-UNAM), coordinated by Deborah Dorotinsky. I thank Erick Aguirre for providing me with the indices of Ethnos, Alberto Alcántara for his support in the reproduction of the periodical publications reviewed, Carmen Sifuentes and Renato González Mello for their help in consulting the AHIIE’s archives, and the reviewers of this article for their close reading and recommendations. This paper has been translated from Spanish.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. There is an extensive literature on the popular arts, including ‘foundational’ narratives, such as Caso (1950, 1952), Martínez (1972), and Rubín (1974); critical studies from the perspectives of historical materialism (Novelo 1976) and art history (La dicotomía 1979); and studies that emphasize the processes of constructing ‘Mexican’ and ‘indigenous’ identity in the context of post-revolutionary ideology and state authoritarianism (see among others Ovando 2008; Danly 2002; Cordero 2010; Garduño 2010; Velázquez 2010; López 2010, 2015; Flores 2016; Shlossberg 2015).

2. Mukhopadhyay and Moses (1997) and Visweswaran (1998) have shown how abandoning the concept of ‘race’ did not eliminate racism, since the ethnic criterion that replaced it regards culture as a naturalized, heritable entity, leading to the same determinism (see among others: Giraudo and Martín-Sánchez 2013; Martín-Sánchez and Giraudo 2020; Saldívar 2014; Wade 1997, 2003, 2014, inter alii).

3. Mendizábal was preparing a study of the textile industries of the ‘primitive races,’ possibly the posthumously published ‘Las artes textiles indígenas y la industria textil mexicana’ (Mendizábal 1947, 259–500).

4. In 1939, the DMAAH became the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, the country’s primary anthropological institution.

5. This industry developed at the end of the nineteenth century and is currently among the most highly valued.

6. As Cordero (2010, 93) notes, at the time he was advising his friend Nelson Rockefeller about assembling his collection of popular art.

7. I was unable to locate documentation from this archive, but, unlike the IIE’s projects, the results of this research were partially published. What follows draws on that.

8. It is possible that Mendizábal was referring to Cárdenas’s visit to the Feria Agrícola in Ixmiquilpan, in August of that year, where the IIE’s works in the mission were presented.

9. As of 4 June 2019 the municipal web page read: ‘Crafts are made in such communities as Tetzhú, Arbolado, and Caltimacán, where the women make beautiful embroidery using houndstooth, jute, and muslin, as well as textiles in ayates made from ixtle fibers obtained from maguey plants.’

10. Surely, this is also related to Cardenista regulations promoting tourism in Mexico (Pérez 2019).