Documentary maker Mara Alper (Associate Professor, Television - Radio
Department, Park School) will talk about her work with the Huichol
(WE-chol) tribe of Mexico. Mara has been speaking with Huichol shaman and
artisans for the last eight years, and attending traditional ceremonies in
the mountains outside Guadalajara. On Thursday she will screen the segment of
her documentary that highlights the Huichol art. She will also talk about
her experience with the Huichol and her concerns about keeping traditional
cultures alive in modern times.
This talk is free and open to all IC students. Sponsored by Vecinos: The Hispanic Languages and Cultures Living and Learning Community
Please contact Annette Levine for more information (alevine@ithaca.edu)
Documentary: Visions of the Ancestors: The Huichol of Mexico
Producer- Director: Mara Alper
This documentary explores the complexities and ambiguities of sustaining
a traditional culture in modern times.
The culture of the Huichol is seen
in their daily lives, their artwork and the stories it tells, as well as
interviews with both the younger and older generations. Hopefully, the
project will stimulate insight and empathy for the Huichol ways as tribal
leaders, shamans and family members tell stories of their culture and
their struggle to survive. The completed segment focuses on Huichol art
and how it is made.
The finished video will be a bilingual documentary that is a visual
tribute to this vibrant traditional culture and their art. It will be
provided gratis to the Huichol to sell to customers who buy their art and
to use for educational and advocacy purposes. A second version will also
be created. This will be an interpretative, personal documentary about
the plight of older traditions in the modern world, a theme Mara has
explored in several previous works.
