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Map of lands in the Tultepec and Jaltocán regions adjacent to the Hacienda de Santa Inés (Mexico) 1569 |
Visitors to last fall's exhibition, The Aztecs and the Making of Colonial Mexico, often requested a catalog that would enable them to revisit the exhibition after it closed. On October 5, the exhibit co-curators, Ellen T. Baird and Cristián Roa-de-la-Carrera, will announce the launch of an electronic exhibit catalog with two public programs: an interactive workshop designed to open the Newberry Library's Mexicana collections to greater public appreciation and use, and an indigenous film festival to demon-strate that important aspects of Aztec culture persist today among their descendants, the Nahua.
Friday, October 5, 10:00 am - 2:30 pm
Presenters: Cristián Roa-de-la-Carrera and Ellen T. Baird, University of Illinois at Chicago,
co-curators of The Aztecs and the Making of Colonial Mexico, and Barry Sell, independent scholar
The Newberry Library holds the largest body of manuscripts by Fr. Bernardino de Sahagún, which richly document Aztec life as told by the first post-Conquest generation of Nahua. The Library also holds excellent examples of Nahuatl and Spanish language documents that mark the major stages of human life: birth (baptismal records), marriage (registries), and death (last wills and testaments and burial registries).
Join three scholars who have made extensive use of these collections in a one-day, interactive workshop. Cristián Roa-de-la-Carrera, Ellen T. Baird, and Barry Sell will share how they read and interpret three types of documents in the Newberry's collections: literary and historical manuscripts and books, church records, and legal documents. Each will demonstrate how scholarship works in their particular disciplines and then explain the types of questions and conclusions that are plausible with the type of approaches they use.
Manuscripts of Father Bernardino de Sahagún (ca. 1500-1590)
10:00 am
Cristián Roa-de-la-Carrera, Associate Professor of Spanish Language and Literature at the University of Illinois at Chicago
"They Ran Away": Nahua Marriage Registers
11:15 am
Barry Sell, historian and independent scholar
Lunch break
Juliana Tlaco vs Pedronilla Francisca Tenuch: A Nahua family contests a will
1:15 pm
Ellen T. Baird, Professor of Art History, University of Illinois at Chicago
Admission to the Living Documents workshop is free, but advance reservations are required. To make a reservation, call (312) 255-3700 or e-mail mailto:pubprog@newberry.org.
Saturday, October 6, 10:00 am - 2:30 pm
Speaker: Francisco Vázquez (Nahua), Chiapas Media Project/Promedios de Comunicación Comunitaria
Since 1998, the Chiapas Media Project/Promedios (a bi-national, Mexico-US partnership) has provided video and computer equipment and training to more than 200 indigenous filmmakers in Chiapas, Mexico. The co-founder of the Chiapas Media Project/Promedios will present eight of the best indigenous productions from Chiapas with English subtitles. He will discuss how indigenous communities create their own media, promote their autonomy, and tell their own stories with their own words and images. These videos, often produced by youth, are used within the communities to promote sustainable projects, preserve and reflect the culture, and also as a means of resistance to oppressive government policies.
Admission to the film festival is free. No reservation is required.
On Thursday, October 4, at 7:00 pm, Francisco Vázquez will also present the Festival for MeSA (Mexican Students of Aztlan), at the Rafael Cintron-Ortiz Latino Cultural Center, University of Illinois at Chicago. Lecture Center B2, 803 S. Halsted, M/C 218, Chicago. For information call (312) 996-3095.Funding for the web-based exhibit catalog and public programs is made possible in part by a grant from the Illinois Humanities Council, the Illinois General Assembly, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the Illinois Humanities Council, or the National Endowment for the Humanities, or the Illinois General Assembly.
The Newberry Library
Center for Public Programs
60 West Walton Street
Chicago, IL 60610-7324
telephone: (312) 255-3700
fax: (312) 255-3680
e-mail: mailto:pubprog@newberry.org