Voices of Mexico no. 117

Our Voice

The production of art — its forms and vehicles — changes constantly. But, has our conception of it changed at the same pace? In this issue, creators, academics, critics, historians, restorers, and dealers offer us a broad view of art today and how we relate to it. The enormous distance among auctions, galleries, and the community, between the digital and the ancient, speaks to us of a panorama both divergent and inclusive.

It might seem provocative to begin with a reflection about whether art is dead, but we have to understand that what the West has labeled as art for all of modernity has stopped being its dominant form. It might also seem provocative to include what has been called folk art in this cohort; however, this issue invites us to understand that a length of textile is one of a kind because its design, its iconography, and its manufacture are unique, linked to the world view of the community that produces it. Or that contemporary artists drink from the well of painting, collage, performance, sketching, sculpture, poetry, and digital media to “extinguish the shadows,” eliminate the idea of the homogeneous, to recognize what is different and understand that what is rare exists and inhabits territories. This issue’s contributors unfold before our eyes and minds all these possibilities.