On Saturday, December 11 at 11am, the Silver City Museum invites artist and researcher Diana Molina to the Silco Theatre to speak on Our Lady of Guadalupe, La Virgen Morena, her story, and her cultural significance.
In addition to the Silco, guests can attend this program online via Zoom. To register and attend, go to www.SilverCityMuseum.Org and click on Programs & Events, or just go to the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/7516376085298/WN_0fuMznEMQ96oh0aVMt_I4g
Our Lady of Guadalupe is one of the most venerated symbols of our time. She emerges from a complex mixture of cultural differences which began with the Spanish and Moors, and the Conquistadors and the Aztecs. According to legend, “La Virgen Morena,” the brown-skinned Madonna, was the first miraculous apparition in Mexico soon after the arrival of the Spanish in the New World. It is claimed that the Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego, an Aztec convert upon the sacred grounds to the shrine of Tonantzin, the Aztec earth goddess of fertility.
Epitomizing womanhood, her image personified a universal spirit of love, hope, compassion, and humble strength. In a time of great crisis, she appeared as a chaste protective mother, Spanish-style. As the legend spread, the indigenous people of Mexico integrated her colonial origins with the spiritual realm of Tonantzin. Her image became a synthesis of complex, evolving ideas of spiritual, political, and racial identity. Today, La Morena Moderna has gained a unique cultural independence as a transnational emblem of mythic and aesthetic relevance. Drawing more than 10 million visitors a year, the site of her miraculous appearance is one of the most visited Catholic shrines in the world today. Hanging in the Basilica is the tilma fabric made from the agave cactus which bears her image. During her feast celebration on December 12, pilgrims gather at Tepeyac to pay homage in vibrant magnitude. Visitors arrive at the Basilica in trucks, cars and bicycles decorated for the occasion -- many will walk great distances or arrive crawling on their knees. The great plaza of the Basilica known as La Villa de Guadalupe becomes engulfed with vibrant waves of ritual and procession.
Diana Molina, artist, curator and author of Icons and Symbols of the Borderland, Art from the US-Mexico Crossroads (2020) was born a half mile from the boundary and serves as the Creative Director for the JUNTOS Art Association. Drawn early to Arts and Science, Molina began her career path as a software engineer in the initial stages of robotics and automation at IBM. This was followed by a decade working in Amsterdam as a photographer and writer for international magazines including Elle, Esquire, Geo, Marie Claire, National Geographic Traveler, Vogue, the book Amsterdam, Small Town Big City (1996). She has prepared photographic collections for the UT Austin Benson Latin-American Library, The Netherlands Bureau of Tourism, Greenpeace, and Gamma Press.
This program is made possible with the generous support of the New Mexico Humanities Council and their Chautauqua speakers program.
The Silver City Museum creates opportunities for residents and visitors to explore, understand, and celebrate the rich and diverse cultural heritage of southwestern New Mexico by collecting, preserving, researching, and interpreting the region's unique history. It is nationally recognized through its accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums.
For more information on this or other programs, contact education@silvercitymuseum.org ; to volunteer, contact volunteermanager@silvercitymuseum.org; to join the Silver City Museum Society, contact membership@silvercitymuseumsociety.org. For all of the above and more, visit www.silvercitymuseum.org or call the main office at 575-388-5921.