Festival 2017
Artists
Music
- Comprised of Enrique Barona, Leopoldo Novoa, Eloy Cruz, Ada Coronel and Ulises Martínez, Tembembe blends music for Hispanic baroque guitar with today’s Mexican and Latin American “Son”, through a performance that involves music, singing and dance, recreating the festive spirit of Fandango, both contemporary and from 18th century New Spain’s tradition.
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Ampersan is one of the most original and promising bands of the new generation of Mexican musicians. For their New York City premier and as part of their #Ampersan10Años tour, Ampersan presents a journey through different landscapes and sounds of Mexico and Latin America. Mixing traditional instruments with modern genres such as rock, jazz and electronic this Mexico City born, Guadalajara bred band has the capacity to travel from the folkloric forms to the experimental and sound explorations.
Theatre
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PEDRO INFANTE, CIEN AÑOS PIENSO EN TI, a one-act play in Spanish with music, offers a new twist on the life of Mexican immigrants living al otro lado. Seven of Infante’s most classic songs accompany the show, which will draw on the Mexican tradition of the South Bronx neighborhood where it will be performed. This play is a special adaption prepared by the author, Toby Campion, in collaboration with Germán Jaramillo and his New York theatre company, iD Studio Theater.
Film
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Documentary PRODUCED AND DIRECTED BY CATHERINE GUND AND DARESHA KYI. Through its lyrical structure, Chavela will take viewers on an evocative, thought-provoking journey through the iconoclastic life of game-changing artist Chavela Vargas. Centered around never before-seen interview footage of Chavela shot 20 years before her death in 2012, and guided by the stories in Chavela’s songs, and the myths and tales others have told about her – as well as those she spread about herself – the film weaves an arresting portrait of a woman who dared to dress, speak, sing, and dream her unique life into being.
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14th Morelia International Film Festival Short Films Winners: A Celebrate Mexico Now tradition lives on. The Morelia International Film Festival, one of Mexico’s most renowned gatherings for contemporary cinema, five award-winning short films from its 2016 edition ranging from animation to documentary. All films in Spanish with English subtitles:
-ELENA Y LAS SOMBRAS/ ELENA AND THE SHADOWS
-ESTO ES LO QUE ME TOCO
-TALLER DE CORAZONES/ THE HEART WORKSHOP
-JUAN PERROS
-VERDE/ GREEN
- A Celebration to Honor the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Juan Rulfo: The festival commemorates the 100th anniversary of Juan Rulfo’s birthday, one of the finest novelists, short-story masters in 20th-century Latin America and an extraordinary photographer, with the New York premiere of the documentary “100 years with Juan Rulfo. A wanderer”. Five photographs and the search for the exact place in Mexico where his father took them inspired filmmaker Juan Carlos Rulfo to make this film.
Mexican Gastronomy
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Mexican Brunch, Mezcal And Live Performance From Sweet Electra. Named after the bohemian Guadalupe Inn neighborhood in Mexico City, the 80-seat restaurant evokes the warm and vibrant feel of a 40’s era supper club. Upon entering guests are greeted by a 16-seat bar with a copper inlay, lush floral wallpaper, and custom brass lighting fixtures.
Literature
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The festival commemorates the 100th anniversary of Juan Rulfo’s birthday, one of the finest novelists, short-story masters in 20th-century Latin America and an extraordinary photographer, with the New York premiere of the documentary “100 years with Juan Rulfo. A wanderer”. Five photographs and the search for the exact place in Mexico where his father took them inspired filmmaker Juan Carlos Rulfo to make this film.
Professor Pedro Ángel Palou also presented the book “El Llano en llamas, Pedro Páramo y otras obras (en el centenario de su autor)”, co-written with professor Francisco Ramírez Santacruz and prestigious scholars.
Multimedia Performance
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Paisajes Sonoros is a project created 30 years ago in Mexico City by composers Vicente Rojo Cama and Carlo Nicolau, as an electroacoustic musical duo featuring Carlo Nicolau on the violin and Vicente Rojo Cama on electronic instruments. With original videos set to original compositions, Paisajes Sonoros is a multimedia live performance by Mexican composers Carlo Nicolau, violin, Vicente Rojo Cama, electronics, and Vanessa García Lembo, video artist. It features amplified violins and electro-acoustic sounds, instruments, musical textures, ambiences, and images, sometimes telling us a timeless story that goes from an urban industrial setting to different corners of the world and outer space imagination.
About
CELEBRATE MEXICO NOW Festival is New York City’s passage to experience the vibrant and dynamic range of Mexico’s contemporary art and culture scene.
From October 14 thru October 22, 2017, CELEBRATE MEXICO NOW will showcase a wide range of events featuring literature, theater, film, culinary, and music events at major venues throughout the city.
The Festival’s multi-disciplinary nature yields a comprehensive cultural picture of the passions and concerns that make today’s Mexico so complex and fascinating. Over the past decade, the Festival has highlighted the creativity, heritage, and heart that contemporary Mexican artists bring to the arts and the creative industry. This edition, CELEBRATE MÉXICO NOW will offerNew Yorkers an exclusive glimpse into how today’s Mexican artists reflect on and reshape Mexican identity in an evolving global context.
In 2017, CELEBRATE MEXICO NOW will bring emerging and established artists from Guadalajara, Mexico City, Puebla, Oaxaca and Los Angeles, to partner with cultural institutions across New York City. From The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens — we’ve got you covered…
We are overjoyed to announce that CELEBRATE MEXICO NOW is spreading beyond New York City for the first time ever! Some of Celebrate Mexico Now’s most cherished and exciting artists will perform at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and at the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.
Award-winning curator and producer Claudia Norman of CN Management, internationally recognized for her expertise in contemporary Mexican arts and culture, has assembled an eclectic and thrilling palate of featured projects, including world premieres, US debuts, and cross-cultural collaborations.
Since 2004, CELEBRATE MEXICO NOW has presented nearly 300 artists at over 60 venues in New York, establishing itself as the country’s premier platform for contemporary Mexican arts and culture.
An independent festival, CELEBRATE MEXICO NOW has received several official mayoral proclamations from the City of New York, as well as special recognition by numerous Mexican institutions.
Staff
Claudia Norman, Founder and Director
Marcia De La Garza, Marketing and Development
Ivette Mercado, Design
Alonso Gorozpe, Social Media Strategist
Catalina Fatteva, Webmaster
Marcela Alvarez, Editorial