Artist renditions bring history to life
HMNS exhibit honors Latin American religious icon
Marcella Vasquez
Issue date: 10/30/07 Section: A & E
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The show comprises a collection of years of photographs, which document everything from freedom marches to homemade altars and interview footage. The exhibit showcases the modern scene with the Virgin omnipresent in everyday Latin American life. Molina's inspiration for the exhibition began when she started collecting unique displays of the modern morena during her travels around the country. Molina said she experienced several major events first hand; the most inspiring was the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride to Washington, D.C.
This freedom ride was intended to expose unjust policies aimed toward immigrants, including unequal treatment and unfair wages. Several pieces presented in the exhibit show the immigrant workers marching in protest, holding banners displaying the Virgin.
"As society is affected by modern times and the role of women in Mexican and Mexican-American culture is altered, the Virgin's image also reflects new perspectives, new dimensions and new conflicts," Molina said. "This exhibit proposes to create a modern multifaceted portrait of Our Lady which embraces the many faces of her realm."
The legend of the Virgin's appearance states that a boy named Juan Diego first saw her while he was making a journey from his village to Tepayac. A "brown-skinned virgin" appeared to him and asked him to build a shrine dedicated to her. Not knowing where else to turn, Diego went before the bishop but was dismissed.
The Virgin sent him back the next day with a sign to give to the bishop as proof of her appearance to the boy. Diego returned to the bishop and, when asked for the sign, the boy opened a mantle that had been full of roses and there appeared a portrait of the Virgin imprinted on a cloak. The bishop dropped to his knees and ordered a church be built on the site where Diego had been the day before.
Molina, by showing how the Virgin is represented in the modern age, aims to show how deep the marriage between faith and culture has become in the Latin world.
"This is my connection to her," Molina said. "The Virgin is all the splendor of Mother Nature and the Universe. I take these representations of her and ask 'How do we treat her? How do we treat our world?'"
Molina explained that the Virgin epitomizes womanhood, believing that even her physique is aesthetically pleasing. If nothing else, Molina hopes that others will leave with an understanding of her symbolism and what she represents to such large group of people, both male and female, who admire her as the mother superior in even the harshest of conditions.
"I want people to see the richness of her pageantry," Molina said. "She has great fervor but is also of great importance, as a cultural symbol that is timeless."
Tickets to Morena Moderna are free with the museum's general admission. General admission is free for members and $7 for college students with a valid ID. For more information visit www.hmns.org or call 713-639-4629.