Latin America | Mexico | Activism

Rapper’s lyrical fight for Mexican women’s rights

Rain spattered against the taxi's window during the uphill drive to the Colonia Jardín neighbourhood on the outskirts of Oaxaca City, the capital of one of the country's poorest states. "Storms turn the mud up here into chewing gum," Mare Advertencia Lirika, a local rapper, told Al Jazeera. Mare, 28, an indigenous Zapotec, has made a name for herself on the Latin American hip-hop scene. Her rap stands out in part because of her indigenous roots, the poverty she's endured, as well as her politicised upbringing. Most of the homes in the neighbourhood are single-storeyed and cobbled to

Latin America | Mexico | Arts

These young Mexican women artists are speaking up

Source: PRI

A new generation of bold visual artists is coming of age in the country that gave us the iconic Frida Kahlo. Meet Mexican artists Aline Herrera and Natasha Kroupensky. They’re young, opinionated, and most importantly, full of ideas. They’re using their voices, and creativity, to bring attention to indigenous communities in Mexico. Both find inspiration in Mexico’s pre-colonial heritage, and celebrate indigenous women in their vibrant paintings. Their artists’ collective, founded by 23-year-old Herrera, is called Tlatoa. It’s a word in the Nahuatl Aztec language that trans

Latin America | Mexico | Arts

Femininity in Kevlar: Nao Bustamante’s women of the Mexican Revolution

Source: LA Times

On the surface, the lemon-colored outfit that resides on a mannequin in artist Nao Bustamante's studio is the very picture of femininity: a late-Edwardian ensemble, it consists of a floor-length skirt and a fitted jacket with dainty puff sleeves. It is the sort of fine frock you might expect to see on the subject of a late-Impressionist painting. Except for the fact that this graceful dress is made entirely out of bullet-proof Kevlar. For five years, Bustamante has been researching the role of women in the Mexican Revolution — in university archives and research facilities and thr