Mexican arts and culture
Moving the Traditional Arts Online
West African dance and music
Indian classical music
The origins of Tejidos Purépecha project began in the Eastern Coachella Valley as a collaboration with the residents, ACTA, and Building Healthy Communities (a project of the California Endowment). In an effort to promote health and well-being, an on the ground approach employed by ACTA asked the indigenous Purépecha, whose…
Crispulo Atillo is a Grandmaster of eskrima, a non-aggressive, weapons-based martial art rooted in Filipino history and culture. Great Grandmaster Atillo began studying eskrima as a teenager with his father and with Great Grandmaster Teodoro Saavedra. He was a master artist in ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program in 2006 with apprentice, Red Dagum. *** From…
The Dorothy Ramon Learning Center is dedicated to the documentation and sharing of Southern California’s First Peoples’ cultures, languages, history, music, and other traditional arts. The Center offers cultural activities and programs, supports research, preservation, and documentation with scholarly and accurate multimedia through its Ushkana Press…
In the Northwestern area of the state of Michoacán resides an indigenous group known as the Tarascos, who are also referred to as Purépecha, pertaining to the language spoken by this group. The Purépecha people have been successful in retaining a variety of cultural expressions in addition to the language.
Domitilia Clemente was born and raised in the small town of Ocumichu, Michoacán, Mexico. As a child, she began helping her mother in the kitchen, preparing numerous traditional dishes to celebrate special occasions such as the celebrations of saints (Fiesta de San Pedro, Cristo Rey, Virgen de Guadalupe), as well…
The tradition of backstrap weaving is very popular in many towns in Oaxaca, Mexico. Practiced and taught through generations of women, weaving on a backstrap loom is used to make shawls, napkins, belts, and other items needed for daily life and traditional clothing. In her hometown of San Juan Mixtepec…
