Photography Exhibit Depicts Mexican Revolution

January 21, 2014

A unique upcoming photography exhibit titled "Testimonios de una Guerra" promises an unparalleled photographic look into the Mexican Revolution.

Instituto Cervantes and the Mexican Consulate in Albuquerque, in collaboration with the National Hispanic Cultural Center and the Latin American & Iberian Institute, have organized it. The exhibit is part of a larger cultural project featuring not only the photo exhibit, but ongoing community programming that offers a closer look at the Revolution. The opening reception will feature live mariachi music, a sampling of food from Mexico, and introductory comments by Dr. Linda Hall, a Distinguished Professor of History at UNM whose published works have focused principally on the Mexican Revolution. The exhibit will be on view from January 30 through March 31, 2014. Free period film screenings on "El Cine de la Revolución Mexicana," will also be available to the public. For reference, see the exhibit webpage.

The Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920 is among the world's most visually documented revolutions. Coinciding with the birth of filmmaking and the increased mobility offered by the reflex camera, it received extraordinary coverage by photographers and cineastes-commercial and amateur, national and international. Many images of the Revolution remain iconic to this day-Francisco Villa galloping toward the camera; Villa lolling in the presidential chair next to Emiliano Zapata; and Zapata standing stolidly in charro raiment with a carbine in one hand and the other hand on a sword, to mention only a few. But the identities of those who created the thousands of extant images of the Mexican Revolution, and what their purposes were, remain a huge puzzle because photographers constantly plagiarized each other's images.

With almost 60 photographs, many never before published, and an authoritative text that delves into the motivations and aesthetics of the photographers who took them, this exhibit represents the most ambitious and historically accurate visual record of the Mexican Revolution.

In addition to the photography exhibit, we will feature the film series "El Cine de la Revolución Mexicana." Admission to the shows is free, and all of the films have English subtitles. Showtime is 7PM in the Bank of America Theatre at the National Hispanic Cultural Center.

  • February 6, 2014 - Enamorada (1946)
  • February 20, 2014 - El compadre Mendoza (1934)
  • March 6, 2014 - De todos modos Juan te llamas (1974)
  • March 20, 2014 - Ora sí ¡Tenemos que ganar! (1978)

For reference on all titles and showtimes, see the press release.