Elías García Méndez (Mazatec), Cofounder and Director, Casa Adobe Gallery
Casa Adobe is a dynamic gallery space and collective of Mazatec artists in Huautla de Jiménez, Oaxaca, Mexico. Nestled in the heart of the Sierra Mazateca, Huautla is renowned for its rich Indigenous Mazatec culture, spiritual traditions, mountainous landscapes, and cloud forest vegetation. The town also holds a pivotal place in the global understanding of psilocybin mushrooms and their healing properties through the legacy of Mazatec healer María Sabina whose sacred mushroom ceremonies gained worldwide recognition in the mid-twentieth century. In this session, Elías García Méndez will discuss community-driven efforts to unite Indigenous artists, initiatives to engage local youth in artistic expression and mural creation, and the deep connections among cultural traditions, history, nature, spirituality, and psychedelic experiences in shaping artistic practices. Join us for an insightful conversation on the intersection of Indigenous art, cultural preservation, and the transformative power of creativity in the Sierra Mazateca.
In Spanish, with consecutive translation.
Free and open to the public.
Presented by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology and the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture in collaboration with the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University and the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School.
Elías García Méndez (Mazatec), from Huautla de Jiménez, Oaxaca, Mexico, belongs to a community renowned for its foundational role in the global understanding of the healing properties of psilocybin mushrooms. In 2021, García Méndez cofounded Casa Adobe with a collective of Mazatec painters. As the first art gallery and cultural space in Huautla, Casa Adobe is dedicated to strengthening Mazatec culture and identity through the arts. García Méndez, who has generously opened his home to house this initiative, serves as its director. In this role, he organizes and supports exhibitions, workshops, cultural activities, and classes that engage both youth and audiences of all ages. His efforts to promote the arts, preserve cultural heritage, and uplift Indigenous artists are grounded in collaboration with the local community. Casa Adobe operates as a nongovernmental entity, sustained by the collective efforts of communities across the Sierra Mazateca, as well as national and international partners. In addition to his work at Casa Adobe, García Méndez is an elementary school teacher at Escuela Primaria Lic. Benito Juárez. There, he develops projects with his students to explore and preserve the Mazatec cosmovisión, fostering a deeper understanding of their cultural heritage.
Image: Detail of Mujer Aguila, Asunción Alvarado. Courtesy of Casa Adobe Gallery.
LOCATION:Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge STATUS:CONFIRMED DTSTART:20250216T190000Z DTEND:20250216T200000Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR