Thursday, August 11, 2011

Curated by at the Embajada Mexicanos - 11 August

Quick lunchtime outing in the coolest little capital in the world (I should be getting sponsored by tourism NZ!) saw me cruising down Lambton quay on the lookout for the Embajada Mexicanos (that is the Mexican Embassy for the non Spanish speakers out there). I'd seen the listing in the local rag for this show and given my fondness for the coolest big capital in the world (Mexico City) thought I would see what City Gallery curator Reuben Friend gets up to in his spare time ...

Once you manage to find the embassy and get buzzed in you are escorted to this little room and left to your own devices. This show has two Mexican photographers and two kiwi ones. I liked the ones that were more representative of each country. Eduardo Oses' images were more obviously Mexican. All dia de los muertos / day of the dead and stuff like that. Given the complete absence of other people in the room I was able to snap a cheeky souvenir (pictured above). Aimee Ratana's images also focused on indigenous themes but with more of a fine art bent (she has a masters in maori visual arts whereas Eduardo is more a photojournalist). Again I thought the strongest images referenced more obvious maori imagery - like people with face tattoos.

Points - 3 to the Mexican Embassy for going to all the effort. 2 points for Eduardo Oses, must have been the skull. 1 point for Aimee Ratana.

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