Guanajuato

Oct. 22, 2007

Thirty-five years ago some students at the University of Guanajuato took to the streets and performed some entremeses (short plays) of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, author of Don Quijote (published 1605), and thus the Festival Cervantino was born. Now an important international cultural event, it was the magnet that drew us to Guanajuato last weekend. Guanajuato without the festival deserves a visit; it's one of twenty-five Patrimonio de Humanidad (World Heritage) sites in Mexico. This is a UNESCO designation that honors places of significant contribution to world culture. Felipe II of Spain had earlier (end of 16th century) paid tribute to Guanajuato for the great wealth Spain was extracting from its mines. These riches that helped him finance the Counter-Reformation and launch the Invencible Armada also enabled the Spanish silver barons to embellish the city. Guanajuato is built on the steep slopes of a ravine, with narrow streets (some that disappear underground into tunnels), pleasant plazas, and gorgeous colonial architecture. It's one of Mexico's truly beautiful cities, and it has learned to celebrate the arts, even though in more conservative times it spurned its most famous native son, Diego Rivera. His childhood home is now a four-story museum of his early work. Another very enjoyable museum to visit is the Museo Iconografo del Quijote, with paintings, sculpture and ceramics from four centuries inspired by Spain's most well-known literary creation. We also visited the Alhondiga de Granaditas, site of the first major victory in Mexico's War of Independence and now a history and art museum.

The Festival Cervantino attracts people who buy tickets to scheduled performances in historic buildings, theaters and auditoriums and a younger crowd which fills the streets, watching or creating street entertainment. One lively group we saw on the street was performing skits inspired by Guadalupe Posada's caricatures (the skeletons); another was like a Tuna from Spain, a student chorus playing and singing traditional songs. We went to a modern dance performance of a Brazilian company in an auditorium that had displays in the lobby of beautiful modern ceramics from China, the featured guest country this year.