May 27, 2010 For Immediate Release:
Images of the Revolution: The Casasola Photograph Collection
For more information Contact Elena Herrada at 974-0501
100 Year Anniversary of the Mexican Revolution:
Still Here, Still Mexicans
Celebrating Survival, Resistance and Community in Detroit
Mexican and Mexican Americans converging in Detroit for the U.S. Social Forum in June will have the opportunity to commemorate the legacy of the Mexican Revolution. Among the many Social Forum activities held, an exhibit featuring photographs of the Mexcian Revolutionary era by Agustin Casasola will be hosted by Fronteras Norteñas, a local organization focusing on researching Latino heritage.
“Throughout the history of the Mexican community in Detroit and Michigan, it has faced indignities that have included repatriation, forced assimilation, institutional racism and language discrimination” says Elena Herrada, project director, “but our elders returned, started over, and eventually fought and overcame economic, political and cultural challenges”. Adding that the purpose of this event is a commemoration of their persistence that helped shape the community as it is today.
Fronteras Norteñas is a community-based organization whose focus is on community development through oral history, art and cultural expression. Fronteras Norteñas has embarked upon rescuing and preserving the history of Mexicans in southwest Detroit. Throughout its history, this population segment of the City of Detroit and other parts of Michigan has been very important to its cultural, economic, political and labor development and the Casasola Exhibit is a tribute to their sacrifices and a celebration of the community’s accomplishments in this Promised Land.
The exhibit programmed at the Skillman Branch Library in downtown represents the images of the Revolution by world-renowned Mexican photographer Agustin Casasola. The 100 piece collection depicts Mexican life through these turbulent years. Minerva V. and Gilberto Martinez, owners and curators of the Casasola collection will be present at a reception commemorating the Mexican Revolution.
The Casasola collection captures a condensed view of the Mexican Revolution portraying the heat of the battle, life and death struggles of the revolutionaries and their families, the determination in the eyes of the troops, the horrors of political assassinations, anguished expressions of men and boys in arms, as well as the “soldaderas”, the women who accompanied them as well as other familiar images portraying the chronology of the Mexican revolution.
The opening reception will be held at the Skillman Branch Library in downtown Detroit on Friday, June 25th from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
