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Our school has an event coming up that we call our "Hendrix Family Fiesta". Part of being an IB school means celebrating all the cultures that make up our school family. This event will honor the traditions and celebrations of Mexico! While researching traditional art techniques of Mexico, I learned a LOT! I wish we had longer than one class period to explore Mexican art and craft together, but we only had one hour. Though Mexico has a very rich history in the arts, I decided to focus our learning on something our students would be familiar with - the technique of papel picado, or "punched paper". This craft originated in the Mexican state of Puebla, in the town of Huixcolotla, and spread to other parts of the country. The traditional technique involves a skilled craftsman using a variety of chisels and a hammer to punch through many sheets of paper at once. The design can take hours to create, and templates are made so that a design can be repeated. The subject matter of the designs often features the beauty of nature- like flowers, birds, or fruits, but can really be any design. The technique is a tradition usually passed down from parent to child. These images are of papel picado craftsmen using the traditional method. We watched a small portion of this video to get a better idea of how the process works. We started watching at about the 1:34 time. I learned from my research that different colors of papel picado are used for different types of celebrations. Pinks, oranges, and purples are often used to celebrate Dia de los Muertos, while different shades of purple are used at Easter. The colors of the Mexican flag are used to celebrate Mexico's Independence Day, and rainbow colors are used for the Christmas season as well as non-religious events. Our version of the papel picado technique is very simple, but still beautiful! Students folded colored paper using a pleating fold, then used scissors to cut out simple shapes. When opened, the papel picado looks like delicate lace! We used masking tape to connect the pieces together. I think our students really enjoyed getting to experience this traditional art-making technique. I hope it helped students to respect and honor traditions of the past. I am looking forward to celebrating more at our Fiesta later this week!
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