As we sat there discussing Posada and his importance to Mexico my mind couldn't help but wander to one of my favorite Nancy Drew computer games... In Secret of the Scarlet Hand, Nancy Drew is working at a Museum in Washington D.C. when there is an art theft. She then (as the super sleuth that she is) tracks down the thief. Now I realize this seems like quite the stretch to our class on Friday but bear with me. So in this game Nancy talks to a man from the Mexican consulate who believes that the museum should not have had the piece of art to begin with (it was a Mayan artifact). He believed that artwork belonged to the country that it was discovered in, and it should stay there. As he says "If people want to learn about Mexico, why do they not travel to Mexico?" I couldn't help feeling some of the same feelings as Alejandro. Why does Grand Valley State University, in Michigan USA have 10% of Posada's works? I just thought that was ridiculous. What gives us the right to take this history from Mexico? Does it not belong there for the Mexican people to appreciate as it is THEIR history? Why is a class of freshman at Grand Valley able to look at Posada's work and not a Mexican class?
I'm sorry if I sound unappreciative, I really did enjoy getting to see some of Posada's work- I thought it was very cool! But at the same time, I wondered what gave me the privilege to? Just because a guy with money knew of guy that knew a guy?
As a side note, I loved this game so much (and learning about the Maya) that this game is one of the reasons I started taking Spanish classes, which eventually led to me taking this Latin American Civilization class!
I like the point you make. It doesn't really make sense to have Mexican Art that was made in Mexico owned by a Michigan University. The people of Mexico deserve the chance to see the artwork of their ancestors and see how their culture came about. Important pieces of art deserved to be displayed were it will be appreciated. But at the same time, if art work from different places did not travel itself, how would culture spread and change. If you had to travel to Mexico anytime you wanted to see Mexican art, you wouldn't get to experience it as much because traveling is expensive. The internet does make it easier to see art in other places, but seeing it in real life is a much different experience than on a computer screen. If I were to have my perfect world, I would make large pieces of historic art circulate throughout the entire world so everyone could have the opportunity to experience it. Preservation of old art makes that hard in todays society, but hopefully that can someday happen.
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