This document provides summaries of several exhibits and projects curated by Sophia Vackimes between 1999-2008 focusing on Mexican art, culture and history. It describes exhibits held at museums in New York City and Mexico City exploring themes of Mexican folk arts, Day of the Dead traditions, syncretism in traditional medicine, and the work of photographers Bernice Kolko and Emilio Amero. It also lists curatorial work on exhibits about Mexican santos sculptures and folk religion. Further projects involved conceptual development for science and technology museums in Tucson, Arizona and Mexico.

1. Museum times, places and ideas
exhibits and projects curated and organized
by
Sophia Vackimes

2. Our Lady of Apocalypse:
Or Lady of Guadalupe
§
El Museo del Barrio
New York
1999-2000

4. An exhibit about religious
devotion incorporating
popular iconography and
Mexican folk arts.

7. Characteristics:
Trilingual text: English/Spanish/Nahuatl codex
Reviews:
The New York Times
El Diario, Hispanic newspaper in New York
City

9. IHUI OHYA YE!
¿Does one really live on Earth?
A celebration of the transition between
life and death.
The New School for Social Research, Nueva York,
2001.

11. Characteristics:
Photographic exhibit
Inclusion of Mexican poetic and folk
texts.
Day of The Dead celebration context.

14. Botánica: Science and
Magic in Mexico
New York Academy of Sciences
Spring 2004

16. This exhibit explored the syncretism
and worldview shifts in traditional
medical practices in Mexico.

22. Bernice Kolko, photographer:
a centennial celebration.
Museo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo
Mexico City
Autumn 2005

24. • Curatorial work included archival research,
conservation and preservation reporting, historical
research and documentation.
• Beyond label text, content was created for brochures,
press releases and educational programs.
• The exhibition received broad attention from local
media: radio, press and television.

33. Emilio Amero:
Resisting Oblivion
Museo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera
y Frida Kahlo
México City Spring 2008

35. • Local and international loans from important art
collections were procured.
• Research for this exhibit took two years. It was
conducted in Mexico City, Seattle, Norman
Oklahoma New York and Washington D.C.
• The exhibit design had to be consistent with Diego
Rivera’s bequest of his home as a museum.

44. • This exhibit was modified in content and size almost
to double the initial setting for two parallel
exhibitions in the city of Oaxaca.
• These two new venues were IAGO, a graphic arts
museum and the Manuel Alvarez Bravo Photography
museum.

45. Instituto de Artes Gráficas de Oaxaca,
IAGO

54. Other curatorial examples in the art
field:

55. Santos: Sculptures Between Heaven and
Earth.
El Museo del Barrio, N.Y. la Brady
Gallery, Newark Museum. Newark, N.J.
Primavera de 2001.

56. Mexican Folklore and Religion.
Curator. The New York Public
Library. Sede Mid-Manhattan
Branch, Print Collection Exhibit
Space., N.Y. Verano-
Otoño1999.

57. Santos: Sculptures Between Heaven and Earth.
Researcher and writer. Label copy
development. El Museo del Barrio. New York,
N.Y. Fall 1999.
What is Anthropology? Curator and writer.
Sacramento River Community College Library.
Spring 1993.

59. Science and Technology Museums:
Conceptual development and content for the Rio Nuevo
complex, in Tucson Arizona. In collaboration
between the University of Arizonaand Ralph
Appelbaum and Associates.
Curatorial work Museo Industrial de Metepec. Metepec,
Puebla. Fulbright-COMEXUS/BUAP project.

62. The Rio Nuevo project entailed:
Fieldwork
Documentary research
Collection evaluation and assessment
Content development
Interaction with stakeholders: academicians,
scientists, non-profit organizations and
community organizers.

63. Metepec Industrial
Museum (Metepec
factory plan)

64. IX Truck StoreIX Truck Store

67. SALARIOS
INJUSTOS
DEUDA
HISTORIA LABORAL
COMPLEJIDAD SOCIAL
ECONOMÍA
NACIONAL
USURA

68. Publication:
Science Museums: Magic or Ideology?
Albedrío, México 2009.

69. more upcoming projects. . . SOON…

70. Thanks for coming!