Monday, August 11, 2008
Mexico City's Living Statues
One of my favorite aspects of Sundays in Mexico City's Centro Histórico is watching the living statues, men (I have never seen a female one, I regret to report), usually young, usually smeared from head to toe with silver or gold paint, including their costume, holding what look like excruciatingly uncomfortable poses for long periods of time, until someone puts a coin in their box, pitcher, what have you, which sets off a series of movements--the whole point for me being to see how he will move in reaction to my 5 pesos. Yesterday (August 10, 2008), while I was passing through Mexico City on my way to Tlaxcala and other points (reports to come), I saw in two pedestrian blocks (Calles Mata and Gante, on either side of Avenida Madero) the following living statues:
1. A mailman, monocromatic, with leather mail carrier's bag stuffed with small airmail envelopes, except that sometimes he dug in it and retrieved a flattened out small paper bag, when stationary in a pose of frozen movement, when reacting to a contribution reaching into his bag and handing an envelope, with an assortment of gestures, to his contributor. From another contributor I found out that inside was a sheet of paper with a poem printed on it. The paper bags were apparently earmarked for women, because I got one inside of which was a passionate love poem going on about my beauty.
2. A death figure, wearing a black velvet robe with hood, face covered with black cloth, holding a rectangular box covered in black velvet, handing something I couldn't see from the box to his contributors after making various sinuous movements.
3. A clown playing a CD of Strauss waltzes, who moved stiffly, like a wind-up toy, dancing with niñas and señoritas and then handing them back to their parent or novio.
4. An Aztec warrior (I guess), skin totally covered with silver paint, an Aztec-looking thingie dangling from around his waist, an assortment of knives and clubs on the ground by him, who when paid assumed a pose of cutting off the hair or the head of the woman who contributed to him, while someone took her photo or video, and then gave her a kiss on the cheek.
5. The only unsuccessful act I saw, with abolutely no audience, maybe a soldier of one of Mexico's wars, in what might have been a long military coat, but no weapon, just a leather sachel, pointing ahead with one leg behind.
6. With the biggest audience, a Cuban dandy, dressed in purple suit, purple-and-white shirt, purple hat with yellow feather, and purple-and-white saddle shoes, face and hands covered with black cloth. I say Cuban because when he wasn't sitting on a small stool he was playing Cuban music and doing fabulous dancing, alone and with folks who gave him money.
Quite a show for a Sunday afternoon.
1. A mailman, monocromatic, with leather mail carrier's bag stuffed with small airmail envelopes, except that sometimes he dug in it and retrieved a flattened out small paper bag, when stationary in a pose of frozen movement, when reacting to a contribution reaching into his bag and handing an envelope, with an assortment of gestures, to his contributor. From another contributor I found out that inside was a sheet of paper with a poem printed on it. The paper bags were apparently earmarked for women, because I got one inside of which was a passionate love poem going on about my beauty.
2. A death figure, wearing a black velvet robe with hood, face covered with black cloth, holding a rectangular box covered in black velvet, handing something I couldn't see from the box to his contributors after making various sinuous movements.
3. A clown playing a CD of Strauss waltzes, who moved stiffly, like a wind-up toy, dancing with niñas and señoritas and then handing them back to their parent or novio.
4. An Aztec warrior (I guess), skin totally covered with silver paint, an Aztec-looking thingie dangling from around his waist, an assortment of knives and clubs on the ground by him, who when paid assumed a pose of cutting off the hair or the head of the woman who contributed to him, while someone took her photo or video, and then gave her a kiss on the cheek.
5. The only unsuccessful act I saw, with abolutely no audience, maybe a soldier of one of Mexico's wars, in what might have been a long military coat, but no weapon, just a leather sachel, pointing ahead with one leg behind.
6. With the biggest audience, a Cuban dandy, dressed in purple suit, purple-and-white shirt, purple hat with yellow feather, and purple-and-white saddle shoes, face and hands covered with black cloth. I say Cuban because when he wasn't sitting on a small stool he was playing Cuban music and doing fabulous dancing, alone and with folks who gave him money.
Quite a show for a Sunday afternoon.
# posted by Louise Lander @ 2:29 PM 
