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“Reproduced here are two drawings by Luis Arenal, Zapata Partisan (left) and Julian

Blanco(right). Arenal is a member of Taller de Graphica.Popular, a selection of whose work
will be on display in Vancouver this month. ;

Exhibition of Mexican art
to be shown in city this month

NE of the finest exhibits of

Mexican art ever to come to
Canada will have its Vancou-
ver showing late this month
under sponsorship of B.C. Peace
Council.

The exhibit, some 70 litho-

“graphs, posters and engravings

by 17 artists of the famed
Taller de Graphic Popular
{Workshop for Popular Graphic
Art) will be held October 26,

‘27 and 28 from 11 am. to 10

p.m. in Pender Auditorium.
~The arts and education com-

“mittee of the Marine Workers
. Industrial Union, Local No. 1,

is assisting the peace council
in arranging the exhibit.
Writing in a recent issue of
Peace Review, the distinguished
artist, Luis Arenal, one of the
founders of the Taller de Gra-
phica Popular, tells something
of the history, aims and ac-

_complishments of the group:

=e xt se

The Taller de Graphic Popu-
lar was organized in Mexico

* atthe same time as the great

school of Mexican mural paint-
ing was developed under the

auspices of the governments
that grew out of the revolu- ,
“tionary struggles of 1910-17
‘which had created an atmos-

phere favorable: to the spread
of a people’s culture.

“In 1937, Pablo O’Higgins,
the painter, Leopoldo Mendez,
the engraver, and myself began
to discuss whether it was pos-
sible to give the Mexican pro-
gressive movement a means of
graphic expression to help in
its: day-to-day struggle to im-

- prove the economic and social

Conditions of the people.

“We collected a little money
and bought two old presses for
lithography’ and_ engraving,
rented premises, and called a
meeting of Mexican painters, A
jlarge number of young paint-
ers approved our idea. A com-
mittee was named to draw up
a Declaration of Principles and
a set of bylaws “and we pro-
ceeded to elect an executive.
Thus the workshop was form-
ed.

‘“We’began to work accord-
ing to a plan we worked out.
To begin with, we established
contact with labor, farm, and
cultural organizations and of-
fered them our professional co-
operation in their activities.

“Thus we began to do panels,

points out.

tracts, and all sorts of propa-
ganda illustrations; later on we

peginted back-drops and prepar- °

ed decorations for public de-

monstrations and parades.
“Mexico is a country of many

illiterates. The engraving ac-

companied by a ‘corrido’ — a.

sort of popular ballad — has
always played a big role as a
means of communication, and
serves as a most useful instru-
ment for education and propa-
ganda. Our graphic production,
reproduced in thousands. of
copies, was always designed to
reach the masses of the peo-
ple. :

“In the day to day produc-
tion of engravings and litho-
graphs we keep in touch. with
the rich graphic heritage of our
country’s past — the most vig-
orous and eminent. representa-
tive of it being Joe Guadalupe
Posada.

“In the search for low-cost
methods of reproduction, we
have generally used linoleum,
especially for works of any
size, since wood is expensive
and hard to get. We have also
experimented with zinc and
aqua fortis, but have come’ to
the conclusion that these meth-
ods are less practical for our
purposes, :

“The production of the work-
shop starts from a general dis-
cussion at a meeting of the
members. Then each project-
ed engraving is discussed —
its theme and composition .—
and finally, the completed
work itself is criticized.

“Quite often, even after the
work has been completed, it
is rejected, and the artist has
to start again. Larger works
are often executed by two, of
our members working together
after reaching agreement on
the details.

“The workshop has thus be-
come a true artistic organiza-
tion (perhaps the ‘only one in
the world) for collective work
and collective production. And
this collective spirit is extreme-
ly important if we want to
achieve a clear, intelligent,
output interpreting reality in
a way our people can under-
stand.” ‘

xt xt Ros

Some members of the work-

shop are former students of the .

Fine Arts Academy, Arenal
Others. are self-

taught. A number were train-
ed in the workshop itself.

“While we favor the develop-
ment of the technical compe-
tence of our members, we have
offered our professional —co-
operation to other. groups of
artists and to cultural and pro-
gressive organizations. In the
same way we cooperated with
the Mexican government in its
great popular campaigns, as for
example the campaign against
illiteracy and the educational
crusade on corn cultivation,”
Arenal writes.

“Workshop has followed an
ascending course, working not
only for our’ own people but
for all other who have under-
stood the meaning of our mes-
sage, as was the case in Bolivia,
where thousands of peasants

‘visited our exhibition.

“Without receiving any sub-
sidies, either from official
sources or from wealthy pat-
rons of the arts, we have de-
voted our work and labor and

‘sometimes our money to the

development of the workshop.
“In -1949 we published an al-
bum based on the twelve years’
output’ of the workshop. It was
edited by the architect, Hannes
Meyer, with the help of Lena
Berguer. Its publication was
a useful contribution to the
world struggle for the rights
of man and for peace.
- “We have organized impor-
tant exhibitions in a number
of North American cities and
in. several South American
countries, as well as in Europe.
“In London and Paris a sec-
tion of our work was included
in the Exhibition of Pre-historic

“and Modern Mexican Art org-

anized in 1952 by the govern-
ment of Mexico.

“The following artists now
belong to the workshop:

’Bracho, Mora, Aguirre, Rabel,

Calderon, O'Higgins, Bustos,
Monroy, Yampolsky; Betran,
Gomez, Rodriguez, Anguiano,
Berdecio, Luna, Catlett, Men-
dez, and Arenal. rere
“One of our numer, Leopoldo
Mendez, and through him the
entire workshop, has been hon-
ored by the World Couneil of

Peace through the award of

one of the first international
peace prizes. This great honor
has inspired all of us to re-
double our efforts for peace and
for a people’s art.”

Jazz in Soviet Union

still lagging behind

OVIET taste in jazz seems to
have settled down at a Ben-

ny Goodman level.

That is the conclusion to be
drawn from the recent suc-
cesses of some foreign combin-
ations that have played in the
Moscow parks, notably of a
Swedish crooner and a seven-
piece band from Czechoslovakia.

The bands that play in about
a dozen Moscow restaurants—
and it is difficult to find a
goed restaurant without music
—are loud, brassy and ener-
getic, belonging to the Paul
Whiteman vintage.

The “hottest” are found in
Intourist hotels, a relic of the
thirties, when considerable ef-
forts were taken to make for-
eign tourists feel at home.

‘Now that these hotels are
returning to their original
function of catering for for-
eigners it is likely that the
Soviet authorities will think
again,

5g x xt

The style of jazz in 1935 is
not exactly the most suitable
accompaniment to the exchange,
over the supper table, of im-
pressions of Stalingrad rebuilt
or the sanatoria of Yalta.

One has only to visit the
dance floors in the parks to
discover that the people who
choose the records for the radio
programs arée lagging a little
behind public taste.

Indeed, a writer to a Moscow
evening paper complained re-
cently that whether the music
played was a polka, mazurka
or Krakoviak young people in-
sisted on dancing foxtrots to
it.

My own experience does not
bear this out entirely. When
I visited a dance hall in the
park at Kiev not long ago I
found that these traditional
steps were being danced earn-
estly, gracefully and with a
skill that had obviously been
acquired in lessons.

OR

There is a genuine affection
for group dances, and, as some
one said to me on that occasion,
few visitors from overseas
would be as welcome as a group
capable of introducing the Rus-
sians to the fun of Scottish or
Irish reels.

But I noticed at Kiev that
there was scarcely a “wall-

flower” left when a fast re
trot or a dance with a La

. American rhythm was played,

and smiles at once replaced t 4
self-conscious looks with whe”
the dancers had been perfor™
ing traditional steps.

Moscow has its jazz-addice
as well as its jazz-lovers. T ie
is quite a brisk and perfec

legal trade in home-made the

cords, transcribed from
radio.

“But the novelty is bbs,
off as more jazz is play®

public places and_ the Thy
of country life and the mare é
of the traveller on foot 8°".
way to a tempo more § s
for an urban, mechanical age:

RALPH PARKER

ADAM MICKIEWICZ

Mickiewicz centennial

A memorial concert-mectité
is to be held in 1?
Massey Hall on Nove
to chiGen ee ae x Tiga Ge
of the death o t.
wicz, the great Polish pee
The affair is being SP" ized
by the | recently F877 4.
Mickiewicz Centennial 19.
mittee, of which Prof. * sorary
szyn of Windsor is he
chairman,. Mrs. Libbie walter

Toronto, chairman, 2? ree
Dutkiewicz of Toronto
tary. tatemen!

The committee, in 2 a would
issued this week, Said ? affairs
seek to promote similar ; an
in several major cities i
offered to assist other jutions
zations and public ins' d dis’
in arranging lectures towards
plays as a contribution aing
a great degree of under mn (te
and friendship petwe' 1es.”
Canadian and Polish peoP

Flowers for peace

| had a little plot of land

Scarcely enough to grow a rose on.
But, because I needed it,

I worked. the soil and seeded it,
Watered it and weeded it. 2
The dews came down and nourished it
The sun came down and cherished it
And then one night a star took flight
And, in the morn, my flower was born.

Thus, for the world’s increase,
I grew the Flower of. Peace.
_My neighbors followed suit.

And soon, where once was wilderness,
The world was one in loveliness
Heaven and earth at last said Yes

In flocks and flowers and fruit.

Bet WALLACE

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — OCTOBER 7, 1955 —

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