By John Dunkelgrün.
From April 25th through May 15th there is an exceptional exposition at the Embassy of Mexico of works by Beatriz Padilla. Padilla has worked in many countries, painting spectacular canvases in which she tries to capture the beauty of the majestic landscapes around her. Totally autodidact as a painter, she designed a special tent, that allows her to continue working outdoors, whatever the weather conditions may be.
Beatriz Padilla is much more than just an exciting Mexican painter. She is in love with nature and a passionate conservationist, especially about ‘El bosque de agua’ the water forest in central Mexico that provides the water for this city of tens of millions. Born in Tenochtitlán into a political family with a tradition of nature conservation (e.g. her grandfather was one of the originators of the Muir Woods conservation area in California), she studied at the Technical University of Monterrey and lived for many years in the artist colony of Cuernavaca .
As an environmentalist she has embarked on a journey combining the art of painting with nature conservation in a new and innovative way. The Wilderness Conservation Painting Expedition (WCPE) is an applied conservation initiative, using the arts to support and communicate conservation issues of key wildlands across the globe and assist local people in communicating their relationship with these lands and receiving benefits from doing so.
Some of these areas are “hotspots” and highly threatened, and some are already protected areas – all of them have a message to relate. While on location, Beatriz also engages with local communities. For example, on some expeditions, she leads art workshops with teenagers of native communities focusing on their natural and cultural heritage.
These workshops culminate with an exhibit, showing the potential for these teens to generate a source of livelihood from portraying the intrinsic value of their natural environment. Most recently, Beatriz has stayed for long periods of time in the rainforest of Guatemala at Richard Hansen’s El Mirador project, and in the forests of West Africa, in Gabon, with the Lowland Gorillas. The pièce de résistance of the exposition is a large canvas executed in the reservation area Buitenplaas that is the heart and soul of Princess Irene of The Netherlands.
Regular opening hours are from 9.00 to 13.00 and 14.00 to 17.00 beginig from April 23rd through May 15th (except Saturdays and Sundays).
The formal opening by the Ambassador of Mexico to the Netherlands, H.E. Eduardo Ibarolla- Nicolin, will be on Friday April 24th at 18.30.
For security reasons, please announce your intention to visit in advance to Ms. Sandra Lopez, cultural attaché of the embassy (slopez@embamex.nl and with cc fwiedijk@embamex.nl ).
The Embassy has limited space available, so please don’t delay or you may be disappointed.
(With thanks to “The Wild Foundation”)
