The history of the alebrijes
They are called alebrijes, and they are brightly-colored Mexican folk art sculptures of fantastical creatures. A big paper mâché sculpture of an alebrije is located at the Traveling Ofrenda in Waco.
SEE ALSO: Remembering deceased loved ones with the Traveling Ofrenda
The origin of the alebrijes is traced to Pedro Linares, an artist who lived in Mexico City in the 1930s. In 1936, Linares fell very ill and became unconscious. While in a state of unconsciousness, he began to hallucinate and see visions of a forest with strange animals shouting 'Alebrije!' These strange animals include a tiger, butterfly, an eagle and a donkey.
After he recovered, Linares recreated the creatures with paper mâché. They have since played a major part of Día del los Muertos.
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UPI
11 minutes ago
- UPI
Conjunto music pioneer Flaco Jimenez is dead at 86
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Los Angeles Times
40 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Tejano music legend Flaco Jiménez dies at 86
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Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Anaheim finally has a bookstore that ‘feels like home'
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'People like Liz are just so incredible,' said Lee, 30. 'She's game for anything that helps community.' Paola Gutierrez teaches monthly bilingual poetry classes at the Untold Story. 'When I first asked if she could sell my book, she said not just 'Yes' but 'We will promote you and help you,'' the 47-year-old said. 'How can I not say I'm free for whatever you need?' She pointed at a massive couch and laughed. 'Liz needs me to move this freakin' thing again? Let's do it!' I visited Barrios Gracián the following day when things were chiller. The Untold Story's design is bohemian Latinx. All the fixtures and artwork are donated, including bookshelves, massive mirrors and a bust of the Egyptian goddess Isis as well as a replica of the Titanic above the used fiction section. Insulation peeks out from sagging ceiling tiles. A stand next to the gift section offers free toiletries and canned and dried food. 'We're going through hard times,' Barrios Gracián said as Argentine rock gods Soda Stereo played lightly from speakers. 'I can't give a lot, but I can give.' How did she think open mic night went? 'It was very successful for our first time here,' she responded. 'You never know if people will follow you when you move.' A customer walked in. 'Hi, welcome!' Barrios Gracián exclaimed, the first of many times she would do that during our chat. 'Don't shy away, you don't have to buy!' Born in Guadalajara, Barrios Gracián came to Anaheim with her parents in the 1980s without papers, eventually legalizing through the 1986 amnesty. A bookworm from a young age, she found her 'safe space' as a teen and young adult in long-gone bookstores such as Book Baron in Anaheim ('I loved how disorganized it was') and the bilingual Librería Martínez in Santa Ana. When the latter closed in 2016, Barrios Gracián vowed to open a version of it when her daughters were older. In 2021, she launched the Untold Story as a website and a pop-up, aiming to eventually open a storefront in her hometown. 'Anaheim is nothing but breweries,' she said. 'That's the teacher in me. There's nothing cultural for our youth — they have to go to Santa Ana to find it, while [Anaheim] lets gentrification go crazy.' Rent proved prohibitive at most spaces. At others, prospective landlords would offer a lease only if the Untold Story dropped its books on critical race theory, which she refused to do. 'Those are the untold stories,' Barrios Gracián said. 'Anaheim needs to hear them. Everyone needs to hear them.' She greeted Benjamin Smith Jr. of Riverside, who had read the previous night and was returning now with his poetry books. 'I can sell them, but we should have an event just for you, because people like to meet the author of the book they might buy,' Barrios Gracián told Smith. He beamed. 'Liz gives people chances,' Smith, 68, told me. 'I'm no one famous, but look at me here now.' Barrios Gracián is keeping her job at Gilbert High, where she also heads the continuation school's teen parent support program. At the Untold Story, she wants to host more author signings and launch an oral history project for students to record the stories of Anaheim's Latino elders. 'We're in a crucial moment where our stories must be told from the past,' she said. 'Ellos sobrevivieron, también nosotros [They survived, we can as well]. It brings hope.' One thing I suggested she work on is the business side. The books are ridiculously affordable — used copies of a J. Robert Oppenheimer biography and a book about the rise of Nazism in L.A. before World War II set me back $11. Barrios Gracián's training consisted of a free entrepreneur course through the city of Anaheim, a video by the American Booksellers Assn., talking to other bookstore owners and Googling 'how to open a bookstore.' She laughed. 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'This is like something that you'd see in San Francisco,' added Maria Zacarias, who grew up in Anaheim and now lives in Santa Ana. 'You go to a bookstore, you feel like you can't touch anything because everything is so neat,' said Liliana Mora. She waved around the room as more people streamed in. 'Here, it feels like home.'
