The contemporary Afro-Mexican Movement has made tremendous progress in establishing rights for Afro-Mexicans. In the last 5 years, the movement has gained recognition for Afro-descendents in the national census and codified collective rights for descendants in the federal and state-level constitutions. Flor Molina is a longtime member of the Afro-Mexican Movement. She uses art to tell the history of Afro Mexico. In her talk, she will share photographs of her sculptures and discuss the inspiration behind each piece, showcasing the history and culture of Afro-descendants living along the Pacific Coast. Flor will detail how her artwork is a form of resistance to the systematic invisibilization of Afro-Mexicans and how she contributes to the artistic arm of the Afro-Mexican Movement.
Flor is excited to visit the University of Notre Dame and appreciates this opportunity to increase awareness around Blackness in Mexico.
Flor Molina
is a Mexican sculptor based in the State of Morelos. She was born in San Nicolás, Guerrero, Mexico to an Afro-Mexican mother and an Indigenous father. Her maternal family descends from African Maroons who settled along the pacific coast of Mexico. Flor studied art and sculpture in Cuernavaca, Morelos under the tutelage of renowned Chilean sculptor Víctor Hugo. She worked with Núñez for 20 years.
Flor’s artwork is influenced by her Afro-Indigenous roots. She is considered by many to be the only artist in Mexico depicting Afro-Mexican life, culture and history through sculpture. Her work is an act of resistance against the centuries-long erasure of Black identity in Mexico. Flor’s sculptures have appeared in exhibits at La Casa de la Ciencia in Cuernavaca, the University of the Autonomous State of Morelos (UAEM), the Centro Cultural Acapulco in Acapulco, the Jardín Borda Cultural Center in Morelos, the Casa de Arte in Buffalo, New York, and at the Mexican Embassy in Frankfurt, Germany.
Originally published at latinostudies.nd.edu.