Cora Traditions Exhibition in Puerto Vallarta
Holy Week, Semana Santa is one of the most significant and important festivals in Puerto Vallarta. La Cora is a traditional indigenous group in Mexico that paints the truth, and without forgetting the original version of this ritual. This colorfully impregnated ritual has also been featured on the National Geographic channel and is rated as one of the best festivals in Mexico. Characterized by the “high energy” of the pagan, this carnival showcases three powerful but grueling days and nights of constant drumming, dancing, and rites of passage. The Judhos, which is a group of hundreds of wild youths, are usually the main attraction of the show. They wear body paint and also peculiar masks, which symbolize the demons of the underworld. Its main objective is to “hunt, capture and sacrifice to Cristo Sol”. La Cora Semana Santa is one of the most distinctive and intriguing events in Puerto Vallarta, where these youngsters with their raunchy sense of humor present several extremely funny moments.
An exhibition documenting the Holy Week traditions of the Choir was inaugurated at the Museo Nacional de Culturas Populares in Mexico City. “Judea, Semana Santa Cora” compiles photographs by Guillermo Aldana, Fernando Rosales and Leticia Olvera taken in the Cora communities of Santa Teresa, La Mesa and Jesús María. The rituals of the Chora mainly fuse normally Catholic essential elements with autochthonous practices. They are also known to be among the most varied Holy Week ceremonies in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
This exhibit shows how the Cora characteristically erase their identities. They do so by painting themselves with colors such as black and white, among other colors, which symbolically transforms them into “Jews” in order to hunt “Christ the Sun”, who will resurrect shortly after. The ritualistic tradition as mentioned above comprises dancing in addition to cathartic screaming, which are all part of this celebration.
Although most of the ceremony lasts three days, this event begins in the town church. The beginning is marked by a mass celebrated by a long-haired boy who represents the “Sun Child”. The National Museum of Popular Cultures is located at Avenida Hidalgo 289, Colonia del Carmen, Coyoacán. The fascinating exhibition was open to all until June 10.