Con sumo agrado informamos que nuestro colega Mariano Villalba, miembro del CEEO-AL y actual Director de la Revista de Historia Melancolia, obtuvo contrato postdoctoral (Postdoctoral fellowship in Spirituality and the Arts -Harvard University-, en colaboración con el Warburg Institute y el Centre for History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents de la Universidad de Amsterdam) para continuar sus investigaciones sobre la historia del esoterismo mexicano en Harvard University.
Mariano ha recorrido un largo camino de especialización, centrando su atención, inicialmente, en objetos de la historia situados en la España bajo medieval y del Renacimiento y, luego, en la América Colonial e Independiente -especialmente el México de los siglos XIX-XX:
- en 2014, defendió su tesis de licenciatura titulada “Polémicas anti-astrológicas y apologías mágicas. Análisis histórico cultural sobre la astrología y la magia astral en el Tratado de Astrología atribuido a Enrique de Villena (España, siglo XV).” en la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires (Dirección: Dr. Juan Bubello)
- en 2016, defendió su tesis de maestría en sociología de la cultura y análisis cultural, titulada "Esoterismo y poder en Castilla y Aragón. Enrique de Villena y su Tratado de Fascinación (1411) y su Tratado de Astrología (1428)”, Instituto de Altos Estudios Sociales de la Universidad de San Martín (Dirección: Dr. Juan Bubello).
- en 2023, defendió su tesis de doctorado titulada "Race, nation et révolution. Arnold Krumm-Heller et l’ésotérisme au Mexique (1910–1920)", co-tutela en Ciencias de las Religiones por la Universidad de Lausanne y en Historia de las Religiones y Antropología Religiosa por la École Pratique des Hautes Études (Directores: Dra. Silvia Mancini, Université de Lausanne - Dr. Jean-Pierre Brach, EPHE, Paris)
Felicitaciones Mariano!
Resumen del proyecto:
A Comprehensive Study of the Interplay between Occult Movements and Mexican Mural Art
Building on our doctoral research, this postdoctoral project explores the interplay between occult movements and Mexican mural art, with a particular focus on female artists, between Mexico and the United States during the interwar period. The doctoral research demonstrated how esoteric currents played a role in constructing a mythical and poetic account of Mexico's national origins during the 1910 Revolution, primarily conveyed through visual and literary representations. This research examined the affiliation of prominent male muralists like Diego Rivera (1886-1957), José Clemente Orozco (1883-1949), and Xavier Guerrero (1896-1974) with esoteric organizations, and how the use of esoteric and pre-Hispanic themes in their works predominantly aligned with the ideological orientation of the post-revolutionary state.
This postdoctoral project expands on this foundation by examining the works of lesser-known female artists and early promoters of Mexican art, such as Cordelia Urueta (1908-1995), Anita Brenner (1905-1974), and María Izquierdo (1902-1955). It aims to explore how these Mexican artists engaged with esoteric literature and organizations in Mexico and the United States, and how the integration of esoteric and pre-Hispanic themes in their works sought to challenge the oppressive and patriarchal myths promoted by the post-revolutionary state.
This study leverages unexplored archival sources in Mexico, including correspondence, photos, and reports, as well as anthropological literature, to document the personal connections between these artists and esoteric organizations and explore the integration of this literature in their artistic works. Additionally, the research adopts a comprehensive art-historical approach that combines contextualization and visual analysis of the presence of esoteric themes in mural artworks and public buildings. By integrating decolonial and global history perspectives explored in the doctoral research, this project emphasizes the intersection of gender, ethnicity, and cultural representation in Mexican mural art. Our findings aim to reassess the evolution of Mexican muralism by highlighting the original contributions of underrepresented women artists who have been overlooked due to their association with the occult.
