History & Literary Arts Library

La Canoa Legacy Talks: A. Gabriel Meléndez, Humor and Healing: Cantinflas’ (Mario Moreno) Classic Screen Moments

2 pm – 4 pm Join A. Gabriel Meléndez, recently appointed director of UNM’s Center for Regional Studies, as he takes us on a fun and insightful journey through the life of Mexican actor Mario Moreno and his beloved character “Cantinflas.” Moreno starred in scores of films from the 1930s through the 1980s, and is also known for his Golden Globe-winning role as the ingenious valet Passepartout in Around the World in 80 Days. In Latin America and beyond, he is a beloved icon. The talk will (more…)

La Canoa Legacy Talks: A. Gabriel Meléndez, Humor and Healing: Cantinflas’ (Mario Moreno) Classic Screen Moments Read More »

Reading & Booksigning: Antonio C. Marquez, Volver

2 pm to 4 pm Join author Antonio C. Marquez for a reading from his new book, a memoir titled Volver: A Persistence of Memory. Volver recounts Marquez’ life story from his childhood memories to the impact of immigration and war on his family; his experiences of gang conflict in El Paso and Los Angeles; his enlistment in the Marine Corps; and his activism in the civil rights movement and the antiwar movement of the Vietnam era. Born on the eve of World War II into a

Reading & Booksigning: Antonio C. Marquez, Volver Read More »

Women’s History Month

Each year in March the National Hispanic Cultural Center celebrates women with programming that honors their contributions to dance, music, theatre, art, poetry, films, novels, and much more. Listed below are all the events that you can experience at the Center during Women’s History Month. Below are our offerings for 2017.

Women’s History Month Read More »

Book Reading and Signing: “Coyota in the Kitchen” by Anita Rodriguez

2 pm to 4 pm Anita Rodriguez is a New Mexican artist and writer.  Her father’s side goes back ten generations in her beloved Taos valley, and her mother is a painter who came to Taos from Austin, Texas.  Anita’s training as an artist began in childhood from her mother and extended to her formal training at the Colorado College. With many artist shows to her credit, Coyota in the Kitchen is Anita’s first full-length book.  Coyota in the Kitchen is a book of stories and recipes,

Book Reading and Signing: “Coyota in the Kitchen” by Anita Rodriguez Read More »

La Canoa: Nuevomexicano Children’s Literature: Bilingual and Bicultural in Both Past and Present

2 pm to 4 pm Join panelists Amy Córdova, artist and illustrator; and Enrique L. Lamadrid, Gabriel Meléndez, Anna M. Nogar, and Michael Trujillo, from the University of New Mexico for a discussion on Nuevomexicano children’s literature. Recent studies of popular cultural production often center on forms intended for adults. This roundtable will consider a genre designed for children that involves adult interlocutors and mentors. The panelist discussion will center on bilingual, culturally informed children’s books that treat topics relating to New Mexican history, oral literature and

La Canoa: Nuevomexicano Children’s Literature: Bilingual and Bicultural in Both Past and Present Read More »

Give Me Life: Iconography and Identity in East LA Murals

2 pm to 4 pm Join author Holly Barnet-Sanchez for a presentation and book signing as she offers detailed analyses of individual East LA murals, sets them in social context, and explains how they were produced. Leading experts on mural art, Barnet-Sanchez and her co-author Tim Drescher use a distinctive methodology, analyzing the art from aesthetic, political, and cultural perspectives to show how murals and graffiti reflected and influenced the Chicano civil rights movement. This free event, generously sponsored by The Bank of Albuquerque, will take place

Give Me Life: Iconography and Identity in East LA Murals Read More »

La Canoa: Taste, Place and Memory: Toward A Poetics of Chile Eating

2 pm to 4 pm Join Dr. Victor Valle, an Emeritus professor of Ethnic Studies at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, in exploring the life-world of his childhood chile memories to understand a particular family’s idea of chile eating and what it tells us about where and who they were. Dr. Valle’s lecture reveals a critical framework for interpreting the poetics of “taste, place, and memory” and takes its title from the first chapter of his forthcoming book, The Poetics of Fire: Metaphors of Chile-Eating

La Canoa: Taste, Place and Memory: Toward A Poetics of Chile Eating Read More »

La Canoa: Latinos in the Public Media and the Popular Imagination

2 pm to 4 pm Join Michael A. Olivas, University of Houston law professor and native New Mexican, as he looks at this topic through several lenses, including depictions in the popular press; film and television industries; and music. He will show how the widespread and relentlessly negative characterizations of Latinos have serious consequences in all areas of the public imagination and the polity. New Mexico has a long and significant history of music, movies, and literature that have contributed to the historical record, and he will

La Canoa: Latinos in the Public Media and the Popular Imagination Read More »

Our Space is Your Space

This is a call to bring together the people of our community. People of all backgrounds and ideologies, and for many different reasons, have expressed fears of losing their place in our nation. This is our offer to you, as important individuals within our community, to use our space to express your hopes, fears and dreams. At the National Hispanic Cultural Center, we celebrate and strengthen the beauty, depth and resilience of the human spirit as told through the lens of Hispanic cultures. In this effort, we expand

Our Space is Your Space Read More »