Editing Alebrije (section)

== Original papercraft alebrijes ==
[[File:Alebrijes Talleres 2MAP.jpg|thumb|Papier-mâché alebrije in progress at a workshop at the Museo de Arte Popular in Mexico City]]
[[File:MichenRojaJuarez.JPG|thumb|Alebrije named Michin Rojo with salute to Pedro Linares]]
Alebrijes originated in [[Mexico City]] in the 20th century, in 1936.<ref name="Thelmadatter" /><ref name="monstruo">{{cite news |title= El Monstruo de la Ciudad de Mexico |first= Edgar  |last=Anaya |newspaper=Reforma |location=Mexico City |date=November 11, 2001 |page=14 |language=es |trans-title=The Monster of Mexico City }}</ref> The first alebrijes, as well as the name itself, are attributed to [[Pedro Linares]], an artisan from México City (Distrito Federal), who specialized in making [[piñata]]s, carnival masks and [[burning of Judas|"Judas" figures]] from [[cartonería]],  an ancient and widespread papercraft often confused with [[papier-mâché]].<ref name="Thelmadatter">{{cite book |last1=Thelmadatter |first1=Leigh Ann |title=Mexican Cartonería |date=28 November 2019 |publisher=Schiffer Publishing |isbn=978-0-7643-5834-0 |pages=192}}</ref> He sold his work in markets such as the one in [[La Merced Market, Mexico City|La Merced]].<ref name="amenazada">{{cite news|title=Alebrijes, una tradición amenazada |url=http://www.terra.com.mx/articulo.aspx?articuloId=127436 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081024024120/http://www.terra.com.mx/articulo.aspx?articuloId=127436 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 24, 2008 |newspaper=Terra |location=Mexico City |date=March 31, 2010 |access-date=April 17, 2010 |language=es |trans-title=Alebrijes, a threatened tradition }}</ref><ref name="gallucci">{{cite news |title= Alebrijes to march on Mexico City |first=Maria |last=Gallucci |newspaper=McClatchy – Tribune Business News |location=Washington, D.C. |date=October 25, 2009 }}</ref><ref name="taller">{{cite news |title=Taller de alebrijes Un emprendimiento Imparte Marcos Zenteno con "Capital Semilla" |url=http://www.oem.com.mx/esto/notas/n440737.htm |publisher=El Sol de Cuautla |location=Cuautla, Mexico |date=October 4, 2007 |access-date=April 17, 2010 |language=es |trans-title=Alebrije Workshop entrepreneurship taught by Marcos Zenteno with "seed money" |archive-date=July 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713163309/https://www.oem.com.mx/oem/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1936, when he was 30 years old, Linares fell ill with a high fever, which caused him to hallucinate. In his fever dreams, he was in a forest with rocks and clouds, many of which turned into wild, unnaturally colored creatures, frequently featuring wings, horns, tails, fierce teeth and bulging eyes. He heard a crowd of voices repeating the nonsense word "Alebrije". After he recovered, he began to re-create the creatures he'd seen, using papier-mâché and cardboard.<ref name="amenazada" /><ref name="gallucci" /><ref name="arussell">{{cite web | last = Russell | first = Anita | title = History of Mexican Papier Mache Sculpture | publisher = Driftwood Dreams Gallery | url = http://www.driftwood-dreams.co.uk/learn_papier_mache/history.htm | access-date = 2007-02-11 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070208023950/http://www.driftwood-dreams.co.uk/learn_papier_mache/history.htm| archive-date= 8 February 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref> Eventually, a [[Cuernavaca]] gallery owner discovered his work. This brought him to the attention of [[Diego Rivera]] and [[Frida Kahlo]], who began commissioning more alebrijes.<ref name="gallucci" /> The tradition grew considerably after British filmmaker [[Judith Bronowski]]'s 1975 documentary on Linares.

Linares received [[National Prize for Arts and Sciences (Mexico)|Mexico's National Arts and Sciences Award]] in the Popular Arts and Traditions category in 1990, two years before he died.<ref name="gallucci" /><ref name="donpedro">{{cite web |url= http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/2604-in-memory-of-don-pedro-alebrije-art-from-a-master-artist |title= In memory of Don Pedro – Alebrije art from a master artist |first= Helyn  |last=Bercovitch  |date=September 7, 2001 |publisher=Mexconnect |location=Mexico |access-date=April 17, 2010 }}</ref> This inspired other alebrije artists, and Linares' work became prized both in Mexico and abroad. Rivera said that no one else could have fashioned the strange figures he requested; work done by Linares for Rivera is now displayed at the [[Anahuacalli Museum]] in Mexico City.<ref name="donpedro" />

The descendants of Pedro Linares, such as his son [[Miguel Linares (Artist)|Miguel Linares]], his granddaughters Blanca y Elsa Linares, and his grandson Ricardo Linares, live in Mexico City near the [[Mercado de Sonora|Sonora Market]] and carry on the tradition of making alebrijes and other figures from cardboard and papier-mâché.<ref name="donpedro" /> Their customers have included the [[Rolling Stones]], [[David Copperfield (illusionist)|David Copperfield]], and filmmaker [[Guillermo del Toro]]. The Stones gave the family tickets to their show.<ref name="encantan">{{cite news |title= Encantan alebrijes en Marco |first= Juan Carlos |last= Martinez |newspaper=El Norte |location=Monterrey, Mexico |date=October 1, 1997 |page=3 |language=es |trans-title=Alebrijes charm in Marco }}</ref> Various branches of the family occupy a row of houses on the same street. Each family works in its own workshops in their own houses, but they will lend each other a hand with big orders. Demand rises and falls; sometimes there is no work, and sometimes families work 18 hours a day.<ref name="encantan" />

The original designs for Pedro Linares' alebrijes have fallen into the public domain. However, according to Chapter Three of the 1996 Mexican federal copyright law, it is illegal to sell crafts made in Mexico without acknowledging the community and region they are from, or to alter the crafts in a way that could be interpreted as damaging to the culture's reputation or image. The law applied to the commercialization of the crafts as well as to their public exhibition and the use of their images. This law is rarely enforced; most crafts sellers in Mexico rarely disclose where the origin of their products. The name "alebrijes" is used for a wide variety of crafts, even though the Linares family has sought to gain control over the name. The family says that pieces which are not made by them and do not come from Mexico City should state so.<ref name="sinproteccion">{{cite news |title= Sin proteccion el arte popular |first= Yazmin |last=Juandiego |newspaper=Mural |location=Guadalajara, Mexico |date=September 27, 2000 |page=10 |language=es |trans-title=Popular art without protection}}</ref> The Linares family continues to export their work to the most important galleries showing Mexican art worldwide.<ref name="donpedro" /> For example,  "Beasts and Bones: The [[Cartonería]] of the Linares Family" in [[Carlsbad, California]], featured about seventy alebrijes and was so popular that it was extended by several weeks.<ref name="bhenry">{{cite news |title= Carlsbad, Calif., arts program wins $17,000 grant |first= Barbara |last= Henry |newspaper=Knight Ridder Tribune Business News |location=Washington, DC |date=November 11, 2004 |page=1 }}</ref>

Because a variety of artists and artisans have been creating alebrijes in their own styles, the craft has become part of Mexico's folk art repertoire.<ref name="amenazada" /> No two alebrijes are exactly alike.<ref name="donpedro" /> Outside of the Linares family, one of the most noted alebrije artists is [[Susana Buyo]],<ref name="Thelmadatter" /> who learned to work with cardboard and papier-mâché at one of the Linares family workshops.<ref name="donpedro" /> Known as the "Señora de los Monstruos" by the local children in [[Condesa]], an upscale neighborhood of Mexico City, she is a native [[Argentine]] and naturalized Mexican citizen. Her work can be found across Mexico City and elsewhere, such as those found in Europe.<ref name="monstruo" /> Her work differs from that of the Linares in that many of her designs include human contours, and many have expressions more tender than terrifying. She also uses nontraditional materials such as feathers, fantasy stones, and modern resins, both for novelty and for durability.<ref name="donpedro" />

[[File:Posada1.Quijote.jpeg|thumb|left|Don Quixote by Jose Guadalupe Posada]]
While Pedro Linares dreamed up the creatures, they did not surface in a vacuum. Similarities and parallels can be drawn between alebrijes and various supernatural creatures from Mexico's indigenous and European past. In pre-Hispanic art, the brightly colored images were often fantastic and macabre.<ref name="monstruo" /><ref name="donpedro" /> Influences from [[Chinatown, Mexico City|Mexico City's Chinatown]], especially in the dragons, and Gothic art such as [[gargoyle]]s can be seen.<ref name="belgas">{{cite news|title=Van alebrijes tras imaginación de los belgas |first=Jesus |last=Alejo |url=http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8692500 |newspaper=Milenio |location=Mexico City |date=December 22, 2009 |access-date=April 17, 2010 |language=es |trans-title=Alebrijes go behind the imagination of the Belgians |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091226212535/http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8692500 |archive-date=December 26, 2009 }}</ref> Red cardboard demons called judas, which Linares made, are still made to be burned in Mexico during Holy Week in purification rituals.<ref name="donpedro" /> More recent examples in Mexican culture, artist [[Julio Ruelas]] and graphics artist/commentator [[José Guadalupe Posada]], have created fantastic and sometimes terrifying images.<ref name="mherrera">{{cite news |title= Mario Herrera/ Alebrijes? No son creacion de Linares sino de Ruelas y de Posada |first= Mario  |last=Herrera |newspaper=Palabra |location=Saltillo, Coahuila |date=October 22, 2000 |page=5 |language=es |trans-title=Mario Herrera/Alebrijes? They are not the creation of Linares but of Ruelas and of Posada }}</ref> Alebrijes, especially the monsters, have gained a reputation for "scaring away bad spirits" and protecting the home.<ref name="monstruo" /><ref name="encantan" /> Some, like master craftsman Christian David Mendez, claim that there is a certain mysticism involved in the making and owning of alebrijes, with parts of certain animals representing human characteristics.<ref name="humano">{{cite news|title=Carácter humano en los alebrijes de hoy |first=Joaquín |last=López |url=http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8677924 |newspaper=Milenio |location=Mexico City |date=November 24, 2009 |access-date=April 17, 2010 |language=es |trans-title=Today's alebrijes have a human element |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100116081459/http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8677924 |archive-date=January 16, 2010 }}</ref>

=== The annual Monumental Alebrije Parade in Mexico City ===
[[File:UrbeZocalo.JPG|thumb|Monumental alebrije named La Urbe in the Zocalo of Mexico City during the 2009 Parade]]
A more recent phenomenon, the annual Monumental Alebrije Parade, has been sponsored by the [[Museo de Arte Popular, Mexico City|Museo de Arte Popular in Mexico City]] since 2007. The 2009 parade featured more than 130 giant alebrijes made of wood, cardboard, paper, wire, and other materials, and marched from the [[Zocalo]] in the historic center of the city to the [[Angel of Independence]] monument on [[Paseo de la Reforma]]. Entries by artisans, artists, families and groups each year have gotten bigger, more creative and more numerous, with names like:

* "Devora Stein" by Uriel López Baltazar
* "Alebrhijos" by Santiago Goncen
* "Totolina", by Arte Lado C
* "AH1N1" by Taller Don Guajo
* "Volador", by Taller de Plástica El Volador
* "La mula del 6" by Daniel Martínez Bartelt
* "La gárgola de la Atlántida" by Juan Carlos Islas
* "Alebrije luchador" by Ricardo Rosales

They are accompanied by bands playing popular Mexican music. At the end of the parade, the pieces are lined up on Paseo de la Reforma for judging and displayed for two weeks.<ref name="tercer">{{cite news |title= Realizan Tercer Desfile de Alebrijes en México |url= http://www.elsiglodetorreon.com.mx/noticia/472266.realizan-tercer-desfile-de-alebrijes-en-mexic.html |agency= Notimex |newspaper=El Siglo de Torreón |location=Torreon, Coahuila |date=October 24, 2009 |access-date=April 17, 2010 |language=es |trans-title=Third Alebrije Parate takes place in Mexico City }}</ref> The 2010 alebrije parade had themes related to the [[Celebration of Mexican political anniversaries in 2010|Bicentennial of the Independence of Mexico and the Centennial of the Mexican Revolution]], although Walter Boelsterly, head of the Museo de Artes Populares, concedes that such may require a bit of tolerance because it can lead to revered figures such as [[Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla|Miguel Hidalgo]] and [[Ignacio Allende]] with animal parts. He states that the aim is to celebrate and not to mock.<ref name="belgas" /> In addition to the annual parade, the Museum has sponsored alebrije shows such as the three-meter tall alebrije which captured attention at the Feria International del Libro in [[Bogotá]]. The word "alebrije" was not known in [[Colombia]], so the locals dubbed it a "dragoncito" (little dragon). Along with "dragoncito" 150 other, smaller pieces of Mexican crafts were shown.<ref name="belgas" />