Free (donations welcome) / Entrada libre (agradecemos sus donaciones)

In English

This event is presented with the Lit & Luz Festival and Special Collections at the Chicago Public Library.

Este evento se presenta en colaboración con el Festival Lit & Luz y la sección de Colecciones Especiales de la Biblioteca Pública de Chicago.

Creative writing is not just about language — it is about images, and its roots often lie in what we see. In this English-language workshop, we will reflect on the intersection of language, contemplation, and the photograph. Through writing exercises drawn from visual representation — including archival and historical photographs — participants will explore how writing becomes language filtered through the eye.

Marina Azahua is a Mexico City-based writer, editor, translator, and anthropologist whose work explores archival gestures, the politics of representation, and the relationship between image and text. She is the author of Retrato involuntario: El acto fotográfico como forma de violencia and co-founder of Ediciones Antílope.

This workshop is free and open to adults; no prior writing experience required.

Space is limited, and registration is required.  

Escribir con los ojos: Taller de escritura con Marina Azahua

La escritura creativa no trata solo sobre el lenguaje; trata también sobre imágenes y sus raíces, que a menudo residen en lo que vemos. En este taller impartido en inglés, reflexionaremos sobre la intersección entre el lenguaje, la observación y la fotografía. A través de ejercicios de escritura basados en la representación visual —incluyendo fotografías de archivo e imágenes históricas— los participantes explorarán cómo la escritura se convierte en un lenguaje filtrado por la mirada.

Marina Azahua es una escritora, editora, traductora y antropóloga radicada en la Ciudad de México, cuyo trabajo explora los gestos de archivo, las políticas de la representación y la relación entre imagen y texto. Es autora de Retrato involuntario: El acto fotográfico como forma de violencia, y cofundadora de Ediciones Antílope.

Este taller es gratuito y estará dirigido al público adulto; no se requiere experiencia previa en escritura.

El cupo es limitado; se recomienda encarecidamente el registro previo.

Participants

Free (donations welcome) / Entrada libre (agradecemos sus donaciones)

In Spanish with English subtitles

Presented by the Lit & Luz Festival and the National Museum of Mexican Art co-sponsored by Marz Brewery and S.A.C.R.E.D. Mezcal

The Lit & Luz Festival and the National Museum of Mexican Art invite you to join us for a special film screening of PIERDETE ENTRE LOS MUERTOS / DROWN AMONG THE DEAD (2018, 62-minutes, Spanish with English subtitles) an Existential Drama by Mexican Director and Artist Ruben Gutierrez. 

From the Director: “I am interested in making films that operate as symbolic acts of resistance, that provoke reflections on possible ways to inhabit the world, that speak about the control mechanisms to which we are subjected and about our own mental prisons. My intention is to promote a reflection about what happens outside of the cinematic canvas. The final result is some kind of rarefied fiction that appropriates fragments of other discourses in order to invite the spectator to remember.”

Museum doors open at 5:30 p.m. with the film presentation beginning at 6:05 p.m. A bar and concession stand will be available for attendees sponsored by Marz Brewery and S.A.C.R.E.D. Mezcal. After the screening, Gutiérrez will be joined by Alivé Piliado, Curatorial Associate at the National Museum of Mexican Art , and Esteban King, Lit & Luz Artistic Director, for a reflection on the film’s themes, production, and creative direction.

Participants