Brujo de la Mancha brings Mexico to HACC Gettysburg

"If you don't know where you came from, how can you know where you're going?" asks artist and teacher Brujo de la Mancha. Through art and dance, de la Mancha tries to spread the pride of his past to others.

De la Mancha grew up in Mexico City. During his childhood, he visited his father's home near Xico in Veracruz, Mexico. It was there that he was exposed to the cultural influences of the Mayan and Olmec indigenous tribes. He explains that traditional farming, and popular crafts represent and express the life of the indigenous Mexican people. When he was 20 years old, he moved from Mexico City to Philadelphia. He won a grant from The Institute for Cultural Partnership to learn how to make Tlapizcalli clay flutes, with the Master Xavier Quijas Yxayotl. From this class he went on to make a clay instrument called Ehekachiktli, the dead whistle, used by the Aztecs during war to frighten their opponents. In 2003 he co-founded the Ollin Yoliztli Calmecac, an Aztec Dance Troupe and non- profit organization in Philadelphia. Their mission is "to investigate, understand and raise awareness of the Mexicayotl culture, which flourished in Mexico prior to the arrival of the Spanish in 1492."

The Mexican artist's full-time job is traveling to towns all over Pennsylvania to educate both Hispanics and non- Hispanics alike about ancient Aztec traditions. De la Mancha's speech on Mexican identity in the 21st century is part of a series of talks held at HACC's Gettysburg campus in conjunction with, Making It Better: Folk Arts in Pennsylvania Today.

The exhibit, which is in Room 109 in the campus, holds folk art from different cultures around the world that was made by immigrants right here in Pennsylvania. De la Mancha's clay pipes sit next to a sand mandala and Ghanaian clothing. The exhibit runs now through July 30th at the HACC Gettysburg Campus, Room 109, 731 Old Harrisburg Road, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Exhibit hours are Monday through Thursday 8am to 8 pm, Friday 8am to 12pm and closed Saturday and Sunday. For more information: call (717) 334-5006 or Adams County Arts Council.