The Vochol is a Volkswagen (VW) Beetle that has been decorated with traditional

Huichol The Huichol or Wixárika are an indigenous people of Mexico and the United States living in the Sierra Madre Occidental range in the states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas, and Durango, as well as in the United States in the states of California, ...

(Wirrárika) beadwork from the center-west of Mexico. The name created by José Jaime Volochinsky is a combination of “vocho”, a popular term for VW Beetles in Mexico, and “Huichol”, the common name of the Wirrárika indigenous group. The project was sponsored by agencies associated with the

Museo de Arte Popular, Mexico City The Museo de Arte Popular (Museum of Folk Art) is a museum in Mexico City, Mexico that promotes and preserves part of the Mexican handcrafts and folk art. Located in the historic center of Mexico City in an old fire house, the museum has a colle ...

, the states of

Jalisco Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal En ...

and

Nayarit Nayarit (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit), is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its ...

and other public and private organizations. The Volkswagen was covered in 2,277,000 beads applied by eight artisans from two Huichol families in an exclusive design based on Huichol culture.

Sponsorship and purpose

The work was sponsored by a number of private and public organizations including the Association of Friends of the Museo de Arte Popular, Secretaría de Cultura del Gobierno of the state of Jalisco and the Consejo Estatal para la Cultura y las Artes of the state of Nayarit. The purpose of the work was to create a folk art project for the 21st century that demonstrated the ritual nature, skill and culture of Huichol

beadwork Beadwork is the art or craft of attaching beads to one another by stringing them onto a thread or thin wire with a sewing or beading needle or sewing them to cloth. Beads are produced in a diverse range of materials, shapes, and sizes, and vary b ...

. Beadwork is a traditional Huichol craft that began by decorating bull horns, then gourds, masks, and jaguar head figures. Originally the craft was done with seeds, but is today done with plastic and glass beads. The craft is still evolving and the beadwork can be found on various modern materials, such as glass, stone, ceramics and metal. Traditionally, the beads are affixed with a kind of wax that comes from

Campeche Campeche (; yua, Kaampech ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Campeche), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Located in southeast Mexico, it is bordered by ...

The work

The work was created by eight artisans from two Huichol families, the Bautistas from state of

and the Ortiz from the state of

. The artisans worked under the direction of Francisco Bautista to decorate the chassis and interior of the vehicle in an exclusive design. For the artisans, the car was not only a source of employment, but also a way to promote their art and craftsmanship. The artisans clocked 4,760 hours using 2,277,000 beads that weighed ninety kilograms and fastened with sixteen kilograms of resin that can withstand 200° Celsius. The project at the Hospicio Cabañas in

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

lasted over seven months and began in May 2010. At a later stage, work continued at the Centro Estatal para las Culturas Populares e Indígenas in Nayarit. The final touches were placed on the car at the Museo de Arte Popular in Mexico City. The images represent Huichol deities and culture. These include, on the car's hood, two snakes above clouds, which represent rain. The back has images of offerings, and a canoe steered by a

shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...

. The sides show the gods of the sun, fire, corn, deer, and

peyote The peyote (; ''Lophophora williamsii'' ) is a small, spineless cactus which contains psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline. ''Peyote'' is a Spanish word derived from the Nahuatl (), meaning "caterpillar cocoon", from a root , "to gl ...

, all important to the Huichol culture. The roof contains a large sun and four eagles, which represent the union between man and the gods. There is also an Eye of God, which is a figure with five points. The center represents the source of life, the east represents light, strength and knowledge. The west is associated with the history of the ancestors; the south is associated with agriculture and the north is where history ends or the culmination of the elements. These directions are associated with the states of Jalisco (center),

San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de San Luis Potosí), is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and i ...

(east), Nayarit (west),

Colima Colima (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Colima ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Colima), is one of the 31 states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and ...

and

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...

(south) and

Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in ...

(north). The front fenders contain the phrase “200 years of Independence” and “100 years since the Mexican Revolution” in the Wixarika language.

Presentation and future of the work

After work was completed, the VW Beetle was unveiled at the eighth edition of the Zona MACO (México Arte Contemporáneo) in Guadalajara by the president of the

Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes The Secretariat of Culture ( es, Secretaría de Cultura), formerly known as the National Council for Culture and Arts ( es, Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes or CONACULTA), is a Mexican government agency in charge of the nation's museums ...

(Conaculta),

Consuelo Sáizar Roxana del Consuelo Sáizar Guerrero (born 1961 in Acaponeta, Nayarit, Mexico), is an editor and publisher, former CEO of Fondo de Cultura Económica (2002-2009), President of the National Council for Culture and the Arts (CONACULTA) (2009-2012) ...

in December 2010. Afterwards, the car was taken to the Museo de Arte Popular in Mexico City for exhibition. The next step is an international tour to have the work displayed in museums in various parts of the world including the United States, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and South America. The Vochol is currently on display at the Museo de Arte Popular in Mexico City. http://www.map.cdmx.gob.mx/comunicacion/nota/en-abril-elmap

External links

"Der „Vochol“ in der Autostadt in Wolfsburg"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vochol Huichol Mexican folk art Individual cars