For Gourmets
Everyday life impressions from Mexico City

What does an illustrator like Mawil do when the Goethe-Institut sends him to Mexico City where he is not interested in narrating an action-packed story but instead would like to put his impressions of everyday life down on paper? In his illustrations, he displays his own subjective images of a country he has three weeks to discover.

Extracts from "Alltagseindrücke aus Mexico City":

About the artist Mawil:

When Mawil draws, he is only halfway approachable and deeply immersed. In a travel photograph – in contrast to a drawing – he can never capture everything that he considers important in that particular moment. The people, the atmosphere, the panorama, the music in the background, the insider or running gags during the trip.

Travelpedia: Mexico City

© Mawil (Detail)
Dramatic, acrobatic and a bit wild: a Lucha Libre show is a pleasure and definitely belongs to the sightseeing program in Mexico City. Shows are held several times a week in the Mexico Arena. Lucha Libre is Mexican wrestling. In contrast to other types of wrestling, the luchadores (wrestlers) often wear masks and perform soaring acrobatic movements.
© Mawil (Detail)
Death as a taboo: hard to imagine in Mexico. It belongs to life in the Latin American country. The dead return once a year to visit their relatives before they are adopted by them again in the afterlife. The Mexicans always invite to a party in the cemetery at the beginning of November. A toast is topped with a picnic at the grave, catchy folk music and eerily sweet skulls made of frosting.

Jonas Engelmann on "Everyday life impressions from Mexico City"

Between the blue and green tones, the heat is palpable, the palms provide meagre shade, not a soul is to be seen on the street – an unexpected perspective in one of the world’s largest cities."

Review

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About the artists

Learn more about our well-known artists, including Barbara Yelin, Reinhard Kleist and Sarnath Banerjee. All with proven comic expertise and sometimes with more, sometimes with less travel experience in the respective country.

About Graphic Travelogues

Graphic Travelogues presents travel experiences by comic artists from different countries, illuminates and identifies recurring topics. From sketches to graphic novels, graphic diaries and travel drawings, we collect treasures here and question concepts and motivations, techniques and experiences.

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For Gourmets Everyday life impressions from Mexico City