Presentation by Dr. Ysamur Flores-Peña. Part of the WLAC-UCLA Global Speaker Series on Global Popular Culture.
Thursday, April 20, 2017
9:30 AM - 11:00 AM
West Los Angeles College
Aviation Building ATA – 128
Culver City, CA 90230
Botánicas are the great faith integrators. Their presence in the urban environment signals multiplicity of religious, magical, and vernacular beliefs. As mediators in the public sphere, they provide a neutral space for the exchange of ideas and aesthetics. This presentation explores the role of botánicas to integrate and negotiate identities in the urban space, and to create a space where apparently dissimilar beliefs and practices can be negotiated. The influence of botánicas in popular culture is undeniable. From makeshift street altars, to memorialize a tragic event, to community celebrations such as Day of the Dead. Botánicas provide the visual elements needed to the population who may or may not want to abide by traditional theology. Popular culture feeds the folk belief universe with new icons and personas, and botánicas in turn standardize how the theology of the street gets represented.
Cost: Free & open to the public.
Special Instructions
Parking Information: The closest parking lot to the General Classroom building is Lot 5. Visitors can purchase daily permit for $2 from yellow parking permit machine located in the upper left corner of the parking lot. After you park, walk up the stair-case next to the parking machine, turn to the right and through the plaza to GC. Campus Map
For more information please contact
Veronica Zavala Tel: 310-825-4572
zavala@international.ucla.edu
Download File: WestLA-LAIApril20-pk-hlb.pdf
Sponsor(s): Center for Near Eastern Studies, Asia Pacific Center, West LA College