As part of the activities of the 40th edition of the Guadalajara International Film Festival (FICG), the MUSA Museum of the Arts of the University of Guadalajara opened to the public the exhibition "Katharsis. Images of wrestling in Mexico," which fuses art, history and popular culture through one of the most powerful symbols of national identity: wrestling.
"Katharsis..." brings together a representative selection of photographs from the Fundación Televisa Collection and Archive, as well as two paintings by artist Sergio Arau, from the MUSA's own collection. The curatorship was in charge of researcher Héctor Orozco Velázquez.
The exhibition documents more than seven decades of wrestling history through images that capture its scenic and symbolic essence. Icons such as El Santo, Blue Demon and several female wrestlers are portrayed in multiple facets, such as fights, studio portraits and even intimate moments with their fans.
"'Katharsis' is much more than an exhibition of wrestling images, it is a visual and documentary exploration of one of the most complex, representative and fascinating cultural phenomena in Mexico's contemporary history," said Moisés Vizcarra Schiaffino, director of the MUSA Museo de las Artes at the University of Guadalajara.
"To present this exhibition in the framework of the International Film Festival in Guadalajara is also a statement: that film, photography, performance, archive and memory are intertwined in the same narrative gesture."
Since its premiere in 2007 at the George Eastman Museum in the United States, the exhibition has been successfully presented in various cities in Mexico and abroad, such as Puebla, Monterrey, Torreón and Los Angeles, among others. This version at MUSA takes up the original texts of the renowned critic Alfonso Morales, with an adaptation of contents by Orozco himself.
The exhibition will remain open from June 6 to September 14, 2025, in Room 1, first floor of MUSA (975 Juárez Avenue, Downtown). Admission will be free during the museum's regular hours: Tuesday to Saturday, from 10:00 to 18:00, and Sundays, from 10:00 to 15:00.
As a complement to the exhibition, the public will be able to enjoy a film series with emblematic films of the genre, such as Santo y Blue Demon contra los monstruos (1969) and Asesinos de la lucha libre ( 1962), in collaboration with TelevisaUnivisión. Show times are available on the website: vp.eventival.com/ficg/2025.
Please use credit ©FICG / Ana Cristina Rodriguez Martinez
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