To mark the bicentennial of their independence, the embassies of Guatemala and Mexico present the global release of Cosmic Twins, an animated short film inspired by Asian traditional shadow theatre, today at 3pm.
The movie is a contemporary adaptation of the monumental shadow theatre -- Unesco's Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity -- into an audiovisual language. Its theme is based on one of the passages of Popol Vuh that narrates the emergence of the world and the creation of humanity. It also recreates aspects of Mayan culture, which is part of the history, and living cultures and languages of the Mesoamerican region.
The millenary Mayan civilisation occupied the territories of modern-day Guatemala, Southeast México, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador. The Popol Vuh is the most important text from the Mayas, which describes the creation of humanity and its role in the universe through cosmology. It also recounts the story of the brothers Hunahpú and Ixbalanqué and the migration and settlement of the Quiché people.
Cosmic Twins is a multidisciplinary project that combines music, history, epic tales and digital tools, to create a new artistic language, by the transition of figurative art into conceptual digital art. The main characters are based on two bronze ballplayers by Mexico sculptor Jorge Marin.
They are transformed into animated puppets in this movie which tells the story of brothers Hun and Vucub Hunahpú, who shake the universe when playing ball. This bothers the lords of the underworld so much that they challenge them to play in their court under the Earth where the brothers are murdered.
However, their remains are prodigious -- they make the site of their burial bloom and produce the pregnancy of a maiden, resulting in cosmic twins Hunahpú and Ixbalanqué being born and carrying in their blood the spirit of their ancestors. They later return to the underworld to beat the lords of death. Once victorious over the underworld, one of them transforms into the sun and the other into the moon.
This online launch is a collaboration with the Jorge Marín Foundation, Museum Siam: Discovery Museum, the University of El Claustro de Sor Juana and the Popol Vuh Museum. It's performed simultaneously across Southeast Asia.
A set of online activities such as academic talks and family-oriented workshops will come along in September, accessible to all audiences.
To view the short film, visit rebrand.ly/TheCosmicTwins.
