March 26, 2024 – Santa Fe College and the Latina Women’s League are teaming up to host a series of engaging conversations. These discussions are designed to help students, faculty, staff and the Gainesville community learn more about Latin American History, Culture and Arts.
Mark your calendars for Thursday, March 28, from 6 to 7 p.m., at Santa Fe College’s Blount Hall for a discussion with Callum Karoleski on “Divine Feminines: Female Deities in Aztec Art.” Karoleski will be presenting artworks that depict the deities Tlaltecuhtli, Coatlicue, Cihuacoatl and the Cihuateteo.
“These figures,” Karoleski explained, “all belong to a group of supernatural females called tzitzimime (star demons), and as such, share visual conventions that relate them to one another. It is through this connection that I will describe the Nahuatl concept of divinity, teotl, and its difference from Western conceptualizations of ‘god’. For each deity I’ll explain their place within Aztec mythology and the role they played as revered figures and cosmic forces of nature.”
Callum Karoleski is a first-year M.A. student studying Pre-Conquest Mesoamerican art under Dr. Derek Burdette. They earned their B.A. in Art History with a minor in Anthropology from the University of Florida, resulting in an undergraduate thesis that explored a postmodern transgender examination of hagiographic visual imagery, titled “(Trans)Formation: Imagining Saint Eugenia’s Gender Crossing in Medieval Art” (2023). Their current research interests include deity embodiment in Mexica religion, queer theory, and visualizations of gender and gender performance within Mexica visual practice.
Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with thought-provoking ideas and connect with the vibrant Latin American culture.
“Divine Feminines: Female Deities in Aztec Art” is the second in this series. The following conversations will take place at Blount Hall from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. on their respective dates:
- Thursday, April 25: “Magical Realism and Latinidad”
- Thursday, Sept. 26: “Getting to the GRAMMY®S and Beyond: The Art of Practicing Entrepreneurship for Quality of Life”
- Thursday, Oct. 31: “The Act of Sharing Knowledge Through Art”
- Thursday, Dec. 5: TBD presented by Jenifer Hernandez