La Jornada: Exhibition honors Sabines

The reading of the poetry of Jaime Sabines (1926-1999) had an impact on several generations of Mexican artists, who have drawn on that “loving and sorrowful imagery for their personal lives. After Amado Nervo, he is the most popular poet that has ever been in Mexico, the most read and the one from whom the most books are bought,” says Luis Ignacio Sáinz, curator with Pilar Jiménez Trejo of It is the shadow of the wateran exhibition tribute to the Chiapas poet on the centenary of his birth that will be opened today both at the San Ángel Cultural Center (CCSA) and at the Jaime Sabines House.

85 artists participate in the exhibition, “all imbued with that sentimental, joyful and playful spirit that is Sabines.” The artists “were inspired by a poem or a phrase by Sabines and from that they made a work,” notes Jiménez Trejo, biographer of the honoree. Many of the pieces are dedicated to The lovers: letters to Chepita (1983), Something about the death of Major Sabines (1973), Trumpet (1956) o Adam and Eve (1952).

Works by deceased artists who had a direct link with the poet were also incorporated, such as the photographer Daisy Ascher (1944-2003), who “portrayed him more and better,” notes art critic Sáinz. There are also “readers familiar with his work such as Federico Silva and Gilberto Aceves Navarro, present with sculptures.”

Apart from Ascher, others who photographed him were included such as Eliane Cassorla, Rogelio Cuéllar, Eunice Chao, Gilberto Chen, Ulises Castellanos, Roberto Portillo and Maritza López. At first it was planned to house only photography in the CCSA rooms, but there was so much plastic work received that it was decided to exhibit it in both venues.

In addition to commemorating the 100 years of the birth of the 1983 National Prize for Sciences and Arts, three decades of existence of the Jaime Sabines House are celebrated, “a space dedicated to the memory of the poet of Lebanese descent with the greatest continuity and greatest activity not only in his name, but in the work he carried out, which obviously has to do with poetry and literature in general, but also with the rights of minorities, which were his concerns.”

Because “he was not only installed in the remembrance of love affairs or nature; he was also concerned with social issues, of groups that were not usually recognized.” Sabines was twice a federal deputy, although “he did not participate in cultural commissions, but rather in politics.” It is a topic that will be taken up in one of the round tables that will accompany the exhibition.

In addition, two editorial projects are in process. The first is the reissue of one of the least read works of the Lebanese poet and artist Gibran Khalil Gibran, Sand and foam (1926), which “was translated by a Lebanese intellectual in Mexico in 1943,” indicates Sáinz. “The copies that will be given to people who attend the corresponding round table” are already in print, yet to be announced.

The second is “an anthology in Arabic of Sabines’ poetry, made by a Lebanese poet in 1999 with the intention of it being circulated in the Middle East. The idea is to do it with the poems also in Spanish, all by the hand of the original translator, and to incorporate artists of Lebanese or Levantine descent to illustrate it,” says Sáinz.

The possibility of making a film series with films whose directors have been inspired by Sabines’ work is also being studied; for example, Claudio Isaac, who made, together with Sara Elías Calles, the documentary Something about Jaime Sabines (1980).

It is the shadow of the water It opens today at 7 p.m. at Casa Jaime Sabines (1747 Revolución Avenue, San Ángel neighborhood).