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This Mexican artist’s 1944 work "La Columna Rota" (The Broken Column) is a masterful study of physical and emotional pain, using a crumbling Ionic column to symbolize her spine.
Frida Kahlo
This romantic Argentinian and Uruguayan dance is a complex language of improvisation, characterized by the abrazo (embrace) and dramatic ganchos (leg hooks).
Tango
This Kichwa-Mestizo artist, created "La Capilla del Hombre" in Quito to honor the struggles and resilience of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
Oswaldo Guayasamín
Declared a National Symbol of Guatemala, this percussion instrument, standardized in its modern chromatic form in the late 19th century, is made of hormigo wood and features wooden keys struck with mallets tipped with small rubber or yarn heads.
Marimba
This Afro-Peruvian dance, driven by the cajón and rooted in the history of enslaved Africans in the coastal regions of Peru, is known for its fast tempo, celebratory movements, and expression of cultural resilience
Festejo
Emerging in western Mexico especially Jalisco during the 19th century, this Mexican folk genre features the guitarrón and vihuela, and was later standardized in the early 20th century with the addition of the trumpet, giving it its iconic modern sound and national identity.
What is Mariachi?
Known as “El Charro de México,” this legendary singer and actor from Zacatecas became one of the most iconic figures of ranchera music and post–Golden Age Mexican cinema. He recorded over 150 albums and helped popularize the jaripeo (equestrian rodeo show) internationally, preserving and spreading traditional Mexican cowboy culture.
Antonio Aguilar
This Brazilian dance is central to Carnival celebrations and originated from African rhythms and dances. It emerged in the early 20th century in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.
Samba
This artist created the Great Wall of Los Angeles, a half-mil- long mural that illustrates how ethnic groups shaped the growth of America and California in particular.
Judy Baca
This Uruguayan artist founded “Constructive Universalism” in the early 1930s and fully established the movement after returning to Montevideo in 1934, when he created a workshop dedicated to spreading his ideas. The movement reimagined modern art by arguing that Latin American artists should draw from indigenous and pre-Columbian geometric forms rather than European artistic traditions.
Joaquín Torres-García
This folk dance from El Salvador, created in the 1940s by Francisco “Paco” Flores, is characterized by a hopping step and traditional Salvadoran folk instrumentation with strong rhythmic percussion
What is the Xuc?
Often called "Los Tres Grandes," Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and this artist used massive public walls to highlight the struggles of the working class and indigenous history.
José Clemente Orozco
This Nuyorican musician, "El Rey de los Timbales", was a pioneer in Latin Jazz and the Mambo. He was known for fusing styles and putting a big-band spin on traditional Latin music and his hit "Oye Como Va."
Tito Puente
This traditional Chilean dance mimics the courtship between a rooster and a hen, with dancers waving white handkerchiefs to symbolize purity or a "cluck."
Cueca
Debuted in 1879 by composer Miguel Faílde, this elegant 19th-century genre is the official national dance of Cuba and was the first to formally incorporate the "cinquillo" rhythm into a written orchestral score.
Danzón
This Colombian artist developed “Boterismo,” a style defined by exaggerated volumes used to explore humor, everyday life, and social and political themes in paintings and sculpture.
Fernando Botero
This Dominican genre, once banned by the elite for its "lower class" origins, is defined by its rapid 2/4 time signature and the prominent use of the tambora drum.
Merengue
This world-renowned textile art of the Guna (Kuna) people of Panama and parts of Colombia is created using an intricate reverse-appliqué technique, in which layers of fabric are cut and sewn to reveal geometric patterns, animals, and natural imagery.
Mola
World renowned Argentine painter and visionary artist, described as a “citizen of the universe” by his friend, author Jorge Luis Borges, created imaginary languages, new musical notations, and mystical architectural landscapes in his watercolors.
Xul Solar
This energetic Afro-Indigenous tradition of the Garifuna people features fast, polyrhythmic drumming and competitive hip movements, and is widely performed in countries such as Belize, Honduras, and Guatemala as a celebration of cultural identity and resilience.
Punta
Known as the “Queen of Salsa,” this Cuban-born singer became one of the most influential voices in Latin music, achieving international fame with her powerful voice, dynamic stage presence, and signature call of “¡Azúcar!” She later became an important cultural symbol for many in the Cuban diaspora.
Celia Cruz
Originating in the coastal city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, at the beginning of the 20th century, this genre is nicknamed "el periódico cantado" because its lyrics traditionally narrate the daily lives and struggles of the working class.
Plena
In this Afro-Puerto Rican tradition, the dancer "challenges" the lead drummer (subidor), who must improvise rhythms that match the dancer’s spontaneous physical movements.
Bomba
This foundational Afro-Cuban rhythmic pattern consists of five strokes arranged across two measures in either a 3–2 or 2–3 structure, serving as the organizing pulse for genres such as salsa, son, and rumba.
Clave
This contemporary printmaker and painter is an acclaimed Puerto Rican artist celebrated for his vibrant works that capture the Afro-Caribbean, Taíno, and spiritual traditions of his hometown, Loíza. He is famous for his depictions of the Vejigante, a folkloric figure.
Samuel Lind