Since opening in June, the National Hispanic Cultural Center’s (NHCC) exhibition Aliento a Tequila y el Arte de Agave has allowed visitors to explore the landscape, culture, and traditions that gave birth to Mexico’s national drink: tequila.  

With the exhibition slated to close Aug. 13, the NHCC will be celebrating the exhibit and exploring agave through a different lens with a special screening of the documentary Agave is Life Aug. 10. 

This exhibition, a program of ExhibitsUSA, a national division of Mid-America Arts Alliance and The National Endowment for the Arts, features a series of images taken by photographer Joel Salcido that showcase the original distilleries and ancestral tequilerias.  

These images are combined with a collection of objects and paintings related to the theme of agave from the National Hispanic Cultural Center Art Museum Permanent Collection; loans from the Museum of International Folk Art and the Folk Art Museum of Central Texas; and the collections of artists Hailey Marmolejo, Lydia Madrid, Arnold Puentes, and Juliana Kirwin. 

To celebrate a successful run, the NHCC will host a free screening of the documentary film Agave is Life. This 70-minute documentary film traces the history of the agave plant in the cultures of Mexico and the American Southwest, from the hunter-gatherer era to modern-day threats to the plant’s well-being. 

Before the film, join NHCC for a performance from the University of New Mexico’s Mariachi Ensemble at 5:30 p.m., along with a cash bar and food trucks beginning at 5 p.m. Additionally, the Visual Arts Museum will be open until 5 p.m. to give visitors extra time to view the exhibition. This event is free and generously supported by Bank of America. 

The exhibition is on view in the NHCC’s Visual Arts Museum. The screening will take place at the NHCC’s Wells Fargo Auditorium.

The Visual Arts Museum is open from Tuesday through Sunday. The screening will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 10.

Courtesy/NHCC