UNESCO Mexique – Mexico – México Art Education Slide Set

Photograph

Archive of Cuban Socialism

Name/Title

UNESCO "Mexique – Mexico – México" Art Education Slide Set

Entry/Object ID

2025.1.20

Description

A 1962 UNESCO trilingual art-education slide set of 30 numbered 35mm color transparencies reproducing artworks from Mexico, produced for UNESCO by Publications Filmées d'Art et d'Histoire, Paris. Part of UNESCO's "Art Slides / Diapositives d'œuvres d'art / Diapositivas de obras de arte" educational series.

Photograph Details

Subject

art

Subject Place

Country

Mexico

Region

Central America

Context

"Unesco "Art Education Slides", Trilingual:English-French-Spanish (30 colour slides per set). Editions Publications Filmées d'Art et d'Histoire, Paris, 1962. Prices per set vary according to country, but do not exceed equivalent of $12 in local currency."

Collection

The Cabrera Arús family collection

Acquisition

Accession

2025.1

Made/Created

Studio

Publications Filmées d'Art et d'Histoire

Date made

1962

Time Period

1960s

Place

Country

France

Continent

Europe

Notes

MATERIALS: Color photographic transparency film (35mm); cardboard mounts; printed inks TECHNIQUES: Color photographic transparency (likely Kodachrome or Ektachrome film, depending on the production stock used by Publications Filmées d'Art et d'Histoire); offset-printed cardboard mounts

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Type

Inscription

Location

Transcription

Mexique - Mexico México

Type

Inscription

Location

Bottom front of slide

Transcription

UNESCO Diapositives d'œuvres d'art - Art Slides Diapositivas de obras de arte

Type

Inscription

Location

Transcription

UNESCO 1962

Type

Inscription

Location

Bottom back of slide

Transcription

Réalisé pour l'UNESCO par publications filmées d'art et d'histoire 44, Rue du Dragon, PARIS-6°

Language

French

Translation

Created for UNESCO by Art and History Films Publications 44 Dragon Road, Paris-6°

Notes

Front of each slide (transcribed exactly): - "MEXIQUE – MEXICO / MÉXICO" (top) - Slide number (top right, in red; "16" on the example shown) - Red dot (lower right, orientation marker) - "UNESCO" (lower center) - "Diapositives d'œuvres d'art – Art Slides / Diapositivas de obras de arte" (bottom) Reverse of each slide (transcribed exactly): - "© UNESCO 1962" (top) - "Réalisé pour l'UNESCO par Publications Filmées d'Art et d'Histoire / 44, Rue du Dragon, PARIS-6°" (bottom) Languages: French / English / Spanish (trilingual). Translation (as recorded): "Created for UNESCO by Art and History Films Publications, 44 Dragon Road, Paris-6th."

Dimensions

Height

2 cm

Width

2 cm

Condition

Overall Condition

Good

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Leopoldo Arús Gálvez

Notes

owner

Person or Organization

UNESCO

Notes

producer

Related Places

Place

City

Havana

Country

Cuba

Region

Caribbean, Central America

Place

Country

Mexico

Region

Central America

Notes

subject

Research Notes

Notes

UNESCO's "Art Slides / Diapositives d'œuvres d'art / Diapositivas de obras de arte" series was part of the postwar cultural-diplomacy and arts-education program of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Founded in 1945, UNESCO developed in the 1950s and 1960s a broad portfolio of low-cost, mass-distributable educational materials — including books, filmstrips, slide sets, and traveling exhibitions — designed to bring reproductions of world art into schools and adult-education programs around the world, especially in countries that lacked museum collections or library resources. The "Art Slides" series was one of the flagship products in this program. Each country (or theme) was given a 30-slide set with reproductions of representative artworks, with the set carrying trilingual labels (French / English / Spanish) so that a single edition could be distributed across multilingual UNESCO member states. The 1962 "México" set is the Mexican entry in this series. The existing record's context note that "Prices per set vary according to country, but do not exceed equivalent of $12 in local currency" reflects UNESCO's commitment to mass-affordable distribution — $12 in 1962 dollars is the equivalent of roughly $115 today, a substantial but deliberately accessible price for a 30-slide cultural-education resource.

Notes

A Mexico-focused set is particularly resonant — Cuba had strong political and cultural ties with Mexico in the early revolutionary period (Mexico was one of the few Latin American countries that maintained diplomatic relations with Cuba throughout the 1960s embargo era).

Created By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Create Date

March 31, 2022

Updated By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Update Date

June 14, 2026