Module 3A Travel and Tourism If you wish to have an offbeat travel experience in Mexico you must visit the Frida Kahlo Museum in Coyoacan, also known as La Casa Azul This house is where the surrealist artist Frida Kahlo was born, grew up and later lived with her muralist husband Diego Rivera –from 1941 until her death at 47, in 1954 It is a truly fascinating place, not only because of the paintings and the collection of personal effects of the two great artists but also because it provides evidence of the lifestyles of the Mexican bohemians during the first half of this century Frida Kahlo was a very successful artist with a really tragic life When she was very young, she had a trolley accident which left her with permanent injuries, especially in her back which maimed her for life Doctors thought she would never recover or walk again, but she eventually did The rest of her life was filled with treatments and surgeries that made her endure incredible physical pain And through her paintings, she portrayed her suffering In 1929, she married Mexican muralist Diego Rivera They had a very stormy relationship and divorced, but later remarried Even though her works are considered as surrealist, she did not like this movement The colonial-style house forms a U-shape around a central courtyard In this house, the couple entertained their international and eclectic set of friends, including Nelson Rockefeller, George Gershwin and actresses Dolores del Rio and Maria Felix Now, it is an art gallery that displays some of Kahlo’s paintings as well as the typical Mexican dresses she used to wear to express her strong feeling of nationalism La Casa Azul is listed as one of the top ten places to visit if you come to Mexico, so you should not miss it! Activities 1 Scan the text and state if these sentences are true (T) or false (F) If false, write down the correct answer a La Casa Azul is also known as the Frida Kahlo Museum b Among all her personal effects, you will find photographs of her life in the house c Frida Kahlo married Diego Rivera twice d After the accident, doctors thought she would die e Frida used to express her suffering in her paintings English Toolkit - Art Photocopiable © Ediciones Santillana S.A / Richmond 2011 La Casa Azul Module 3A 2 Complete the sentences with the words in the box stormy maimed endure portray offbeat a Diego and Frida had an extremely relationship throughout their life b Due to the accident, Frida had to many surgeries and treatments that caused her a great deal of pain c The experience of visiting La Casa Azul, is unusual and unexpected, a truly destination you cannot miss! d Frida used her paintings to the intense pain she felt e After the accident, Frida was for life 3 What is the most interesting place you have ever visited? The most interesting place I have ever visited is …… Make your own brochure! You can include pictures 4 Look for a photograph of a painting by Frida Khalo in a magazine or newspaper and describe it English Toolkit - Art Photocopiable © Ediciones Santillana S.A / Richmond 2011 Describe it briefly using the Present Perfect and the Simple Past