A “very Mexican” Volkswagen exhibition in Germany shows the cultural importance of the “Vocho” for the Latin American country | The NY Journal

He Volkswagen sedan It is undoubtedly one of the most representative cars of Mexican culture, its versatility and dynamism led it to become one more member of each Mexican family. That is why an exhibition has been held to pay tribute to this mythical car that shows how the popular “Beetle” has become a symbol of Mexican cultural identity.

The exhibition is named “El Vocho is Mexican. Die kulturelle Aneignung des VW Käfer in Mexiko”(“ The cultural appropriation of the Volkswagen Sedan in Mexico ”), and the author of said exhibition is Simon Hirzel, a cultural anthropologist who decided to include t-shirts, key chains, jewelry, magazines, and even memorabilia that allude to the compact in its glory years.

The exhibition can be seen in the BASA Museum (Bonner Amerikas Sammlung) from Bonn, Germany, and is based on Simon Hirzel’s German publication bearing the same name as the exhibition.

“There are key rings, shirts or scale models of vochos in the markets and they are around other things that represent a certain Mexicanness, such as boxes with Frida Kahlo and figures of the Guadalupe’s Virgin“Hirzel said in an interview with DW.

It should be noted that the book that Hirzel published in 2019 is the result of the end-of-master’s work in Interdisciplinary Studies of Latin America at the Free University of Berlin, which Hirzel completed in 2018.

During the data collection, Hirzel carried out a field investigation since 2015, in which he obtained a variety of objects related to the vocho, mainly in Mexico City and Tasco, in the state of Guerrero.

“Nobody in Germany knows these objects from Mexico, being able to show them gives another vision to the subject,” explained the anthropologist, noting that his exhibition includes objects such as trophies and t-shirts that were provided by clubs and groups of fans of the Karmann VW Vintage Club, the Old Bugs Venustiano Carranza, a club associated with the National Association of Volkswagen Clubs of Mexico and the organizer of the Vocho Caravana, which takes place on the International Day of Volkswagen.

Simon highlighted a curious fact about “Vocho”, and it is that it tells how the car arrived in the North American country from the hand of a group of investors of German origin, since the company itself “did not believe in the success of its product because in the 50s all the cars that were in Mexico were from the United States ”. However, “the car became the car of the masses,” he said.