First here is a little history about how the Alebrijes came to life...
Pedro Linares López paper mache artisan born in Mexico City, at the age of 30 years, suddenly got ill falling in a profound dream which will reveal him some strange creatures that will change his destiny. Ill and with no access to a doctor or medicine his sisters tried to cure him with home made medicine and herbs, trying to make him recover his health but with no success. They couldn’t do anything but pray and encomendarse to the saints. In bed and unconscious , Pedro dreamt in a strange, calm and interesting place. Something like a forest where there were trees, rocks and animals; He can see the sky and clouds of that magical scene . He said everything was calmed and that He didn’t feel pain and was happy of walking on that place, but suddenly rocks, clouds and the animals became strange creatures. They were animals but couldn’t recognize which ones because they were very different from the ordinary. Don Pedro looked a donkey with wings, a rooster with bull horns, a lion with dog head. All of this creatures yelled “Alebrijes” more and louder “Alebrijes, Alebrijes, Alebrijes” Pedro kept on his track in that fantastic dream and when He was on a stones road, he saw a man walking calmed and asked him for help to get out of that place. The man told him He was not supposed to be there yet, that he had to walk further and look for an exit. Pedro ran and ran until he found a small window in which He barely could get out, at that time He woke up. In the middle of his own funeral, he stand up!!! a murmur was heard between the prays and exclamations to see him awake from what it seemed his dead. After that moment Pedro already recovered from his illness, started to remember his dream and tried to explain to his family what He saw so they can see what He’ve seen. Using his hability as an artisan he started to mold those fantastic animals on paper maché technique and painted them as he dream it. Don Linares showed his work and this pieces to a lot of people Mexican and foreigners all around the world, which made him got invitations to visit USA and Europe to show his art, his “alebrijes”. He kept alive popular traditions which his parents inherit to him. He also contributed with an invaluable creation of art, the “alebrijes” Pedro Linares worked 16 hours a day until his dead, at the age of 86 on January 26, 1992. Today, Miguel Linares, Paula García, Blanca Linares and Elsa Linares continue with this art and try to keep it alive.
A more recent phenomenon involving alebrijes is the annual Monumental Alebrije Parade, which has been sponsored by the Museo de Arte Popular in Mexico City since 2007. The 2009 parade feature more than 130 giant alebrijes made of wood, cardboard, paper, wire and other materials, which marches from the Zocalo in the historic center of the city to the Angel of Independence monument on Paseo de la Reforma. Entrants are made by artisans, artists, families and groups, and each year the entrants have gotten bigger, more creative and more numerous. At the end of the parade, the pieces are lined up on Paseo de la Reforma for judging and to be display for two weeks.
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