Natalia Zerbato

ART HISTORIAN & TOUR GUIDE

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

Although Natalia is originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, she has chosen Mexico as her home and place of research. Natalia has dedicated most of her adult life to studying the arts, fashion and the works of Frida Kahlo. In Mexico, she is broadening her education and studying Mexican muralism and the impacts it had in Mexican history. On Wild Terrains group trips to Mexico City, Natalia is our resident art historian!

Follow Natalia here.

1. WHERE ARE YOU FROM ORIGINALLY? WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO MEXICO CITY?

I am from Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. In college I decided I wanted to study something that would allow me to travel, so I chose Mexico as it was a country I had wanted to visit. I stayed a month here in 2012 to do my research and decided to move in 2014 after finishing college.

2. WHAT DID YOU STUDY IN SCHOOL? IS THIS WHAT YOU SAW YOURSELF DOING WHEN YOU WERE A STUDENT?

I entered a program for "Production and Patterns" in college. It was not exactly Fashion Design, and though I thought about changing to design I never fully did it. I discovered I was really bad at making the clothes, but when I took History of Fashion classes, I fell in love. I decided to enter "Costume Design and History of Arts" so I could do both. Before I entered fashion college I thought about studying film, but now I am a tour guide. I guess I changed my mind a lot and just adapted according to the oportunities I had.

3. WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT AS A TOUR GUIDE?

I think the tours I lead with children are great, because they always have a different point of view than mine, they see things I never notice. Also, I have had many very moving experiences because these tours can be very emotional with the art and subject matter we discuss, so there have been a couple tours where my clients cried. These moments always remind me of the first time I saw the places I show them.

4. WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST INSPIRING WORK OF ART YOU HAVE SEEN? WHAT ABOUT IT STOOD OUT TO YOU?

Can I mention more than one?! I was very moved when I saw Frida Kahlo’s “Two Fridas” for the first time because of all the meaning behind this painting and for its sheer size. My visit to Luis Barragan's house in the city made me feel better about my current situation living really far from my family and sometimes feeling lonely, because he was a lonely man and designed his house inspired by this fact. The sculptural space at UNAM made me feel I was at the center of the universe and at the same time gave me a lot of peace. "Flesh and Sand" from Iñárritu was one of the most intense experiences with art I have ever had - I couldn't sleep for some days after seeing that! "Bjork Digital" was also impressive - maybe this type of virtual experience is something that impresses me. Also I have to mention The Whale of Gabriel Orozco at Vasconcelos Library, as I admire his work so much. That piece really is monumental.

5. WE KNOW YOU HAVE A VERY SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH FRIDA KAHLO AS AN ARTIST, A WOMAN, AND A HISTORICAL FIGURE. WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO FRIDA IN THE FIRST PLACE?

Before I decided to study in Mexico, I had not really considered studying Frida. Up to then I had only seen her as a "pop icon,” and I thought I already knew her. When I got to Mexico I realized there would be more material about her available than it was in Brasil, and after researching her for only a month or so I started noticing how complex she was as a person. I was fascinated by her, and her relationship with clothes and art. Getting deeper into her story made me admire her as a person in all aspects of life, most of all from the resilient way she handled all the physical problems she had.

6. WHERE IS THE FIRST PLACE YOU WOULD TAKE A FRIEND VISITING MEXICO CITY FOR THE FIRST TIME?

I would take them to the Anahuacalli Museum and for a walk around Xochimilco.