‘Border Crosser” pinata by Diana Benavidez (Mingei International Museum)
Art, Balboa Park

There’s More to Pinatas Than What You Might Think

By Frank Sabatini Jr.

A wander through the Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park will reveal the intricate craft and cultural expressions of pinatas, which stretch far beyond their usual animal-shaped forms containing candy and prizes.

The exhibit, titled “Pinatas: The High Art of Celebration,” explores how pinatas are constructed while showcasing more than 80 works by Latin artists who raise the bar on their designs. As visitors will discover, their constructs come in all shapes and sizes in a reflection of art, politics and everyday life.

“The contemporary artists featured in this exhibition reconsider the techniques, materials, function, tradition and notion of the pinata, forming a new language of imagined possibilities,” noted Emily Zaiden, guest curator of the show.

Presented originally last year at Craft in America Gallery in Los Angeles, the Mingei exhibit runs through April 30, 2023.