MEXICO: Relatives of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo introduce the "Frida" doll.
- 00:02:05
- ITN Source
MEXICO: Relatives of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo introduce the "Frida" doll.
: Relatives of the larger than life, diminutive Mexican artist Frida Kahlo have brought out a new product bearing her name - the 'Frida' doll. Kahlo's relatives unveiled the doll in Mexico City on Wednesday (December 14), together with businesswoman Cristina Dorsett who designed the product. 'Frida' comes wearing an indigenous Tehuana costume like that in which the painter was photographed, and gold jewellery from Oaxaca. The doll also boasts a shawl woven by craftspeople from Michocaca, and a handmade skirt, blouse and headdress of silk flowers, as Dorsett explained. "The jewellery is a replica of the jewellery that Frida is wearing in the photo. Her headdress is also hand made, her hair, you will notice that we have taken care. . . the heart of Mexico has been put into this work," she said. "Frida" has already been nominated for a competition in the "Innovation" category at the International Toy Fair in Nuremberg next year. The doll will be sold along with the book "Frida Intima" ("Intimate Frida") by Isolda, and a CD of the artist's favourite music. The goal is to produce 100,000 dolls, to be sold for 250 U.S. dollars each. For Dorsett, the project was an opportunity to show the world the strength that Kahlo had and pay tribute to one of Mexico's greatest ever artists. "Because she is the most famous painter. Because she was a woman that represented a lot on an international level, that left us a great history, that left us great lesson, above all to women. The strength she has - it was necessary to make a doll and pay tribute to Frida Kahlo," said Dorsett. The doll goes on sale this month in Germany, Canada, the US, France, Italy and Mexico. The artist's family has also agreed to Frida's name being used for a brand of tequila, a line of clothing and a perfume. But for Kahlo's niece Mara de Romero Kahlo, the idea of making a doll was particularly personal to Frida. "Frida developed a taste for dolls, and at an adult age dolls formed a very important part of her life, not just as friends but as confidants," she explained. Frida Kahlo was an artist known for her emotionally raw paintings, producing a number of self-portraits over the course of her life, all with her trademark meeting eyebrows. A serious accident at an early age meant that she suffered a pain over the course of her life that she expressed through her art. She was married to the celebrated Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, but both partners had several affairs over the course of their tumultuous marriage, and were known for being sexually liberal. She was recently played by Mexican actress Salma Hayek in a film about her life entitled 'Frida'.
ITN Source | December 17, 2005
