Aline Hémond

Aline Hémond is an anthropologist and Professor of Anthropology at the University Paris Nanterre since 2022. A specialist in the indigenous societies of Mexico, she has conducted research since 1988 on the Nahua populations of the country’s southwest. Her work focuses on political anthropology, the anthropology of images and indigenous artists, as well as on climate rituals, environmental struggles, and transnational artistic mobility.

From 2014 to 2022, she was Professor at the University of Picardie Jules Verne (UPJV, Amiens), where she notably contributed to the production of ethnographic web documentaries. Previously, she was a Senior Lecturer in the Anthropology of the Americas at University Paris 8-Vincennes-Saint-Denis (2004–2014) and taught at the École du Louvre as well as Nahuatl at the Department of Minoritized Languages at Paris 8.

The project

Title: QUINCONCE: Mesoamerican Art & Circus Creation

"The project aims to bring together social sciences and circus arts by exploring the research theme of "artistic creation and representations in scientific knowledge". It is led by a multidisciplinary team composed of researchers in anthropology and history, a circus artist, and an ‘ethnofunambule’ artist-researcher.

Planned activities will take place in Mexico from 2026 to 2028 and include: the exhibition Acrobacia mesoamericana de ayer y de hoy at the National Museum of Anthropology and History in Mexico City (in partnership with Artes de México), an international symposium on ritual performances, a scientific and popular publication, and the creation of a performance inspired by the research-creation methodology on the theme of the Mesoamerican quinconce.

The results of the project will be shared with both the general public and Mexico’s indigenous communities, culminating in a final meeting with the latter."

Selection of Publications

Monographs and Edited Volumes

• HÉMOND, Aline, 2003. Peindre la révolte. Esthétique et résistance culturelle au Mexique. CNRS Éditions, Paris, 466 pp.
• HÉMOND, Aline and Pierre RAGON (eds.), 2001. L’image au Mexique. Usages, appropriations et transgressions. CEMCA/L’Harmattan, Paris, 274 pp.
• ARCEO, René H., Aline HÉMOND, Ingrid ARRIAGA, Fabienne de PIERREBOURG, 2024. Trazando Territorios: El Arte del Exilio en Pilsen - Chicago. Arceo Press, Chicago, USA. Trilingual edition (Spanish, English, French), 205 pp.

Edited Journals / Peer-Reviewed Articles

• HÉMOND, Aline and Leopoldo TREJO, 2013. De l’âtre à l’autel: Amérindian ritual foods (Mexico and Guatemala). Cahiers ALHIM, no. 25, 1st semester.
• HÉMOND, Aline, 2021. "Culture-s matter-s. Artist-residents, institutions, and gentrification: the case of a Mexican immigrant neighbourhood in Chicago", IdeAs, 17 | 2021a.

Book Chapters

• HÉMOND, Aline, 2020. "Food outlets in migrant districts: Regional Mexican food in Chicago", in Food Identities at Home and on the Move, R. Matta, C.-É. de Suremain, C. Crenn (eds.), Routledge, London & New York, pp. 120-131.
• HÉMOND, Aline, 2024. "Nahua offerings from Guerrero: crying and pleading for rain in Oztotempan", in Mexica. Gifts and Gods at the Templo Mayor, Musée du quai Branly/Éditions El Viso, Paris/Madrid, pp. 212-217.