Blazing Feather. Discerning Heart. – Nan Cuz. A German-Indian Painter

60 min., WDR 3 2007

In 1968, when her book "In the Kingdom of Mescal" assumed cult status within the hippie movement, German-Amerindian painter Nan Cuz was already a famous artist, having gained renown in the 1950s with her painting "The Madonna of Guatemala". She was soon showing her work in exhibitions all over Europe and in the Guatemalan presidential palace.

An exceptional life story: Born in 1927 to a Mayan mother, at the age of seven she is forced to start her life anew in 1930s Berlin, the capital of the German Reich. Nan is now called by the name of Irmgard – and wears shoes. Her German father, who ran a coffee plantation Guatemala, works for the Reich Propaganda Ministry. She will go on to become a pioneer of the hippie era, exchanging ideas with Albert Hofmann, Hubert Fichte, Aldous Huxley and Albert Einstein. In 1971 Nan Cuz and her family emigrate to Guatemala, where she reconnects with her Native American roots. Despite being educated in Germany, Nan Cuz is able to rediscover her faith in the Mayan worship of Mother Earth.

Ein Feature von Anja Krug-Metzinger
Mit Gedichten von Detlev Wilhelm Klee nach Motiven der Legende "Im Reiche des Meskal" von Georg Schäfer und Nan Cuz

Blazing Feather. Discerning Heart. – Nan Cuz. A German-Indian Painter

A radio program by Anja Krug-Metzinger
60 min., WDR 3 2007

poems: Detlev W. Klee
executive editor: Gisela Corves