For one weekend, Lansdowne Park became a meeting place between Mexico and Canada as artists, entrepreneurs and artisans gathered for Expo Mexico Mujer to celebrate culture, community and commerce.
Held June 5-7 at the Horticulture Building, the event featured exhibitors in gastronomy, fashion, tourism and visual arts, while highlighting the contributions of Mexican women entrepreneurs and creators. Organized in partnership with the Embassy of Mexico in Canada, the expo aimed to promote Mexican women working in these various fields while strengthening cultural and economic ties between Mexico and Canada.
For Ottawa residents, the event offered an opportunity to experience Mexican culture firsthand through food, art, music and fashion while connecting with the people and stories behind them.
Among the many booths was a display of products by Montreal-based Erendira Perez, founder of Cocoa Revolution, a business specializing in handcrafted cajeta, a traditional Mexican caramel made from goat’s milk.
“We received the invitation from the Mexican embassy to come here,” said Perez. “We are opening our network and that’s why we’re here making ourselves known.”
Perez said visitors were fascinated by the traditional production process behind her products. She sources ingredients from small producers in Mexico and used the expo to share traditional Mexican food culture with new audiences.
The event also provided a platform for vendors using their businesses to support communities back home.
Aidee Damian Jones, founder of Plata Viva and based in Wiarton Ont., showcased handcrafted jewellery and accessories inspired by Indigenous traditions across Mexico. Through partnerships with artisans, she incorporates materials such as Taxco silver, Oaxaca black clay, carved copal wood and handwoven palm fibres from Guerrero into her designs.
Jones said the business grew out of a desire to maintain connections to her culture after moving to Canada and to create opportunities for Indigenous artisans whose work often goes unseen outside their communities.
“As a newcomer, I wanted to make more friends and I love talking about my culture,” Jones said. “That’s how it started.”
She said many artisans face barriers to gaining recognition for their work, particularly women in rural and Indigenous communities whose craftsmanship is often undervalued.
Jones recalled speaking with artists who were hesitant to raise their prices or promote their work because they did not always see the value of their skills beyond their local communities.
“Sometimes you want to help, but they don’t accept it right away,” she said, describing conversations with women artisans who were hesitant to charge more for their work or share details about their craft. Through Plata Viva, she said she hoped to help bridge that gap by sharing their stories, connecting them with new costumers and creating opportunities for their work to reach audiences outside Mexico.
Visual artist Dalia Mendoza-Limon, who now lives in Gatineau after moving to Canada to teach at a university, showed paintings inspired by Mexican culture, migration and women’s experiences.
Painting has remained a lifelong passion for Mendoza-Limon, whose work incorporates Mexican symbolism and personal stories. One recurring image in her work is the monarch butterfly, which she associates with migration between Mexico and Canada.
“When they arrive, for me it’s like hope,” she said when describing the monarch’s connection to her Mexican roots.
The three-day event reflected Ottawa’s growing multicultural landscape and the city’s role as a meeting point for international cultural exchange.
For visitors, the impact often came down to individual conversations — learning the story behind a painting, tasting a traditional recipe or hearing how a small business connected communities across borders.
