San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico

From left, Manuel Hernández, Ricardo Díaz and Luis Manuel Santiago, members of a marimba band, perform in the central plaza in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. The band used to get financial support from the municipal authorities, but the funds were suspended during the coronavirus pandemic. They now rely on tips from tourists and locals.

Mexico City, Mexico

Antonio Cortés, director of the Museo Panteón de San Fernando (Cemetery of San Fernando Museum), leads a tour with his puppet, Nando, a character created in honor of the cats that inhabit the cemetery. The Mexico City museum recently reopened after four years of closure. Cortés says, “Recovering a space in the Guerrero neighborhood isn’t just about opening a museum. It’s also about reclaiming a social and cultural space to support the social fabric, so that we can contribute to quality of life and cultural activities.”

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Muniyasami Ravikumar makes a clay pot in Kalviyankadu, Jaffna district, Sri Lanka. Earthenware pots are used to light lamps in Hindu temples and to collect toddy from palm trees.

Irapuato, Mexico

Laura Rocha López, right, shows a miniature painting by Miguel Ortega, left, to a Facebook Live audience during a weekly radio program that features a wide range of guests in Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico. Ortega, who is a painter as well as a tattoo artist, writer and video game programmer, paints with a paintbrush attached to a bungee cord, which he holds with his mouth, thumb and index finger.

Erdenebulgan, Arkhangai province, Mongolia

Lkhagvadorj Batbold, who is preparing two paintings of horses for a joint exhibit, applies paint to his brush in Erdenebulgan, Arkhangai province, Mongolia. Lkhagvadorj says that as a child, “The most favorite lesson of mine was drawing.”

San Francisco, Mexico

Olga Maldonado performs aerial dance under a bridge in San Francisco, Nayarit, Mexico. Maldonado, who is from Venezuela, says she found refuge in the area during the coronavirus pandemic because local residents support the arts.

Mexico City, Mexico

Deia Vargas performs in “Our Lady of the Clouds,” a play presented by Colectivo Lado F Teatro at the Helénico Cultural Center in Mexico City. In the story, migrant women flee gender-based violence in their home countries and travel by train from the southern border of Mexico to the United States.

Chilpancingo, Mexico

Mario Abel García Flores concentrates while drawing a portrait with pencil in the center of Chilpancingo de los Bravo, Mexico. Before the coronavirus pandemic, García also offered his services at festivals in other municipalities.

Erdenebulgan, Arkhangai province, Mongolia

Davaasuren Purevsuren, a technology teacher, carves Yanjinlkham, the goddess of art, with a chisel on cedar wood in Erdenebulgan, Arkhangai province, Mongolia. Davaasuren, who has been carving since 1995, was able to spend more time on his hobby when schools were closed during the coronavirus lockdowns. “One doesn’t learn how to carve suddenly one day,” he says. “It takes a daily practice, little by little.”

Erdenebulgan, Arkhangai Province, Mongolia

Myagmardorj Erdenebat and Tuvshinbayar Batchuluun paint a mural commissioned by a restaurant in Erdenebulgan, Arkhangai province, Mongolia.

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

Japhet Nyoni polishes a carved wooden sculpture, which will serve as a bottle stand, at a tourist market in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

Mukono District, Uganda

Evelyn Nakabuye weaves strips of T-shirts into a carpet in Sonde, Mukono, Uganda. Nakabuye, who studied handweaving at university, incorporates kitenge, or African fabrics, and recycled cotton into her designs.

San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Mexico

Elina Chauvet’s art installation, “Zapatos Rojos,” or “Red Shoes,” memorializes murdered women in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Mexico. Chauvet started the project to increase awareness about violence against women.

Nayarit, Mexico

Ignacio de la Cruz adheres beads to wood shaped like a jaguar’s head in Sayulita, Nayarit, Mexico. Only around 5% of tourists pay a fair price without haggling for his products, de la Cruz says.

Nezahualcóyotl Mexico

Urban artist Alina Kiliwa writes on a wall as part of the national graffiti conference “Mujer Mexican Power” in Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico. “I like that the street is like an open-air museum, and that it’s not necessary to go inside of some separate place to see something,” Kiliwa says. “In your daily life, you can find art on the streets.”

Concepción Aguilar, a ceramic artist, paints a decorative piece in Ocotlán de Morelos, Mexico. Aguilar, unlike other clay artisans in the region, uses a large color palette instead of two or three colors.

San Francisco, Mexico

Fabio Vanin, originally from Italy, makes a ruby gold ring in San Francisco, Nayarit, Mexico. He says that artisanal jewelry-making is close to extinction because most people prefer cheaper, mass-produced jewelry from well-known brands. “I make these pieces one by one. I do not use molds, I work directly on the metal,” Vanin says. “I do small series in which the pieces can be similar, but they are never the same.”

Erdenebulgan, Arkhangai province, Mongolia

Oyunchimeg Lutbat paints flower details on the frame of a yurt, or ger, in Erdenebulgan soum, Arkhangai province, Mongolia. Oyunchimeg, who owns a woodworking business with her family, says, “We have been working at a wood factory from generation to generation, and now we are making everything that can be made of wood.”

San Francisco, Nayarit, Mexico

A tattoo artist who goes by the name Jagger tattoos Luis Villarroel in San Francisco, Nayarit, Mexico. Jagger, the town’s only tattoo artist, says the perception that tattoos are only for gang members has changed in the last few years.

Kampala, Uganda

Sheila Namara, a visual artist, creates an indoor design element at a workshop in Lungujja, a neighborhood in Kampala, Uganda.

Nayarit, Mexico

A Zapotec rapper who goes by Mare Advertencia Lirika performs with Ofer Sánchez in San Francisco, Nayarit, Mexico. The concert was organized to promote search efforts for Wendy Sánchez, a local resident who has been missing since Jan. 9. “Growing up in a place where you feel safe should be a human right,” Advertencia Lirika says. “But the war is there, even if it is not being named.”

Mexico City, Mexico

Diana Laura García, center, performs the part of the skeleton “La Catrina,” an icon of Mexican culture, during a show at the National Center for the Arts in Mexico City. The performance was supposed to coincide with Day of the Dead last November, but the premiere was delayed for months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Erdenebulgan, Arkhangai province, Mongolia

Ariunzaya Enkhbayar heats thread while making soutache earrings during her lunch break in Erdenebulgan soum, Arkhangai province, Mongolia. Ariunzaya, who works full time for a government organization, says, “Working on soutache craft like this and sewing daalin [snuff bags] serve as meditation for me.”

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Sabrina Palazzo and her mother, Alcira Pereyra, study a feminist mural in an exhibit at the Recoleta Cultural Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina. “I came to get vaccinated, and we took advantage of [the outing] to walk around,” Pereyra says.