In this first episode, Alinka explores how nature and land have shaped Mexican art and how radical Mexican artists shook off the European influence that followed the Spanish Conquest of the 16th Century. She looks at how, 100 years after independence in 1810, artists began to depict Mexico's ancient landscapes, such as the symbolic volcanoes that dominate the Valley of Mexico, using a new style of painting that was resolutely Mexican, confirming the re-established connections between Mexico's indigenous population and their land.