"Dos Tradiciones" is now tres for this year's concert and tour.

This year, traditional music from three countries will be featured at the annual DosTradiciones concert, which in previous years was confined only to Mexican and U.S. participation. On this occassion, Canadian Jerry Holland will present the Cape Breton fiddle, a style well rooted in Scottish music; Bayou Seco, a group from New Mexico will play Cajun, Old Time and Chicken Scratch music, while Mexico's award-winning Juan Reynoso will again present the hauntingly beautiful sounds of the Tierra Caliente.

The concert--March 2 at 8 p.m. in the historic Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso in downtown Mexico City--kicks off a week of cultural exchange between musicians of the Nafta countries. Other events are planned in Paso de Arena, San Miguel Totolapan and Ciudad Altamirano, in Guerrero state; Queretaro City and Jalpan in Queretaro; and San Miguel deAllende. A chartered bus will take the musicians from Mexico City to the Tierra Caliente (as Guerrero and parts of Michoacna are called) between March 3 and 6, and from Mexico City to the Bajio and the Sierra Gorda between March 7 and I 0.Anyone interested in experiencing a cultural exchange through traditional music can join the tour and travel with the musicians.

Over the past three years, Dos Tradiciones events have attracted musicians and music lovers from various regions of the United States and Mexico. Lindajoy Fenley, an amateur musician who came to Mexico as a journalist in 1988, founded the non-profit organization four years ago when members of Balfa Toujours, one of Louisiana's top Cajun bands, came to Mexico to visit the Conjunto de Juan Reynoso. The groups performed two very distinct regional music styles at a January 1997 concert dubbed the Encuentro de Dos Tradiciones.

Since that first binational concert, Dos Tradiciones' annual activities have grown into a festival that has included concerts in the Mexican capital and provincial cities, and has spawned a lecture and video series. In addition to presenting regional music that normally lacks commercial backing, Dos Tradiciones promotes greater understanding between people from different cultures.

This year's festival has the backing of both the U.S. and Canadian Embassies, as well as several Mexican state and municipal governments. The March 2 concert is cosponsored by the American Society of Mexico, which is co-hosting a pre-concert cocktail to present the artists to members of the local community. The cocktail is open to those who purchase preferential seating at the concert.

Information about the concert or the trips to Tierra Caliente, the Bajio and the Sierra Gorda is available from Dos Tradiciones at (5)271-3430 and (5)2734979 or on their website, www.laneta.apc.org/Dostradiciones.

Music from previous Dos Tradiciones festivals is also available on CD.

Mexico City Exhibits:

The much-anticipated second part of the show "Escultura Mexicana" is on display at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, shining the spotlight on Mexico's oft-ignored contribution to three-dimensional art, The exhibit displays 70 works, from the 1950s to the 1970s, featuring artists like Mathias Goeritz, Manuel Fleguerez, Helen Escobedo, Geles Cabrera, Jose, Luis Cuevas and Sebastian, among others. The first part of the exposition, on display last May, covered the first half of the century, and in March, the sculpture trends of the 1980s and '90s will be presented.

"De la ruptura al geometrismo" ("From rupture to geometrism")

Palacio de Bellas Artes,

Juarez I, Centro Historico,

Salas Justino Fernandez, Paul Westheim,

Nacional and Diego Rivera.

Tel.: [phone]

Through Feb. 25

Boutique

Art meets fashion at the Museo deArte Carrillo Gil with the country's first-ever exposition of contemporary haute couture. The creators hope to open cultural spaces to the creation and exhibition of current fashion, giving Mexican designers a higher profile through cultural collaborations and perhaps, eventually, more invitations to show their creations on the catwalks of Paris and Milan.

Museo deArte Carrillo Gil,

Tel.: [phone]

Revolucion 1608, Cal. San Angel Inn.

Through March 18